Do grades help you to learn or hinder you?
By evadhar
@evadhar (15)
United States
November 16, 2009 7:38am CST
As a student, have grades helped you to learn, or have they hindered your learning? From my own experience, I could argue both sides of this question. If I've studied hard and learned the subject material well, and then got a good grade, I feel empowered and ready to move on to new material. However, if I've studied hard and learned the material well, and then received a poor grade, I feel cheated and don't really care about learning more. Are these natural reactions? What do you think?
1 person likes this
10 responses
@rjvb26 (2518)
• Philippines
17 Nov 09
O hell yeah! Grade is a kind of motivation but of course it is not the main factor that motivates me, what motivates me is that the dream of becoming a successful and a better person and that motivates to study hard and work hard.
@artistry (4152)
• United States
17 Nov 09
....Hi evadhar, When I was in school I was always interested in what my grade was. Because to me it was an indication of my progress in the class. Also an indication of how the teacher thought I was doing. If my grade was low, I knew I had to improve, if it was a good grade, I had to maintain and try to do better as well.
So good grades were important to me, they also helped you to make the Dean's list. So the measurement by grade was a barometer for me at school. Take it easy.
@evadhar (15)
• United States
17 Nov 09
Hi artistry, you make an interesting point with your statement that the grade you received was an "indication of how the teacher thought I was doing." I wonder if we, as students, learn how to figure out what a teacher wants and then we strive to please that teacher in order to receive a good grade. When we please the teacher and receive a good grade, does that mean we are really learning the subject matter? I ask that question because I recently transferred to another university. As a result I had to take a class that was almost identical to one I had taken at my previous school. In fact, both classes used the same textbook and lesson plan. In my original class, I received an "A" in this course. In my new class, I struggled to make a "C." The only difference between the two classes was the Professors and their individual views on what should be learned from the course. In this case, my good grade in the first class was not an accurate indicator of how well I knew the subject matter, as demonstrated by my performance in the second class. Smile and be happy!
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
16 Nov 09
hi evadhar I have always thought that grades helped because they
showed how good or how poorly you were doing in a subject. If you have studied and learned the subject well then received a poor grade I would ask the teacher why? sometimes students do not read all the test and answer the wrong question, be sure you know what is being asked first then formulate your answer.
@evadhar (15)
• United States
16 Nov 09
Hi Hatley, you make a great point that grades are supposed to be an indicator of how well you are doing in a particular subject. However, is that always true? It seems to me that there are a number of assumptions being made that may or not be entirely true. First we assume that how we actually interpret a question is the way it was intended to be interpreted. Secondly, we assume that our response to the question is sufficient to fully answer the question being asked. Thirdly, we assume that what we learned from the material we studied is what was intended to be learned. Also, with regards to tests, some people do not do well on written exams; they may be poor test-takers. So, are tests a good way to measure what someone has learned, or are they a good way to identify people who are good at taking tests?
@mashiuwsan (154)
• Philippines
18 Nov 09
When we endevour in something, we always look for measurements. Similar to studying, grades become our measurement. As I student I was one who's very particular at getting high grades, when you get good grades you get recognition and you feel successful and proud. When I got out of school and went in to the corporate world, I realised that my college grades could only take me as far as the first step (getting in a good company). The rest is up to me...no grades, just pure hard work. So to all you students out there, I say study hard but do not measure yourself by your grades, measure by how much things you learned you knew you can apply in your future goal.
@DarkMarixx (331)
• Philippines
17 Nov 09
It really helps! I believe that every mistake that you face has a purpose. Sometimes, your grades encourage you to search for a solution for your mistake. The real thing is, what's on your mind? Think if you know a lot against your competitors.
@animegirl334 (3263)
• United States
17 Nov 09
Of course it is natural to feel unfair when you work hard for something and not get good results. I think grades work both helps and hinder learning. Students should know their progress through test scores but a bad score can make a student want to give up studying.
@NIECIE21 (365)
• United States
16 Nov 09
I think this is normal, I feel the same way. HOwever, if I notice that I keep getting low grades after I have studied very hard, then I will get some additonal help, because it is a good way to realize that your not really getting the information that you should be getting. That almost always helps me to get my grades up to where they should be.
@missliss08 (766)
• United States
17 Nov 09
I think grades can be both motivational and detrimental. If you take pride in your grades, then you will strive to get better grades. However it can also be a negative effect, if you try very hard and still can not manage a good grade. I think it should be not so much placed on just grades, but find other ways to prove academic capabilities, then just testing.
@lidiam84 (151)
• Netherlands
16 Nov 09
I think it's a natural reaction but still you need to see the poor grade as a signal that you need to give extra effort to that material not as a sign of weakness or defeat. So just keep pushing forwards to it! The grades are there to show you that you need to work harder, not give up hope! :)
