6 ms·

University professor lets students choose own grades for 'stress reduction'

19 points by forrestbrazeal 9y ago

meri_dian 9y ago
"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." -Phillip Brooks, echoed by JFK
- tnecniv 9y ago
  Actually, not originally by JFK: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phillips_Brooks https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phillips_Brooks
- ashark 9y ago
  See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_the_Copybook_Headings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_the_Copybook_Headi...
bitJericho 9y ago
Nothing to see here. Just the US college system in a nutshell and an honest professor.
WalterBright 9y ago
I just awarded myself a 4.0 from his class! Edit: make that a 4.1!
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
rbritton 9y ago
Would this put the university at risk of losing accreditation? From [0]: The school provides students with learning outcomes for each course and publishes in its catalog a written policy for assessing satisfactory student progress through the program. The school measures grades, projects, portfolios, externships, or other assessments against stated educational objectives that the school explains clearly to students. This policy must address performance standards and grading and be applied consistently. [0]: http://www.accsc.org/UploadedDocuments/1971/ACCSC%20Standards%20of%20Accreditation%20and%20Bylaws%20-%20070117%20final.pdf http://www.accsc.org/UploadedDocuments/1971/ACCSC%20Standard...
- klodolph 9y ago
  The Evergreen State College has been accredited for something close to half a century by the NWCCU.
  - brightsize 9y ago
    If I understand correctly, Evergreen uses written evaluations rather than grades, and this has evidently worked well for students and faculty for a long time. But are students allowed to petition for changes in these evaluations?
- Mathnerd314 9y ago
  His stress reduction policy is a written policy producing an assigned grade, and the policy is consistently applied to the class, so there's not really any risk of losing accreditation. Grades are inherently subjective, and this is just another method for producing grades - to regulate them would require a standardized assessment like the SAT's or AP exams, or a standardized curriculum like Common Core, and so far neither of those exist for business school or even most undergrad courses. OTOH, anyone in the business world will probably find this article after a quick Google, so graduates from the program will probably have a hard time getting a job that actually requires the credential; even if the stress reduction policy was never implemented in practice, the fact of a professor considering it is something to take note of. But a business degree seems pretty worthless anyway, economically speaking. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GII18KY/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GII18KY/ I have a hard time believing it's actually #8: http://www.terry.uga.edu/academics/offices/management-information-systems http://www.terry.uga.edu/academics/offices/management-inform... And of course the professor withdrew the policy, anything that calls attention to the school in a negative fashion is grounds for losing tenure...
jbreckmckye 9y ago
The course syllabus cited here currently lists no such policy. The ultimate source appears to be an alt-right news site that likens this "student appeasement" to appeasement of Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia. It then goes on to insinuate that campus welfare programmes are triggering the downfall of society. I'm suspicious.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  Nail on the head, here. With sources so dubious, it doesn't warrant legitimizing this by discussing it any further. The author also contributes to the Daily Caller which is a right-wing blog owned by [Fox News'] Tucker Carlson[0] that has frequently parroted alt-right platitudes as gospel. They regularly play a pretty wild spin-game. I'd very very wary of any of their "facts". Citing sources like the so-named CSC Media Group USA[1] lends his article little credibility. (Not to be confused with the British-Irish television subsidiary of Sony, CSC Media Group[2], whose name they may be appropriating for less than savoury reasons). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Caller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Caller [1] https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/csc-mediagroup-usa/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/csc-mediagroup-usa/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSC_Media_Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSC_Media_Group
- upvotinglurker 9y ago
  A newer story states that the "stress reduction policy" was revoked due to conflicting with university policy on grading: http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9558 http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9558
  - jbreckmckye 9y ago
    If this is true, it's still seems to me a non-story. A tenured professor wanted to break the university's rules... and wasn't allowed to.
- Mathnerd314 9y ago
gehwartzen 9y ago
Personally I don't care how a professor evaluates students. If the student feels like they are getting the experience necessary to learn something or perform in the real world then by all means chose your own grades and continue paying tuition. What I suspect would happen though is that the student would not be prepared for the real world and any company would quickly realize this. This would lower the economic value of a degree from the institution and as such even students who do not chose their own grades (within the institution) could be negatively affected.
- WalterBright 9y ago
  > even students who do not chose their own grades (within the institution) could be negatively affected That's right. Since there's no way to tell which ones chose their own grades, all the grades become worthless. One of my high school teachers decided that everyone taking his class should get an A. The result was the students simply didn't respect him or the class.
  - racl101 9y ago
    > One of my high school teachers decided that everyone taking his class should get an A. The result was the students simply didn't respect him or the class. How could anyone respect such class? To know that all your hard work means bupkis? Sure, you could argue that learning is its own reward but really becomes meaningless when you and all the rest of the jack off losers who got an A (who didn't earn them) as well are considered the same by a post secondary institution considering you both for admission.
Hnrobert42 9y ago
This feels like fake news.
- polotics 9y ago
  Archetypal indeed
madamelic 9y ago
I had hoped this would be for a philosophy course where this kind of policy could be a discussion.
OscarCunningham 9y ago
I agree with the comment suggesting this might not be real. But still, choosing my own grades sounds as stressful as hell.
mabbo 9y ago
> Similarly, when it comes to “tests and exams” for Watson’s “Data Management” and “Energy Informatics” courses, all will be “open book and open notes” This part I actually see as a good idea. In the real world, you have access to Google, to books, to notes, to everything. I'd much rather see difficult tests that allow access to all the needed material than tests designed around the normal distribution of human memory, favoring those who can recall everything they've ever read.
- upvotinglurker 9y ago
  Yes. Unless your future job or other expected application of the knowledge will require you to memorize and instantaneously recall the information, it makes no sense to test that way. An open book test still tests your general familiarity with and understanding of the material (without those things you won't be able to perform adequately within the time limit, due to not knowing where to start/what to look up/how to look it up).
racl101 9y ago
Gee, that's gonna motivate the people who genuinely work hard to earn good grades. I'd be so crushed if I were attending this institution because the value of the degree I'm earning just plummeted.
ericcumbee 9y ago
Being a graduate of Georgia Southern University, which many UGA people view as a second tier school, I find it funny. Because if I learned anything at Georgia Southern, it was Relational Database Management systems do not care about my stress level.

