1) Truly extinguishes intrinsic motivation.
2) Actually diminishes performance.
3) Crushes creativity
4) Overcrowds good behaviour
5) Encourages cheating and other unethical behaviour
6) Will cause addictive behaviour
7) Fosters short term thinking.
Enough said.
Source?
ReplyDeleteI have seen some of this, but I have seen many students who don't use grades that way. Granted, I teach in a private school where there are more motivated students ... still, I also hear that grades are a way of informing the students how well they are getting the material. Some students have complained to me, as their advisor, about teachers who did not give a grade with an assignment. It didn't matter the quality or quantity of comments on it, they still don't know whether or not they were able to demonstrate the learning and thinking well enough for the essay/paper/etc.
Sure, not every assignment needs to be graded, nor does every grade need to be weighted the same, and our emphasis should be on growth, not on current grade (something I stress especially when students have done poorly on a test). Grades are a quick way to demonstrate current location and - over the year - growth. Transcripts that show grades over the entire year (quarter or semester or trimester) can show that story of growth through the year on any subject.
So until I see the sources for your 7 points that prove this is done all the time ... I will respectfully disagree with your post.