Are Grades more inportant than Honesty?
With some students that I have talked to the first question is What is my Grade? Not did I get all the educational learning from this class. This is where my experience helps in dealing with the Grade problem. I will tell them that yes grades are very important but knowing the subject or skill of the field your going into is also as or even more important to that individual or future employer. One can have a 4.00 GPA ( Gotten thru cheating which can take more effort than actual study ) and once on the job be unable to do the job. Above all a grade is a grade - it is what we do to ourselves by cheating that can destroy our reputation, honor and self-esteem. Transcrips after several years to an employer is not as important as an employee who is honest, hard working and can be relied apon to do the right thing is the ultimate of Value. I want to show the student that pressures form either themselves or outside forces must not affect how they feel when they look into a mirror.
This is great! I will have to dictate this to my students. I knew someone in undergrad that did research in this area and the results were startling. Most students believe that they are paying for the class, so therefore they are entitled to an A. Also they found out that students would rather take an "easy A" than learn and risk getting a C. I believe your approach will negate their current thinking.
There is a definite correlation between being able to get a passing grade (studying ethics) and being able to put what is learned to good particle use (work ethics). Many younger students have not acquired this, this takes experience and standards.
This is the response I would have made. In the many places I have worked, honesty and integrity have been more important than someones GPA.
Hi Annette,
Absolutely! I've never had a prospective employer to call me and ask what was a graduate's GPA; think about it...
Patricia
I like this! It deals with the individual's ethics. I agree that, after several years, the GPA just doesn't matter any more, and how that individual has performed on the job has become much more important.
I agree. students need to be treated as in the work force. Responsible adults.
Hi Howard,
I concur. These students are in college, and we make it sometimes too easy for them. In the real world it is not easy, each man is for himself. Our students are spoiled, and sometimes are spoon fed way too much.
Patricia
There is a lot of emphasis on grades and I think instructors need to help students focus more on the information. The knowledge is what will help students be successful in the future. If the grade is low, but the student absorbed the information they will be better off than they would be with a high grade and low knowledge.
We (Adults, educators) have drilled into students from a young age how important the grade is. How important it is to get a 4.0. Sometimes it is a wakeup call when they don't get their first A. I remember when I returned to school, it was a Computerized Accounting Class. The Instructor returned a test and my grade was a B. I was devastated. This drove me to try harder and insure their were no more B's. Sometime we have a tendency to spoon feed our students and this can be very bad as no one will spoon feed them in the "real" world.
Hi James,
Awesome repsonse! Grades are important, but integrity is even more important. I have never had an employer to ask me when students use me as a reference did Jane Doe graduate with a 4.0? However, I have had employers to ask how would you rate Jane Doe's honesty/integrity?
Patricia
