Michael Braun's Blog

After re-reading this New York Times article, on student expectations and grades in college, I was left with more questions than anything. For example, is the article really arguing that college students think they deserve high grades for just showing up to class? Are professors really going so easy on students that grades mean nothing? Are those professors who give realistic grades just asking for trouble from pesky students who will either complain until their grade is changed or give bad reviews because of their own sub-par work? If that’s the case, then our American education system is in trouble! But taking a closer look, the article needs to provide a lot more information before we can make any such conclusions.

Question 1: What kind of professors are raising these complaints?
From the article:
Prof. Marshall Grossman has come to expect complaints whenever he returns graded papers in his English classes at the University of Maryland.

“I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”

These quotes seems taken out of context. Are we really expected to believe that Prof. Grossman gives out an assignment description that, if students follow it to the letter, will only earn them a ‘C’ grade? How will students know what more work they need to do to earn an ‘A’? Should they write a paper that is twice as long? Should they expand the prompt? Should they pull in more outside resources? Each of these areas is likely to earn the student a lower grade with another professor.

Any professor who makes unclear assignment descriptions should expect student complaints throughout the semester. The onus is clearly on the student to understand the prompt, but if that kind of understanding only earns the student a ‘C’, shouldn’t we encourage students to complain?

Question 2: What kind of student feels so entitled to high grades?
From the article:
A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that a third of students surveyed said that they expected B’s just for attending lectures, and 40 percent said they deserved a B for completing the required reading.

A ‘B’ for what? You cannot tell me that students believe they should get a ‘B’ for just going to lecture. What does that mean? That these students think they could not complete any of the assignments or exams and get a ‘B’ because they showed up? If that’s true, then I’ve never met a college student like that, another sign that UW is a fine, fine institution.

Now what if the full response was some like this. “I think that I should be able to get a ‘B’ on the exam if I go to lecture, do the required reading, and study for the exam.” Would anyone disagree with that? You do all the required work for the course and prepare yourself properly – yes, this should earn you a ‘B’. If you miss these components, you will likely suffer a lower grade. And if you really are into the subject matter, have a very high understanding of it, or are just really smart, you will get an ‘A’. This seems infinitely reasonable to me.

Question 3: Are students actually stupid?
From the article:
Nearly two-thirds of the students surveyed said that if they explained to a professor that they were trying hard, that should be taken into account in their grade.

“I think putting in a lot of effort should merit a high grade,” Mr. Greenwood said. “What else is there really than the effort that you put in?”

I agree, it is frustrating to try very hard and get a grade lower than you desired. But “what else is there”? I’ll tell you, Mr. Greenwood. In the real world (no, not the popular MTV television show, sorry if I confused you), your efforts matter zilch. Your boss does not care how much you tried, she cares what the results are. She does not care if you stayed late every night for 2 weeks. She cares if your efforts translate into results. And if there is someone else who produces the same results with less effort, the promotion is going to him, not you. He can get more done with less effort, and thus can put out more productivity than you can. All in all, your effort matters least among all other factors.

When a student tells me that he tried really hard or studied a lot, I am sympathetic. No one likes to try hard and fail. But sympathizing is all I can do. I never offer to change anything, and I never will. In the rare cases where I do grant a second change, it’s because I feel the student didn’t properly understand the assignment in the first place. Never ever would I let effort play into raising the grade of a sub-par result.

With all these questions about the article, I think the New York Times and author Max Roosevelt ought to do a follow-up piece to examine A) real students and real professors and B) real world implications of these grading issues. Let’s face it: if I’m a student and I think I can get my grade raised by complaining, I’m going to go all in. These students may have some adjusting to do after college, but in the end, if they are persistent they will likely see results. Don’t we want employees who never give up?