It’s midterms week, and that means sleepless nights full of studying and lots of coffee in order to make the best grade possible.
We need to put forth our best effort, but when our goal is simply to make good grades, we lose sight of the point of college — like discovering our future.
I love to learn, but I admit the pressure that comes with tests and grades sometimes makes me want to forget it all and become a mountain hermit. I realize that grades and assessment are necessary and useful, but they also may inhibit the learning process.
With the intense pressure to get good grades from society, teachers, family and ourselves, grades can easily become the focus of our education, instead of learning itself.
So many students, myself included at times, go to class and take notes not because they want to learn but because they want to pass a test.
In the past, I have memorized facts for a test without actually thinking through the information. I felt successful for making an A, but I forgot the material right after the test.
I guess you could say I beat the system: I got an A without really learning, but the joke was on me. While I got a superficial stamp of approval, I took little away from the class for myself.
Getting rid of grades completely would create an environment where learning was an end in itself, not means to an end. Learning would be more enjoyable because it would be a process motivated by the learner rather than a coercive one motivated by GPA.
Even though a world without grades sounds like paradise to me personally, I realize this is unrealistic if our goal is not only to create an environment that fosters learning but also to qualify students in certain areas of expertise.
No one wants a brain surgeon who doesn’t have legitimate credentials that say he or she is qualified to operate.
The award-winning Sarah Lawrence University exhibits a realistic compromise that fosters an environment where learning thrives, as opposed to focusing on grades. While they do have a traditional grading system, the educational system is extremely individualized.
Students are not forced to take any specific classes — they choose all their classes based on their interests, classes are seminar style or hands-on and students receive personalized evaluations of strengths and weaknesses at the end of every course.
I’m not asking that we eliminate grades entirely, just that we realize our end goal.
If your goal in college is to land a good job after college, it might even be worth sacrificing a couple good grades in order to invest in an internship or personal development training.
In 2012, the Associated Press reported that over half of bachelor’s degree holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed. This is a sad statistic, but it shows that a college degree itself doesn’t necessitate a steady job.
Furthermore, having a 4.0 GPA is not one of the three main traits employers look for. Rather, they look for communication skills, the ability to work in a team and a positive attitude, according to Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Millennial.
While grades are useful and necessary in showing progress and comprehension, they cannot always accurately measure learning, and they certainly do not guarantee success or failure. Making good grades is an achievement to applaud, but we can’t let it become the end goal of our education.