We came up with two observations.
1. It seems like there is more and more prevalent a philosophy that a
student should be able to take one of two paths in order to pass a class:
learn the material or "jump through hoops." By the latter I mean do work
that is related to the course but not necessarily indicative of learning the
material. Examples: Keep a homework notebook; class attendance; time spent
in the computer lab; time spent in the tutorial center; correct exams and
turn them back in. All of those activities *should* increase learning, but
do not guarantee an increase. But, it seems like there is more and more
prevalent a philosophy "in education" that those activities should count a
larger and larger percent of a grade.
2. Colleges tend to grade "success" by asking, "Did the student pass this
course?" rather than by asking, "Is the student prepared to pass the next
course?" (When our school presents data on "student success" it is always
measured in grades in a particular course. Example: We had a 55% success
rate in Algebra.)
Anybody else notice either of these phenomena?
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