BNFO 491 |
Course at a Glance: Feedback |
Fall 2012
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Feedback -- How? How much?
Feedback is the reason we have not remained moderately complex organic molecules in a primordial soup, and feedback plus spirited enterprise is a hard combination to beat as a strategy to increase your abilities. You will have a lot of feedback in this course, in the form of extensive comments on exams, problem sets, -- anything that you hand in. The spirited enterprise is up to you. That's fine,... but what about grades?
But there is a much bigger issue. The objectives of this course are focused on helping you gain intellectual independence and become producers rather than consumers of knowledge and ideas. You presumably accept these objectives, or there's little sense in your participating in the course. But grades, particularly as commonly implemented at VCU, work against these objectives. Strongly tied to independence is the notion of intrinsic motivation, the idea of doing something because you think it's right, as opposed to extrinsic motivation, doing something because it is presented to you as a desirable choice. An emphasis on A-F grading has been reported to promote viewing grades as the goal rather than learning or , compared to P/F grading [reference 1], and grading has been shown to undermine the development of intrinsic motivation, which is fostered by nongraded feedback [reference 2-5]. Ironically, though both students and professors give lip service to the notion that learning, not grades, is the higher goal of education, each blames the other for forcing their attention towards grades at the expense of learning [reference 6]. If the ill effects of grades were limited to the four years of college, it would be bad enough, but: Students are released from grading pressures upon graduation, but the effects of reactance to learning may last a lifetime. The cost of using grades to induce learning may result in college graduates who seldom learn intellectually challenging material just for the fun of it, and "learning not to learn" may become the most long-lasting lesson of a college education.If I take seriously the objectives of this course, I should emphasize constructive feedback and de-emphasize grades. I will therefore provide voluminous feedback but refrain from assigning any grade until forced to do so by the powers that be, i.e. at the end of the semester. An added benefit of this practice is that I will have more time to devote to constructive feedback and developing resources for the class (believe me, grading takes time!). However, I will notify you the moment the thought crosses my mind that you are heading for an ultimate failing grade. If you are not notified, then you have never handed anything in to me that would cause such concern. Then in the end there will be grades... How?
I will consider two routes to a passing grade:
Let's consider the various material that could go into an assessment at the end of the semester:
At the time of writing, I don't know whether the grade in BNFO491 will be A-F or P/F. "491" is a temporary number, given to "Topics" classes (one-time classes or those offered for the first time on a provisional basis). I know that at least in some cases, such classes are given P/F. I don't know how this class was set up. Whatever the case, the course will not be affected until December 19, the day that grades are due. How will I know where I stand in class?
Why so... different from everyone else?
Academics can believe what they want. The outside world believes in grades. Certainly medical schools...
...but if you're interested in research, this is not the case. The number taking that route is small enough that real people can look at your application and judge as best they can your real talents. From my own experience and the experience of students I have known, I can tell you that research experience and scientific maturity count for much more than grades. Some of your colleagues left BNFO 301 (with a similar grading system) with different views, and some did not. You can read their opinions here. In the end, however, you're going to have to decide for yourself why you (or someone) paid the thousands of dollars to go to VCU. Was to gain a number or to learn something important, whatever you judge that to be? References
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