With American students falling behind in the world standings of academics, it is time that we review other options of grading and teaching in our educations system if we are going to reestablish ourselves in the world market of education. There is a new concept regarding the grading system known as , Grades out and Badges in, and I believe it would be a sufficient change to assist the level of learning for our students and our rankings in the world education.
Grades out and Badges in is the process of dropping traditional grades and grading systems and creating a new method to chart the progress of students and at the same time reward them for their efforts, just like a video game.
It is not a secret that our traditional school systems …show more content…
First of all a student studies hard and takes an exam and feels he has done well, but when the paper is returned to him, at the top in RED ink (of which red is a very aggressive color) there is his grade. It doesn’t say congratulations nor does it promote any positive affirmation. It says in strong red ink, minus 10 and then a grade of 80 (assuming there were 50 questions). What does that student focus on? The forty he positively got right? NO. He is forced to focus on the negative, in red ink, the ten he incorrectly answered. Even if a student only missed 1 out of 50, the negative red ink screams what he got wrong, again negative, and gives no positive feeding of what he just did right, and that was 49. So every child goes home and shows the report their parents, and guess what they say, “Mom here is my math quiz, I missed 10.” He doesn’t tell her how many he got right, he is forced to tell her how many he missed because that’s what the old grading system promotes. It doesn’t promote his ability, creativity and positivity, it promotes the negative. LIttle Johnnie can’t be happy he correctly did 40 questions right, he has to focus on what he did …show more content…
This began years ago when the first video games appeared on the scene and now generations have it coded in their educational DNA to work hard and enjoy the journey if there is a bright badge at the end and the opportunity to advance to the next level. To incorporate this concept would be a huge motivator for students, the opportunity to work hard, receive a badge upon completion and moving to the “Next Level”. This would encourage our students to do what they are already accustomed to doing and they enjoy it. I mean, really, who wants to work hard to get a letter grade. I have personally experienced the dreaded moment when I was performing well in a course all semester and one test grade brought me down from an A to a B or C and it devastated me and did not at all reflect what I actually learned and accomplished the entire semester. In the Badge in and Grades out system, once someone has earned their badge, the next level will not and can not lessen that achievement and now it is promoting a positive outlook on their
Grades out and Badges in is the process of dropping traditional grades and grading systems and creating a new method to chart the progress of students and at the same time reward them for their efforts, just like a video game.
It is not a secret that our traditional school systems …show more content…
First of all a student studies hard and takes an exam and feels he has done well, but when the paper is returned to him, at the top in RED ink (of which red is a very aggressive color) there is his grade. It doesn’t say congratulations nor does it promote any positive affirmation. It says in strong red ink, minus 10 and then a grade of 80 (assuming there were 50 questions). What does that student focus on? The forty he positively got right? NO. He is forced to focus on the negative, in red ink, the ten he incorrectly answered. Even if a student only missed 1 out of 50, the negative red ink screams what he got wrong, again negative, and gives no positive feeding of what he just did right, and that was 49. So every child goes home and shows the report their parents, and guess what they say, “Mom here is my math quiz, I missed 10.” He doesn’t tell her how many he got right, he is forced to tell her how many he missed because that’s what the old grading system promotes. It doesn’t promote his ability, creativity and positivity, it promotes the negative. LIttle Johnnie can’t be happy he correctly did 40 questions right, he has to focus on what he did …show more content…
This began years ago when the first video games appeared on the scene and now generations have it coded in their educational DNA to work hard and enjoy the journey if there is a bright badge at the end and the opportunity to advance to the next level. To incorporate this concept would be a huge motivator for students, the opportunity to work hard, receive a badge upon completion and moving to the “Next Level”. This would encourage our students to do what they are already accustomed to doing and they enjoy it. I mean, really, who wants to work hard to get a letter grade. I have personally experienced the dreaded moment when I was performing well in a course all semester and one test grade brought me down from an A to a B or C and it devastated me and did not at all reflect what I actually learned and accomplished the entire semester. In the Badge in and Grades out system, once someone has earned their badge, the next level will not and can not lessen that achievement and now it is promoting a positive outlook on their