What is a Grade?

When a teacher gives a student a grade, what does that grade signify? Does it signify the effort and care a student put into an assignment and/or class? Sure. Some students bust their hump to do they best work possible. Some students, for whatever reason do not.

But this is only what a grade represents, in the least bit. A grade's true meaning is the value a student has placed in a class. A student who got a D did not get it because he did not care. He got the grade because the class or the assignment stunk. Students do bad work because the work they are given is bad to begin with.

Under achieving students are a clear sign something is wrong with the quality of a course. The readings are vague and arduous. Assignments do not reflect a student's knowledge. Discussion is not moderated to filter out or stifle superficial and meaningless comments.

Teachers cannot assume students do not care or are poorly prepared. If they do, then they are letting too much opinion and full blown bias get in the way of compelling the student to grow. In this sense, grades are given, not earned.

Teachers need to look at a course, the material, the assignments, the lectures, and the discussion from students' perspective. Will the student find significance in the learning experience? Sometimes being able to understand the material is enough. Sometimes its not. Sometimes showing how the material can be relevant later in life can help, but probably not.

I'm not trying to solve the answer of how to get students to find meaning in a class and the work. I think it depends on the student and the class. The main point though, is grades should not ultimately reflect a student's achievement and how much they gave a shit in class. The grade is ultimately a reflection of how much a student was compelled by a teacher, enjoyed classed discussion, found quality in the readings, had desire to express learned knowledge through assignments.

Ultimately students are teaching themselves. Yes, teachers put lots of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears into preparing and delivering a class. But students are paying for a worthwhile experience. They have to decipher lectures, comprehend readings, contribute intelligently to discussion, and build elaborate assignments and projects. And they do not know anything about the material from the start! It is the teachers job to make this process awesome! If they do not and a student gets a good grade, well then shit-damn. If a student gets a bad grade, then their is a good chance the class has no value.