In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
dennis roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>At 02:56 PM 2/9/2003, Herman Rubin wrote:


>>If we had really good education, an "A" would usually be
>>an indication that the student was placed in too low or
>>too slow a course.

>so, my interpretation of the above is that the concept of A ... is flawed, 
>right? it's not fair to assume that some students work very hard ... 
>achieve at a high level in a course ... and thus deserve an A for their 
>accomplishments?

It should not be accomplishment, but knowledge and the
ability to use it, which counts.  It is a waste of time
and other resources for a student to work very hard and
get an A, rather than learning twice as much and getting
B's at it.

>if that is the reasoning, then we might apply that to Fs ... saying that IF 
>a student is given an F, it is because we let a student enter a course for 
>which he/she is totally unprepared ...

>in either case, it suggests that we as instructors and/or the institution 
>... are/is the problem ... not the students

The idea that students should be taking the same material
at a given age, or even at a given stage of development,
needs to be completely removed from being considered as
"educational".  They should be taking material individualized
for them.

If a course is too easy, move the student to another one,
or allow early completion.  If it is too difficult, slow
it down, or if that does not work, drop it.

Unfortunately, this is not being done.
-- 
This address is for information only.  I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Deptartment of Statistics, Purdue University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]         Phone: (765)494-6054   FAX: (765)494-0558
.
.
=================================================================
Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the
problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at:
.                  http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/                    .
=================================================================

Reply via email to