CSUSM/UCSD JPD - EDLD 730/740 Class Leadership Blog. This blog will be a place to gather course information, connect to peers and professors, and to share reflections and research!
CSUSM/UCSD JPD - EDLD 730/740 Class Leadership Blog. This blog will be a place to gather course information, connect to peers and professors, and to share reflections and research!
Well everyone knows what I think about grades. They are the external motivator that shifts us away from our internal motivation, purpose and drive.
ReplyDeleteI was talking to a HS English teacher telling me about grading essays, and how many students look at the grade and then toss the paper in their notebook never to be looked at again.
If we didn't have grades, but had students work progressively to form and refine their thinking on a topic we would be much better off.
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ReplyDeleteDomenica,
ReplyDeleteI just checked and it plays fine from my computer? Anyone else?
The video plays for me. Pink presents an age-old issue. Grades are extrinsic motivators. They do little, if anything to create autonomy or purpose. Historically, grades came into fashion in the 1940s when EVERYONE began to go to high school. How the heck were we going to keep track all of these people? About that same time (aka WWII), the U.S. military needed a way to identify "leaders" quickly. "I know," someone said, "let's devise a TEST." Voila, the I.Q. test was deemed an excellent way to do this. Of course, I.Q. has little to do with leadership qualities; nonetheless, it is quick and dirty. "Let's do it, " someone said. Thus, it came to pass that grades and tests solved all of our problems. Wait....did they solve our problems or create them?
ReplyDeleteWhen Pink was talking about performance grades vs. learning grades it made reflect on my own performance in the technology section of this class. My performance (ability to perform the task at a very high level)does not necessarily match up with my learning (what I have learned). But in the end it's the learning that really counts.
ReplyDeleteI am sure I would have learned much more in high school and college if there hadn't been grades. Learning for a grade is a completely different experience--and what I notice is, I can retain a lot of information for a very short time, but I don't really LEARN anything. What a waste! I wish I'd known about this when I was a student!!
ReplyDeleteJust like Pink I took 6 years of Spanish. I did well in my classes but still can't speak Spanish! I understand most conversations and can get by reading it, but speaking? Not only can I not speak Spanish I FREEZE when spoken to. I am definitely a victim of wanting the grade and not actually learning a skill that could have really been a life changer for me! Had I the opportunity to be assessed differently I wonder if I would have retained more?
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ReplyDeleteWow – Pink on grades provides me with disturbing insight to my personal learning style. This technology class is brought to mind. Upon reflection, my process of using and developing a PLN has been sporadic at best, it has nagged my subconscious daily because I realize that the process of “me becoming an online native” is what is determining my grade. I am so entrenched in the completion of other assignments, that I am not giving the process of learning to be a native its time. Yet the learning struggle I go through to create the limited products I have produced is personally rewarding. Unfortunately these products don't match up to what I think I am capable of producing.
ReplyDeleteFrom my own experience, I know learning grades motivate us a lot more that performance grades. Sometimes, after I teach a lesson, I give my students a quiz for learning and I tell them this is just to see how much they learned and doesn't impact their grades. And, yes, it is interesting to see that since they are more relaxed, they actually do well!
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