Students Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes

In the article, “Students Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes,” Max Roosevelt uses six separate interviews to illustrate the fact that students need to go above and beyond what is considered “average” to receive an A. Students have the belief that if they do what they are supposed to and meet the standard requirements they should get an A, when in truth that is just simply what you are supposed to be doing in the first place. To receive outstanding academic achievement, students go to school not just to learn, but to give opinionated feed back, be interactive, and put high amounts of time and dedication into their studies. Roosevelt proclaims that a sense of entitlement to A’s and B’s may come from their prior experience from kindergarten to twelfth grade, a school system where “doing the work” implies high grades. Sarah Kinn, a junior English major at University of Vermont agrees with the majority of students, claiming “[Students] feel that if [they] do all of the readings and attend class regularly that [they] should be able to achieve a grade that of at least a B.” Students think that if they work hard, they deserve a high grade. In contrast, professor Marshall Grossman does not give an A for meeting the minimal requirements; he gives a standard C. Professor Greenberger assumes that giving an easy A can lead to a heightened sense of entitlement, which is be directly related to the increase of achievement anxiety. The fear of failure, pressure, and competition that one faces could play an effective role towards their belief of deserving good grades. Another example would be how Dean Hogge puts an emphasis on the locus of control. There needs to be a desire to earn an A rather than just easily receiving an A. The student’s dilemma is that they tend to put the responsibility on someone else if they receive a low grade, which leads to irresponsibility and does not prepare you for the real world. Lastly, professors at Wisconsin emphasize the true purpose of what the value of education is to a student and claiming students need to “read for knowledge and write with the goal of exploring ideas.” Professor Brower exclaims students should have an interest in their field of study and forget about the grade. Students should learn for the sake of enriching their knowledge, and then their grades will reflect upon it.