Delving into personal experiences and academic anecdotes, this chapter sheds light on the intertwined nature of grades and self-worth. It discusses the emotional impact of traditional grading systems on students' mental health and explores alternative grading methods focused on informative feedback and progress tracking. The narrative challenges the objectivity of grades, pointing out their subjective nature and the need for more meaningful feedback loops in educational settings.
Robert Talbert shares about the principles of grading for growth on episode 510 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
In one shot, she can’t get a B in the class. And I sat there and just watched her sense of self worth and her excitement in the class just decay away right before my eyes.
-Robert Talbert
When you look at grades as we often use them in a traditional setting, they are much of what we do is under the guise of object what we think is objectivity.
-Robert Talbert
The biggest thing that’s broken about grades is that traditional grading is completely disconnected from the notion of a feedback loop.
-Robert Talbert
Give helpful feedback that doesn’t humiliate the student, affirms their basic dignity as a human being, and highlights what went well. Helpful feedback also highlights what could use some work and invites students to collaborate with you to make it better.
-Robert Talbert
Reattempts without penalty, that’s the closing of the feedback loop.
-Robert Talbert
Points used for grades are a judgment call that results in a label.
-Robert Talbert