Do you think you would have learned more without grades?

[Eric01]

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Say you had a magical transcript that no matter what happened you would always end up with a 4.0. In effect, you don't have to worry about grades in your undergraduate classes.

Do you think you would have learned more? That you would have been able to focus on the parts of the class that interested you and study the material like it's supposed to be studied. I.E. think about the material and how it works and relates to the real world rather than study material and see how it relates to tests.

I feel like a significant part of my undergraduate career was spent trying to "play the game" that the material was just obstacles that I had to master to get a grade. Didn't matter if it was math, english, physics, whatever, they were just different topics with different obstacles. I didn't spend much time actually thinking about what I was learning, and how it might have been useful. Hence, after I turned in my final for a class, I would often forget 90% of what I've learned.

Now that my GPA is set in stone, I'm taking some of my last pre-reqs, and so I know the grade I get in them won't change my GPA much. It's different now, I actually approach the material like I feel it should be, with natural inquiry and desire into it. The material I read I think about how that might be of use to me and what it could be useful for and how it works.

But at the same time, I'm only doing this because I've already developed the study routines, I do feel grades have their most benefit in simply motivating us to study.
Personally, I think most of us wouldn't give a crap about college academically if it wasn't for grades, so I would still say it's better in the big picture.

Still, it's so much better when you can approach a class focused only on how to become more competent and learned in the topics rather than how to ace tests.

 

[aSagacious]

Tl;dr. No.

 

[Soulstice]

I think grades motivate me to study--and while that should come from within sometimes it just doesn't happen. In that sense, grades inspire me to study the material in depth and to find ways to master the course curriculum. Think about it, aren't your pass/fail courses usually the ones you consider afterthoughts?

 

[Tapepsi]

I guess it depended on the class. If it was something I enjoyed then I learned a lot and the good grade was a result of me being very interested in the material. If it was a class I didn't like (history...) then yes it felt like I was just "playing the game" to get the good grade.

 

[Narmerguy]

I think I would have a more general understanding of a lot of things. In fact, I'd probably learn the same amount just with the same effort. The difference between a B+ and an A, for example, often has no real difference in comprehension of material but just how hard I worked to memorize certain details. I have invariably forgotten almost all these things and semesters later I typically only have a B/B- recollection of the material.

For example, I memorized the glycolysis/citric-acid cycle twice so far...forgot them all completely. Does that mean I don't know what they do? No, but I just don't remember all the silly details. However, me knowing those details cold was the difference between getting a 94% on a test and a 78%. It's kind of dumb and why I like schools with systems like Yale.

 

[MeowMeowCAT]

If it was not for grades I would constantly be taking the max course load every single semester.

And anyways it is not like what we learn in undergrad really applies after ward. If someone with a liberal arts degree has the same chance of getting into a medical school as someone who major in a science degree, then obviously stuff like grades are just an illusion of the material bearing any importance.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

Tl;dr. No.

+1

I usually need to have some sort of outside motivation to learn something unless it really interests me.

 

[HealthHare]

Tl;dr. No.

THIS👍

 

[CuttingCorneas]

For example, I memorized the glycolysis/citric-acid cycle twice so far...forgot them all completely. Does that mean I don't know what they do? No, but I just don't remember all the silly details. However, me knowing those details cold was the difference between getting a 94% on a test and a 78%.

Same here. What about the people who cram for tests and still manage to pull off an A? Do they retain the information in the long-term? No. But they still get the grades they want.

 

[mvenus929]

I guess it depended on the class. If it was something I enjoyed then I learned a lot and the good grade was a result of me being very interested in the material. If it was a class I didn't like (history...) then yes it felt like I was just "playing the game" to get the good grade.

This. I think in some of my classes, I would've learned a whole lot more had I not had to worry about the grade. In others, though, the grade was just a side effect of me learning the material really well because I was truly interested in it, and the fact that I was shooting for a certain grade motivated me to study it.

I'm on a P/F system in med school, and find that I learn just enough to scrape by in the material I'm not interested in, but go into depth and try to understand the bigger concepts in material I am interested in.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

In my experience, if I'm taking a class for the grade/requisite grades are pretty much the only reason I give it 100%... but when the course finally ends I lose the details really quickly. On the flip side if I'm taking a P/F course or an incredibly easy course (like 50% class gets As) with an interesting subject matter I find that I remember the details far more vividly and have a greater end grasp of the material. I think, in the end, most students are not nearly as motivated by a desire for learning the material than a desire to meet a goal (say, becoming a physician) and grades are pretty much the only way to ensure they actually make an attempt to learn.

I think a P/F system w/o grades is superior to one with grades, provided that the students, ya know, care about the material. I can only speculate as an undergraduate but maybe that's why medical schools are more accepting of P/F system than undergraduate schools.

 

[CodeBlu]

Grades are stupid. You can't quantify learning. Someone could have gotten 100 on the exam, but actually knows nothing.

Without grades, I think there should be a system where if you don't contribute to group discussion, or demonstrate knowledge, you get kicked out.

 

[deleted357625]

if ppl say yes they are lying...

 

[ozzi22]

nope🙄

 

[TheRach1025]

I definitely would've learned more.....about Call of Duty and Halo.

In all srsnsss, grading lights a fire under your a** so you can slog the material you don't like and later understand the stuff you do like.

