Use Of Grades Should Be Discouraged

All over the world, students are examined through different kinds of tests, assignments and projects. These tests and assignments are to be evaluated by the instructor and henceforth graded. The practice of grading has been under discussion for a while and people have been debating whether the system is useful or not. Actually, grading is a phenomenon that has severe consequences. The grading system all over the world is contributing to increase procrastination, less hard work and low motivation among the students. This system must be discouraged and replaced with something that can help students grow their mindset. A number of factors make this grading system less likely to be encouraged by thinking minds.

Grading on your First Try:

                Imagine yourself being judged by the instructor when you were driving for the first time. Wouldn’t you say, “I am doing it for the first time, how can I do it with absolute command?” students are judged on the basis of their works produced by them for the first time. They are not allowed re-test or re-assignments. A lot of people are not good at doing something for the first time. Hence, it makes students feel that they are not good and creates mental barriers.

Low Grades for Late Work:

                Students who submit their work later than the given deadline are given low grades. That means getting 50% on the subject that you know well more than 80%. These grades are later analyzed by the employers as a level of a student’s knowledge, understanding and command on the subject. Sometimes, they are not even allowed to submit their work after the deadline. It demoralizes their mental capabilities and they earn “zero” on something they worked hard for.

 Grades Remove the Intrinsic Motivation:

                The basic purpose of education is learning. Learning for the sake of learning should be the motto. When the essential motivation for a student is to get good grades at the end of a course, the curiosity to learn things that are materialistically not beneficial dies. Students’ minds are shaped in such a way that they want to achieve a tangible destination rather than enjoying the journey. They don’t feel the taste of knowledge and focus on the points on their degrees. This only creates a bunch of robots in the realm of education and not actual thinking minds.

Inflation of Grades:

                The cycle going on among the teacher, parents and students leads to the inflation of grades. Students work hard, teacher assigns them a grade and the nature of communication between parents and the teacher is based upon that grade. In order to avoid an awkward conversation with the parents, teachers sometimes inflate the grades either by awarding bonus points or lowering the assessment quality. In this way, the true picture of a student’s skill and knowledge gets lost.

                Students love to do the things that allow them to fail and recover. One of the example is video games. They actually fail many a times to learn how to play. But grading system does not allow them to fail. They are put under immense pressure by the system. Consequently their abilities are left behind and what remains is the desire to score well. In this battle, the lust for knowledge and creativity dies and the growth mindset that we all talk about is diminished.

So next time you see the report card of a younger sibling or your son/daughter, ask them what they have learnt based on the grades they achieved. After all its all about what you learn and in the realm of knowledge, grades are irrelevant. If you yourself suffer from the bad grades in your college/university, buy premium essay help from us in order to learn more and learn well.