Oh boy... I have to say that I can relate to the feeling of entitlement. It can be hard to figure out reasonable standards when every professor's grading standards are different, but I genuinely appreciate a teacher whose teaching style inspires students to actually do the work required to succeed and do it well.
As a future high school social studies teacher (and a former high school student), I couldn't agree more with the idea that most of our pre-college history education is geared towards test taking and not understanding of material and historical patterns or geography. (there are some high schoolers who will graduate without being able to point to north america on a map!)
In general, though, I don't like the idea of letter or number grades because I don't think they're an accurate representation of a person's intellectual abilities. I know other forms of evaluation become less feasible once a student gets into college, especially in a school as big as UB. But grades tell us relatively little about how smart a person is, and a lot about how well they can take a test, or write what a teacher wants to hear...
I'll start my comment with a quotation from the article..."Professor Greenberger said that the sense of entitlement could be related to increased parental pressure, competition among peers and family members and a heightened sense of achievement anxiety."
Okay, automatically I think this is kind of bs. This is college we're talking about. Students feel entitled to their "good" grades because they're disillusioned and figure that because they memorized certain material, or made the extra efforts in class, etc. I don't think my parents have any influence in how well I do while attending my classes. I'm not a teenager anymore, and I don't feel as if any of us need to treated as such.
For the most part, high school prepared me very little for college, and I even took AP classes and enriched classes from 8th grade up until senior year. Regardless, this being my fourth year of college, I have learned that every professor is different, and every class is going to require certain amounts of effort. Some classes I know for a fact I deserved the grade I received, probably due to lack of paying attention, or the fact I still work a lot while going to school. ITS JUST THE WAY IT IS.
If you don't take the time with your classes, you should not be entitled to any certain grade, its as clear as day.
Oh boy... I have to say that I can relate to the feeling of entitlement. It can be hard to figure out reasonable standards when every professor's grading standards are different, but I genuinely appreciate a teacher whose teaching style inspires students to actually do the work required to succeed and do it well.
ReplyDeleteAs a future high school social studies teacher (and a former high school student), I couldn't agree more with the idea that most of our pre-college history education is geared towards test taking and not understanding of material and historical patterns or geography. (there are some high schoolers who will graduate without being able to point to north america on a map!)
In general, though, I don't like the idea of letter or number grades because I don't think they're an accurate representation of a person's intellectual abilities. I know other forms of evaluation become less feasible once a student gets into college, especially in a school as big as UB. But grades tell us relatively little about how smart a person is, and a lot about how well they can take a test, or write what a teacher wants to hear...
I'll start my comment with a quotation from the article..."Professor Greenberger said that the sense of entitlement could be related to increased parental pressure, competition among peers and family members and a heightened sense of achievement anxiety."
ReplyDeleteOkay, automatically I think this is kind of bs. This is college we're talking about. Students feel entitled to their "good" grades because they're disillusioned and figure that because they memorized certain material, or made the extra efforts in class, etc. I don't think my parents have any influence in how well I do while attending my classes. I'm not a teenager anymore, and I don't feel as if any of us need to treated as such.
For the most part, high school prepared me very little for college, and I even took AP classes and enriched classes from 8th grade up until senior year. Regardless, this being my fourth year of college, I have learned that every professor is different, and every class is going to require certain amounts of effort. Some classes I know for a fact I deserved the grade I received, probably due to lack of paying attention, or the fact I still work a lot while going to school. ITS JUST THE WAY IT IS.
If you don't take the time with your classes, you should not be entitled to any certain grade, its as clear as day.