Do Students Really Need Grades?

Grading System: Since childhood, our parents and teachers taught us how important grades are in testing a student’s intelligence and smartness. While most of you may believe this is true, some may have a different opinion.

 

What is Grading System?

A grading system in education is a system, which involves the teacher’s professional judgment towards the student’s academic performance in the respective subject. It is usually applicable in the case of the school and college prelims and final exams. The ultimate grade signifies the level of performance and requirement to improve in one or more subjects. The grading system in India mainly includes the grade and grade description. For instance, a grade of A signifies that the student has performed ‘very good’ in his exams. In some cases, scale is also a parameter associated with the respective grade.

 

Grades or marks – Which is better?

Both grades and marks form a critical part of the grading system in education. However, the discussion of grades vs marks is always a hot topic in the education sector, especially among students, parents, and school authorities. It leads to the rise of one of the popular questions while talking about the grades of students – grades or marks, which is better?  There is no specific answer to this particular question as both the grading and marking systems possess their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

 

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the grading system?

Advantages of grades:

• Reduces laser focus pressure from students
• Reduce and avoid comparison with toppers eventually
• Gives an idea view of the strengths and weaknesses w.r.t respective subjects
• Helps to brainstorm more ideas

Disadvantages of grades:

• Non-focused students tend to avoid both smart and hard work
• Chances of increased laziness
• No exact identification of the weak areas
• Reduced accuracy w.r.t. scores

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the marking system?

Advantages of marks:

• Clearly indicates the improvement areas
• Increases competitive spirit among the students
• Best scores-related accuracy
• Helps students analyze the performance in the best possible manner

Disadvantages of marks:

• Increases stress levels in students due to parental and teacher pressure
• Excessive unhealthy competition at times
• Sole focus to gain the maximum possible marks
• Reduces the will to research new stuff and brainstorm ideas

Therefore, these aspects indicate that the marking system has a significant role but it is only one of the factors and not the one important that is solely important for the marking system.

Before we proceed with further aspects associated with the grading and marking system, let us find out some interesting aspects linked to these systems in the education sector.

 

What is the purpose of grading students?

The purpose of grading students is to help the teachers evaluate the performance of the students in their respective subjects. The grading system in education forms the indicating tool of the student’s learning, thereby helping teachers analyze the grades of students and understand the improvement areas in the respective topic or subject.

 

How to get high scores in exams?

Every student dreams to get high scores in the respective exams, thanks to the competitive grading system in India. The passive debate of grades vs marks creates a significant amount of pressure and anxiety among the students and even their parents who dream to see their students creating their way towards a successful career. Now the question comes, how to get high in the grading system in India? No worries. Here are the expert-recommended ways to get high scores in exams.

• Create clear goals: Yes! That is true. If you are not clear about your goals, you will be unable to create a proper plan to execute the same during your exam preparation journey. Therefore, jot down your goals starting from the shortest goal and move towards your most long-term goal. Dedicate time slots in terms of weeks and months to ensure timely achievement of the goals.
• Keep stress away: We mean negative stress. Stress can help you achieve or destroy your goals, depending on the way you deal with it. If you want to score well in your exams, you must be smart enough to keep yourself away from stress-inducing sources.
• Take guidance from experts: Right guidance can take you a long way and helps achieve the best grades for students. It is applicable for every type of exam and not only niche-specific competitive exams. For instance, engineering niche competitive exams such as GATE, ESE, and state-level government exams.
• Stay consistent: Even if you do not secure the desired scores, you must do your best to keep your efforts consistent to score the best possible marks and rank in the final exam. This way, you will secure the best marks according to your hard work and preparation.

 

How does the grading system influence students?

The influence of grading systems on students varies with the approach of the students towards the respective system. If the student has a positive approach toward the grading system in education, it will boost his confidence and motivate him to work proactively towards exam-oriented goals. On the other hand, if the student develops a negative approach concerning the grading system in India, he will see a rise in stress levels, thus leading to lowered performance level.

 

Which grading system is used in India?

Grading and marking systems play a critical role in India’s education sector. Grade Point Average (GPA) is one of the most common grading systems in India. Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is another popular grading system in India.

 

Are grades the correct criteria to judge a student?

Well, in this blog post, we will discuss the importance of students and if students need grades. While different people have different opinions, we shall look at this topic from a more relatable and genuine way and support each statement with proper examples to prove ourselves.

 

Do Students really need grades?

The simple answer to this question is yes and no.

A study at the University of Michigan showed that 80% of the students that were surveyed based their self-with on their academic performance- more than cited family support as a key to self-esteem.

In the education system, grading systems were introduced as the process of applying standardized measurement-do to showcase the different levels of achievement in any course. They are either done as letters, ranges, percentages, or any other form.

While the grading system has its set of benefits it can sometimes backfire when taken too seriously. Students tend to take the grading system at the face value and find themselves in unavoidable trouble.

Grades benefit the students in many ways and we shall discuss them further in detail.

 

Why grades are beneficial?

