Whether in school, college or the workplace, I find grading degrading. I’m an education professional, an associate professor no less.
However, towards the end of each term I start to think of myself as a grubby little grade trader.
At this time of the year, it seems like our universities, these esteemed engines of civilisation and progress, are reduced to the academic equivalent of frenzied fish markets. The must-have catch of the day for most students is the coveted A grade. I call the last day of the academic year Black Thursday; this is when grade negotiations, remonstrations and outright grade rage reach an ugly peak.
Forget grades though, education should be about the acquisition of knowledge, growth promoting experiences and learning how to learn. Unfortunately though, these days, it seems to be increasingly all about the grades.
This state of affairs is hardly surprising. We have come to over-rely on grades – A through F – to encourage and threaten students, driving many young minds to the verge of academic neurosis. Some educators brandish the threat of a D grade like a bullwhip in the hands of an overzealous plantation overseer. Within such a context some students become no more than grade slaves, working just hard enough to avoid the sting of a low grade.
The test for differentiating intrinsically motivated seekers of knowledge from extrinsically motivated grade slaves lies in the answer to the following dilemma.
Professors 1 and 2 deliver two sections of the same course. Prof 1 is reputed to be great at imparting knowledge, but a tough grader, while prof 2 isn’t such a great teacher, but is known around campus as an easy A. Which one would you opt to take the course with?
Our current overemphasis on letter grades creates an unhealthy climate of competition, undermining the academic ideals of development and cooperation. Grades also encourage students to make peer-comparisons rather than self-comparisons. I know students who are content, just so long as they get a higher grade than so-and-so.
Ultimately though, these letter grades are pretty meaningless Is an A from prof X at school Y, the same as an A from prof Y at school X?
In the US, the grade point average (GPA, the average of all grades received) is often taken as some kind of universal currency of academic worth and employability. It isn’t. We have compromised precision for an illusory standardisation.
The emphasis on grades and the perceived relationship between GPA and future opportunities, earnings and success, creates massive pressure for “good grades”.
Perhaps this pressure has contributed to the rampantly rising academic dishonesty reported by many universities? From plagiarism to buying papers online this behaviour undermines the very foundations of the education system. Some of our students have become too grade-obsessed.
But what could replace the letter grades we have become so dependent upon?
There are several alternatives; the one I particularly like is the idea of behaviourally descriptive standards-based assessment. Under this system you can either do the thing – speak Arabic fluently, for example – or you can’t. In its simplest incarnation this is pass or fail, kind of like the driving test.
In addition to shifting to a mastery-based system, it would be great to promote the idea of education for its own sake, rather than education as a means to a salary.
I am privileged to know many students who epitomise this ideal; those who still have that natural childlike yearning for learning. Unfortunately, unless we reform our education system such students will become increasingly rare.
Dr Justin Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Zayed University
On Twitter: @DrJustinThomas
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
WIDE%20VIEW
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Scoreline
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
More on Yemen's civil war
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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