Introduction
Grading refers to the process of using standardized measurement formula of varying levels to determine the achievement in a course. Grades can be distributed by numbers, percentages of total marks or in letters such as A, B, C, D, E, F with each letter standing for some pre-established criteria. In US education system a variety of grading systems are used such as norm-referenced grading system, criterion referenced grading system and alternative grading systems such as pass-fail system and non-graded evaluations. Lately the grading system has come under a heated debate with people opposed to grading demanding for the system to be abolished while proponents emphasize that grading offers an accurate and meaningful measurement of a student's ability and achievement. Though grading motivates students by giving them incentives to work harder, inspires them to take up challenge and provides them with the scope to pursue higher education and improve their thought process, opponents are led by the belief that grading reduces students’ interest in learning, taking up challenging tasks and the quality of their thinking.
Motivation
Grades motivate students by giving them the incentive to work harder. However, the group of people opposed to the system of grading believe that grades tend to reduce students' interest in the learning itself because receiving of poorer grades repeatedly make them lose confidence in their own ability and they lose interest in the whole system of learning. Daniel Pink in his book Drive has explained how the carrot and stick formula of grading students is dangerous for them in the long run (Pink, 2011). On the other hand, people in favor of grades believe that the system of grading inspires students to have a goal and take necessary preparation to achieve that goal. The goal of scoring 'A' and avoiding 'F' gives impetus to students to strive hard to give their best in the exams. It is the competition of grades with peers that motivates a student to work hard. If grading is demotivating and shameful then the HR technique to measure performance of employees and reward them is equally bad. For example, employees' performance are judged on the basis of their appraisal review and points which determine who are high performers and who are not. If students cannot take grading with a good spirit then how come they will be able to face the appraisals and reviewing of their performance when they will join workforce. Just as appraisals are done to measure performance of employees and reward them to motivate, similarly the system of grading is used in education to make students feel motivated to do better.
Inspiration for Challenge
Grades inspire students to take up challenge. Opponents believe that grades tend to reduce students' preference for challenging tasks. They believe that students who continue to receive bad grades in order to avoid struggling with failure give up on the challenge of learning a subject well. But if students give up so easily because of receiving poorer grades in schools or colleges, how would they face failure in real world when companies would give a job only if one outshines other interviewees with his skill and qualification? Today's world has become highly competitive when schools and colleges are the stepping stones to prepare students for the future. Good grades are not only reflection of one's knowledge; it also reflects one's capability of taking up the challenge of learning new skills. For example, all the successful organizations in the world starting from Google Inc. to Accenture, from Amazon.com to Apple all recruit meritorious students from reputed universities all across the world. The academic records of these students along with their exceptional merit reflect their competitive mindset because one who has always acquired good scores throughout his academic life is bound to be very competitive by nature, a skill that is required for survival in the current world of cutthroat competition.
Improvement of Thought Process
Grades are important for higher education which gives students a scope to expand the horizon of their knowledge and improve their thought process. Opponents, however, believe that grades tend to reduce the quality of students' thinking. They opine that when students are assigned to do tasks requiring high degrees of creativity, they tend to do less well and show less interest when they are being graded than when the encouragement is given to focus only on the task. It is true that grading might put off most of the students who hate being judged on grades, but grading doesn't reduce the quality of students' thinking. Rather the system of grading helps students pursue higher education in good colleges and universities to expand their orbit of knowledge. Knowledge is a treasure of ideas and it is proven that highly knowledgeable people and highly qualified people think better than the average. For example, NASA which works on space programs and aeronautics and aerospace research has the talented brains of the world injecting their ideas into the research programs and these talented individuals all are highly qualified and have come through the conventional education system passing exams through grades. If grades would have reduced their quality of thinking then they would have no grey matter left to innovate on research.
Conclusion
In conclusion, grading has been subjected to a raging debate with one party asking the system to be abolished and another party strongly supporting its effectiveness. Though opponents believe that grading spoils the students' interest in learning, reduces their ability to take up challenging tasks and undermines their quality of thinking, there is no denying the fact grading motivates students by giving them a goal to pursue, inspires students to learn the skill of facing challenges and sharpens their thought process. Despite all the doubts and arguments, it is undeniably true that grading functions like a stimulant for students to push themselves harder so that instead of wasting time watching TV and playing video games, they take their studies seriously and compete with peers to achieve academic excellence.
Works Cited
Pink, Daniel H. 2011. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Riverhead Books
Better Education: Why Good Grades In School Are Important, Essortment, <http://www.essortment.com/better-education-good-grades-school-important-40487.html>
Kohn, Alfie. Grading, <http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm>