No matter how much students and parents criticize the grading system, it still has several positive aspects, which are beneficial for both students and teachers. The various benefits include the following:

1. Provide a method of studying: Without a grading system, studies and learning can get a little haywire. Grades help understand the various topics and subjects which one must be taught in each section and how the level of each subject must be increased. Grades actually provide a proper learning methodology that a student must follow to understand the concept well.
2. Guide to the future: With grades, students get a better understanding of their bent of mind and which subject they must choose for their future. As students, most of us are confused about our career choices and this is where the grades come to our rescue. We tend to choose the path which we deem perfect for us based on our grades in each class. So the grades act as a guide to the future.
3. Performance judgment: Grades act as a standard over which we weigh our future performances. It helps us know whether we are improving or not. Growing is the one constant attribute of humans; grades are a standard over which we can know how much we have grown and how much more hard work is required by us to reach a certain level of expertise. Grades also help students understand the various variations of a particular theorem or topic, through which they get a better understanding of the topic they are reading. In the case of recruitment, also grades help the recruiter in the first screening process. Through the grades, one can filter out the students who may be interested in the work. However, they undergo the interview process later to not base the recruitment completely on a grade basis.
4. Teachers get a better idea: With grades, the teachers get a better understanding of the subjects students have understood well and which topics require repeat classes. It also gives the teachers an idea about the students who are weaker in their studies and require more attention during and after classes. Without the grading system, the teacher would live under the illusion that all the students have understood the subject and would thus take the pain to focus on the students who might have trouble understanding the subject.
5. Motivation for studying: We all require some motivation and encouragement to work harder and become better at what we do. In the case of students, the grades act as a motivation. Students who perform well are motivated to work continuously harder to achieve similar grades. However, students who do not score good grades get the motivation to work harder and perform better in the next exams.

Thus, the grades are a great help for students to prove their caliber and in turn, pave a bright and beautiful future for themselves. We have learned about people like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Gates, and many more who adopted the grading system and proved their worth.

 

Why does Grading System have a negative impact?

For ages, researchers and scholars have questioned the purpose and effectiveness of grades. While it is necessary to know how children are performing, many believe that grades are not the perfect test of your knowledge. Education is supposed to be free and for all, so should be equally imaginative, effective, and inspiring in the way we evaluate these endeavors.

1. 1. Learning takes a back seat: With the pressure of grades and performing well in the exams, students tend to lose focus. Instead of pivoting their attention on learning and understanding, they are more inclined toward reading everything and scoring good grades. If one has to study only for grades, then the intellectual part of the student’s brain goes for a toss.
   2. Smart students suffer: Grades cannot determine how much you know, it is merely a system to ensure that the parents are happy that their kid understands the syllabus taught in the school or college. In this scenario, the smart student suffers as when they are busy understanding the subject and topic and its applications, the other students are merely focusing on grades. It leads to the smart ones compromising on their grades, thus lacking behind the others.
   3. Very subjective system: History is proof of how school and college dropouts worked on their skills and went up to become great scientists and leaders. Thus, grades are a very subjective system that is used to test the knowledge of students who are going to the brick-and-mortar system of education.
   4. A barrier to creativity: Grades act as a barrier to shaping one future and creativity. Instead of allowing the students to pave their path, the grades provide them with a particular path that they must follow. Most of the students tend to choose subjects in which they get good grades, while not even giving try to areas, which they have never tried.
   5. Biased knowledge: With the grading system, the knowledge imparted is much biased as it depends completely on the teacher’s preference. The knowledge imparted is proportional to the teacher’s knowledge and strengths. Instead, if teachers allow students to read wider topics in the related subjects, without the fear of grades, the knowledge will be more broad and universal.

Thus, the above points clearly tell how grades don’t exactly help in driving us to greater heights of educational enlightenment. They sure do cause a lot of stress though. People like Michael Dell (Founder Dell Technologies), Steve Jobs, and Albert Einstein are great examples who overcame the burden of the grading system and did great in life by making a name for themselves.

So we saw that no matter how much we criticize the grades, they also play an important part in our lives in determining our path and helping us shape our future. So abolishing the grading system is too much to wish for; however, what we must always remember is the importance of the grading systems and how seriously we must take them. We have seen both the pros and cons of the grading system and through this, we have got a better sense of how to proceed further.

One must not necessarily study and learn for the grades, as they are only criteria to tell how much you know and not a full proof methodology to test your knowledge. So while the students cannot ignore the grades altogether as they matter in the present education system and will help you in the future. It is also important that apart from grades one understands what they are reading and learning. While only reading can get you good grades, it may not necessarily give you a bright future.

To all the students who are preparing for the GATE or ESE Examination 2022 always remember that your grades will surely help you in passing the eligibility criteria for the exam, but only your knowledge and your understating of the subject will help you get a rank. For the college students too who are thinking of giving the GATE or ESE Examination, focus on your studies, you should manage both preparation and college studies simultaneously, this will help you in getting good grades in college examination while also helping you crack the GATE or ESE examination.

Always remember your grades cannot define you, so do not fall prey to them.

Your grades however act as stepping stones for your future, so do not ignore them completely.

Therefore, if you want to ace your exam preparation and achieve your best performance, you must focus on working both smart and hard to improve your overall performance, both in terms of grades and marks.

Keep up with your consistent efforts and stay connected with us!

 

 

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