meri_dian 9y ago

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." -Phillip Brooks, echoed by JFK

tnecniv 9y ago
Actually, not originally by JFK: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phillips_Brooks https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phillips_Brooks
ashark 9y ago
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_the_Copybook_Headings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_the_Copybook_Headi...

bitJericho 9y ago

Nothing to see here. Just the US college system in a nutshell and an honest professor.

WalterBright 9y ago

I just awarded myself a 4.0 from his class! Edit: make that a 4.1!

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

rbritton 9y ago

Would this put the university at risk of losing accreditation? From [0]: The school provides students with learning outcomes for each course and publishes in its catalog a written policy for assessing satisfactory student progress through the program. The school measures grades, projects, portfolios, externships, or other assessments against stated educational objectives that the school explains clearly to students. This policy must address performance standards and grading and be applied consistently. [0]: http://www.accsc.org/UploadedDocuments/1971/ACCSC%20Standards%20of%20Accreditation%20and%20Bylaws%20-%20070117%20final.pdf http://www.accsc.org/UploadedDocuments/1971/ACCSC%20Standard...

klodolph 9y ago
The Evergreen State College has been accredited for something close to half a century by the NWCCU.
- brightsize 9y ago
  If I understand correctly, Evergreen uses written evaluations rather than grades, and this has evidently worked well for students and faculty for a long time. But are students allowed to petition for changes in these evaluations?
Mathnerd314 9y ago
His stress reduction policy is a written policy producing an assigned grade, and the policy is consistently applied to the class, so there's not really any risk of losing accreditation. Grades are inherently subjective, and this is just another method for producing grades - to regulate them would require a standardized assessment like the SAT's or AP exams, or a standardized curriculum like Common Core, and so far neither of those exist for business school or even most undergrad courses. OTOH, anyone in the business world will probably find this article after a quick Google, so graduates from the program will probably have a hard time getting a job that actually requires the credential; even if the stress reduction policy was never implemented in practice, the fact of a professor considering it is something to take note of. But a business degree seems pretty worthless anyway, economically speaking. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GII18KY/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GII18KY/ I have a hard time believing it's actually #8: http://www.terry.uga.edu/academics/offices/management-information-systems http://www.terry.uga.edu/academics/offices/management-inform... And of course the professor withdrew the policy, anything that calls attention to the school in a negative fashion is grounds for losing tenure...

