Grades are more important than learning
I teach in a clinic setting and students are more worried about what grade they will receive than what they have learned in the process. Is there any way to get them to focus on learning and not on their grades?
Dylan,
Thanks for sharing this information with us. I know it will be helpful to other instructors.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
You could have all or your students or just the ones who are only concerned about the grades and not learning the content watch a video called "I am worried about my grade".
Tara,
Is it possible to break the sketching skill development up into a rubric so they will see that they need to develop their competencies in the different areas of sketching? This way they don't just receive a grade on a sketch but points in each area of sketching. With a grading rubric they see that they need to be proficient in all the sketching areas if they are to earn an A for that project.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
We have clinic competencies already in place and you are right their competencies do reflect how well they are doing in clinic.
What would be a good way to measure a sketching skill. I have students that are focused on that A as well, the effort and work is there, but maybe not the skill.
On the other side of the coin I have students who can already put together amazing sketches, but the work effort is not as committed as the student just learning.
How would you measure the grade?
Lori,
This is a common problem with students in clinic settings. One of the ways we have gotten our students to focus more on the skills they are learning rather than just the grade is to set up clinic competencies. The students work through the different competencies required for proficiency. If they acquire all the competencies they will receive an A in the course. This puts their efforts more on the competencies and not just on the grade because the grade will follow the competencies.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
