The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, By Daniel H. Pink
As a student, I understand the occasional hatred of grades. Your teacher gives you an unfair grade on a project. A rubric is too vague to actually demonstrate your understanding. Or your grade drops for no apparent reason. Despite this, it is inaccurate to think that grades only present problems.
The grading system, with regard to education, is the process of evaluating students on a scale in order to understand their academic success. Although it is often criticized as ineffective and harmful, the system is necessary to provide youth with a meaningful education.
Grades are universal. Many connote the rigidity of grade with something negative, but these people miss its many benefits. Because grading provides a scale that is used across all …show more content…
Some may argue that students should be self-motivated to work out of appreciation for learning, but this is ignorant to reality.
Grades function as a definable goal for students. Such that if a student devotes time and effort to their classes, they receive a tangible reward that benefits them in the long term. Alternatively, it sends signals to a struggling student that they need to focus on their education. Replacing grades with a more ambiguous form of evaluation loses this benefit by not stressing the importance of student performance.
In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel H. Pink argues for forms of intrinsic motivation, “The problem with making an extrinsic reward the only destination that matters is that some people will choose the quickest route there, even if it means taking the low road. Indeed, most of the scandals and misbehavior that have seemed endemic to modern life involve …show more content…
Cheating in schools can be regulated and punished. And just because grades incentivize students, they are not mutually exclusive from other motivators. For example, schools could make assignments for students more enjoyable, therefore intrinsically motivating the students. Additionally, schools could explain the importance of subjects learned in school to the real world so students work hard with the understanding that what they are learning is important for the real world.
With the revoking of the grading system, it not only removes the motivating nature of grades, but it sends the message to students in schools that their performance is not as important. Although in the workforce people do not receive grades for what they produce, employers still evaluate employees. Unless replaced by a system that similarly rewards and penalises students for the quality of their work, students will be led to believe that the final product is not
The grading system, with regard to education, is the process of evaluating students on a scale in order to understand their academic success. Although it is often criticized as ineffective and harmful, the system is necessary to provide youth with a meaningful education.
Grades are universal. Many connote the rigidity of grade with something negative, but these people miss its many benefits. Because grading provides a scale that is used across all …show more content…
Some may argue that students should be self-motivated to work out of appreciation for learning, but this is ignorant to reality.
Grades function as a definable goal for students. Such that if a student devotes time and effort to their classes, they receive a tangible reward that benefits them in the long term. Alternatively, it sends signals to a struggling student that they need to focus on their education. Replacing grades with a more ambiguous form of evaluation loses this benefit by not stressing the importance of student performance.
In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel H. Pink argues for forms of intrinsic motivation, “The problem with making an extrinsic reward the only destination that matters is that some people will choose the quickest route there, even if it means taking the low road. Indeed, most of the scandals and misbehavior that have seemed endemic to modern life involve …show more content…
Cheating in schools can be regulated and punished. And just because grades incentivize students, they are not mutually exclusive from other motivators. For example, schools could make assignments for students more enjoyable, therefore intrinsically motivating the students. Additionally, schools could explain the importance of subjects learned in school to the real world so students work hard with the understanding that what they are learning is important for the real world.
With the revoking of the grading system, it not only removes the motivating nature of grades, but it sends the message to students in schools that their performance is not as important. Although in the workforce people do not receive grades for what they produce, employers still evaluate employees. Unless replaced by a system that similarly rewards and penalises students for the quality of their work, students will be led to believe that the final product is not