The problem with this professor is that he DID give grades --> A+ to everyone. So anyone looking at the students' transcripts would have to assume that they did A+ work in physics which they probably did not all do. Also, according to the article the professor simply said that it was not his job to give grades (assess performance for future use) which I imagine is factually incorrect.
The broader question that Chris raises must be tested at least in part at the many schools in the US (and elsewhere?) that give written evaluations instead of grades. Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, office (717) 245-1562, fax (717) 245-1971 http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/psych/helwegm Office hours: Monday 10:30-11:30, Tuesday & Wednesday 2:00-3:30 **************************************************** From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 1:31 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] globeandmail.com: Professor makes his mark, but it costs him his job It is too bad that this (now former) professor's politics obscures the critical educational question he poses: Would students work harder on their courses if there were no grades (i.e., if knowledge was the ONLY thing they could hope to take away from a course)? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090206.wprof06/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostview It sounds to me like an empirical question. My prediction is that, initially, some would work more, some less, and some the same but that, after a (not very long) while, most would realize that there is not much point in investing the time to attend dozens of hours of lectures unless you actually learn something from them (especially if there is no grade forthcoming to serve as a proxy for what you learned). On the other hand, attending a series of lectures, even if you do not intend to become an expert in the topic, can be an interesting experience, so perhaps many students would continue to attend but not work hard. Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
