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> If everyone gets 90% or better on a test that reflects what you're supposed to learn then it should be celebrated as a teaching success. It is not a problem.

> If everyone gets 90% or better on a test that reflects what you're supposed to learn then it should be celebrated as a teaching success. It is not a problem. Then perhaps there should have been more available to be learned. If most people are above 90%, then you're holding the best back. (If you're saying that more should be taught, but not be on the test... Why?) The only way for everyone to reach full understanding at the same time is for everyone to be the same or for some people to have been held back. I view the latter as being far more achievable than the former. I would also say that holding the best back... is probably not what we want the #1 ranked University in the world to be doing. > A perfect educational system would have every student getting 100% on every test, right? That's the ideal. Unless, of course, that the purpose of the educational system isn't actually to educate people but instead to weed out certain classes of people. No, a perfect educational system would not have every student getting 100% on every test because not every student is the same and also such a test fundamentally provides no information to the tester. A perfect system would probably have every student on an individual (or near-individual) learning schedule, and even there I would expect perfectly calibrated tests to average around 50% with adjustments as required for psychological impact or to improve recall. From that, you can identify what elements need to be covered again, and what can be skipped when moving forward because they are already known. > "We want the best" is what every employer will always say but the truth is that they really only need someone who can do the job. We as a society put way too much importance and faith in credentials. This is probably correct for your average community college. It might be correct for a average state school. When you get to 'literally the number one Univeristy on the planet', perhaps employers are also actually looking for the best people on the planet.

ceejayoz 3y ago
> Then perhaps there should have been more available to be learned. There is, and you can go get a masters or PhD if you want that. > If most people are above 90%, then you're holding the best back. The Feynmans of the world are perhaps not too concerned with their GPA. > perhaps employers are also actually looking for the best people on the planet In that case, they probably shouldn't be looking at grades at all.
riskable 3y ago
> No, a perfect educational system would not have every student getting 100% on every test because not every student is the same and also such a test fundamentally provides no information to the tester. This is a ridiculous statement. Let's assume you have a room full of perfect students. You spent the week teaching them about subject X and came up with a test to determine if they got the gist of what you taught. On Friday you give them that test and every student gets 100%. By your reasoning, because they all got 100% this test was a waste of time and would "provide no information to the tester." My argument is that the test served its purpose: It demonstrated that everyone understood the subject and you can move on to the next. Could some students have absorbed far more information in that same amount of time? Probably. Is that the teacher's job though? No. Their job is to teach a certain subset of a subject and do their best to make sure every student understands it well enough that they can move on to the next. The problem with this method is that smarter students get bored out of the minds and end up feeling like they're in prison for their academic career. However, the system itself wasn't made for them. It was designed for the average. If you feel that grades should be used to separate or weed out students who don't perform as well you're trying to twist "education" into something that it's not: A caste system.
- laverya 3y ago
  > If you feel that grades should be used to separate or weed out students who don't perform as well you're trying to twist "education" into something that it's not: A caste system. I would say I am trying to return education to its original purpose, instead of the world's worst but also most common form of daycare.

ceejayoz 3y ago

> Then perhaps there should have been more available to be learned. There is, and you can go get a masters or PhD if you want that. > If most people are above 90%, then you're holding the best back. The Feynmans of the world are perhaps not too concerned with their GPA. > perhaps employers are also actually looking for the best people on the planet In that case, they probably shouldn't be looking at grades at all.

riskable 3y ago

> No, a perfect educational system would not have every student getting 100% on every test because not every student is the same and also such a test fundamentally provides no information to the tester. This is a ridiculous statement. Let's assume you have a room full of perfect students. You spent the week teaching them about subject X and came up with a test to determine if they got the gist of what you taught. On Friday you give them that test and every student gets 100%. By your reasoning, because they all got 100% this test was a waste of time and would "provide no information to the tester." My argument is that the test served its purpose: It demonstrated that everyone understood the subject and you can move on to the next. Could some students have absorbed far more information in that same amount of time? Probably. Is that the teacher's job though? No. Their job is to teach a certain subset of a subject and do their best to make sure every student understands it well enough that they can move on to the next. The problem with this method is that smarter students get bored out of the minds and end up feeling like they're in prison for their academic career. However, the system itself wasn't made for them. It was designed for the average. If you feel that grades should be used to separate or weed out students who don't perform as well you're trying to twist "education" into something that it's not: A caste system.

laverya 3y ago
> If you feel that grades should be used to separate or weed out students who don't perform as well you're trying to twist "education" into something that it's not: A caste system. I would say I am trying to return education to its original purpose, instead of the world's worst but also most common form of daycare.