 

[orthomyxo]

In a perfect world, yes. But in reality, if I could have a 4.0 no matter what, I'd probably spend most of the day playing Xbox or something.

If you want good ones, grades force you to study and know everything whether you like it or not. So I don't really believe many people would learn more without them.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

I think I can say somewhat confidently that it wasn't my desire to learn that drove me to sit in my room and memorize details about artwork from the 16th century.

It was the thought of getting a high enough grade to allow me to skip the final. 😛

 

[transfec]

I think I can say somewhat confidently that it wasn't my desire to learn that drove me to sit in my room and memorize details about artwork from the 16th century.

It was the thought of getting a high enough grade to allow me to skip the final. 😛

👍

 

[Bowchickawowwow]

It would totally depend upon your personality. I know many kids, including myself, that use grades as their sole means of motivation. When I have to take a class that I absolutely hate, like calculus or something, I'm not in there because I want to "enlighten" myself, I'm in there because I want to get an A!

The grading system, though sometimes austere & rigid, is definitely there for a reason. In any case, I think that people pick and choose what they want to learn. If you hate math, you can memorize a few equations and learn a few steps, and then empty that info after the class, but if it's something you love, it sticks with you!

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'd agree that it really would depend on the courses. For undergrad I doubt my ecology class would've received much study time with a guaranteed 4.0. It also would've provided me incentive to ditch class and learn more on my own in classes where it was obvious the instructor was being forced to teach and had no interest or qualifications to do so.

I think the person who mentioned that a lot of what you learn as an undergrad might not be applicable once you leave college has a point as well, except that also depends on the degree. I went back to college for a degree in clinical laboratory science after finishing a biology degree initially.

I can say for sure that while I still would've been enough of a geek to study the first time without grades, nothing compares to the motivation I had for the second degree knowing that if I didn't have a sound knowledge base it could hurt or kill someone. In that case I would've still studied my tail off to learn that stuff cold. I anticipate the same feeling for medical school. I also just like learning this stuff.

I do think p/f systems are great for cutting out focus on extraneous and esoteric b.s. while allowing you to focus on the important stuff.

 

[paul411]

Tl;dr. No.

+1

Try making this a poll.

 

[Person0715]

I think I would learn less without grades.

People only act when given the necessary incentives. For some people, the pursuit of knowledge may be enough of an incentive, but for most it is not.

 

[Shizz]

Lol people think you have to learn to get a 4.0 - you just have to game the system: cram for what's on the test, nothing more. Around 3-4 hours after the test, you will have forgotten everything you've "learned" and then you can go back to your awesome social life.

 

[em3761]

No.
Fear is a powerful motivator.

 

[235788]

Tl;dr. No.

No people would blow it off and have no reason to learn it. Think about what you probably did in your freshman year social science, study for the exams : )

 

[circulus vitios]

Absolutely. There are so many things I have a shaky understanding of, but instead of taking time to really learn the it I have to get a "good enough" understanding of it and press on because the professors are hellbent on covering 34602 chapters a semester. Without grades I could slow down and really learn the material.

edit:

"Absolutely" with the caveat of this only applies to things I'm interested in.

 

[Lil Mick]

I always learned more when it wasn't forced learning. I'm not sure I'd do if for every class (really would hate taking subjects like business), but I've never understood the point of being tested over details you won't remember in ten years. I like my school's pass/fail curriculum, as I can learn the important things in my classes and spend the rest of the time learning other things for my career and delving in deeper when I'm really interested in the material 🙂

 

[Donald Juan]

Lol people think you have to learn to get a 4.0 - you just have to game the system: cram for what's on the test, nothing more. Around 3-4 hours after the test, you will have forgotten everything you've "learned" and then you can go back to your awesome social life.

That sounds like a serious memory problem. Just because you don't remember every little detail of ever little thing doesn't mean you forget it all, and that learning didn't occur. I can still remember aspects of every class I've taken, even though I don't know it well enough to go in and ace every single test right now without any studying.

 

[CodeBlu]

That sounds like a serious memory problem. Just because you don't remember every little detail of ever little thing doesn't mean you forget it all, and that learning didn't occur. I can still remember aspects of every class I've taken, even though I don't know it well enough to go in and ace every single test right now without any studying.

I went to school with a girl who was like this... she got awesome grades. But she couldn't remember stuff for the life of her after the test.

We'd be talking about a course we were currently enrolled in, then she'd ask a question... I'd say "yeah, it's like so so taught us in this course last semester."
😱 would be her response.

 

[Algophiliac]

That you would have been able to focus on the parts of the class that interested you and study the material like it's supposed to be studied. I.E. think about the material and how it works and relates to the real world rather than study material and see how it relates to tests.

Still, it's so much better when you can approach a class focused only on how to become more competent and learned in the topics rather than how to ace tests.

THIS. I cannot re-emphasize this enough, which is why I feel a grade-free medical school will be ideal for me. The nature of the grading system is such that I simply cannot (don't have the time) focus in depth on the material, the intricate systems behind it, and etc. There is no time to think, and it frustrates me--I have so many things left to memorize....when I would rather read this interesting study about how something in my test material actually isn't true now.

However, I realize time might always be a constraint, especially in medical school. Perhaps more attention to grades and the grading system would be a good thing for me, actually...at least grade-wise. Sigh.