jbreckmckye 9y ago

The course syllabus cited here currently lists no such policy. The ultimate source appears to be an alt-right news site that likens this "student appeasement" to appeasement of Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia. It then goes on to insinuate that campus welfare programmes are triggering the downfall of society. I'm suspicious.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
52-6F-62 9y ago
Nail on the head, here. With sources so dubious, it doesn't warrant legitimizing this by discussing it any further. The author also contributes to the Daily Caller which is a right-wing blog owned by [Fox News'] Tucker Carlson[0] that has frequently parroted alt-right platitudes as gospel. They regularly play a pretty wild spin-game. I'd very very wary of any of their "facts". Citing sources like the so-named CSC Media Group USA[1] lends his article little credibility. (Not to be confused with the British-Irish television subsidiary of Sony, CSC Media Group[2], whose name they may be appropriating for less than savoury reasons). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Caller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Caller [1] https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/csc-mediagroup-usa/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/csc-mediagroup-usa/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSC_Media_Group https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSC_Media_Group
upvotinglurker 9y ago
A newer story states that the "stress reduction policy" was revoked due to conflicting with university policy on grading: http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9558 http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9558
- jbreckmckye 9y ago
  If this is true, it's still seems to me a non-story. A tenured professor wanted to break the university's rules... and wasn't allowed to.
Mathnerd314 9y ago

gehwartzen 9y ago

Personally I don't care how a professor evaluates students. If the student feels like they are getting the experience necessary to learn something or perform in the real world then by all means chose your own grades and continue paying tuition. What I suspect would happen though is that the student would not be prepared for the real world and any company would quickly realize this. This would lower the economic value of a degree from the institution and as such even students who do not chose their own grades (within the institution) could be negatively affected.

WalterBright 9y ago
> even students who do not chose their own grades (within the institution) could be negatively affected That's right. Since there's no way to tell which ones chose their own grades, all the grades become worthless. One of my high school teachers decided that everyone taking his class should get an A. The result was the students simply didn't respect him or the class.
- racl101 9y ago
  > One of my high school teachers decided that everyone taking his class should get an A. The result was the students simply didn't respect him or the class. How could anyone respect such class? To know that all your hard work means bupkis? Sure, you could argue that learning is its own reward but really becomes meaningless when you and all the rest of the jack off losers who got an A (who didn't earn them) as well are considered the same by a post secondary institution considering you both for admission.

Hnrobert42 9y ago

This feels like fake news.

polotics 9y ago
Archetypal indeed

madamelic 9y ago

I had hoped this would be for a philosophy course where this kind of policy could be a discussion.

OscarCunningham 9y ago

I agree with the comment suggesting this might not be real. But still, choosing my own grades sounds as stressful as hell.

mabbo 9y ago

> Similarly, when it comes to “tests and exams” for Watson’s “Data Management” and “Energy Informatics” courses, all will be “open book and open notes” This part I actually see as a good idea. In the real world, you have access to Google, to books, to notes, to everything. I'd much rather see difficult tests that allow access to all the needed material than tests designed around the normal distribution of human memory, favoring those who can recall everything they've ever read.

upvotinglurker 9y ago
Yes. Unless your future job or other expected application of the knowledge will require you to memorize and instantaneously recall the information, it makes no sense to test that way. An open book test still tests your general familiarity with and understanding of the material (without those things you won't be able to perform adequately within the time limit, due to not knowing where to start/what to look up/how to look it up).

racl101 9y ago

Gee, that's gonna motivate the people who genuinely work hard to earn good grades. I'd be so crushed if I were attending this institution because the value of the degree I'm earning just plummeted.

ericcumbee 9y ago

Being a graduate of Georgia Southern University, which many UGA people view as a second tier school, I find it funny. Because if I learned anything at Georgia Southern, it was Relational Database Management systems do not care about my stress level.