Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Not so straight As

One visiting professor's account of dealing with students who expect their grades to be inflated. High School teachers have to deal with parents who expect their kids' grades to be inflated and we have to deal with university students who think that their B should be an A because they "were really enthusiastic in class". The reasons that the problem exists are endemic, but ulitmately we let it exist by changing so many whiners' grades.

Then there's the economic factor...
Pure and simple, tuition at a private college runs, on average, nearly $28,000 a year. If parents pay that much, they expect nothing less than A's in return. "Therefore, if the teacher gives you a B, that's not acceptable," says Levine, "because the teacher works for you. I expect A's, and if I'm getting B's, I'm not getting my money's worth."
"We've made a transition where attending college is no longer a privilege and an honor; instead college is a consumer product. One of the negative aspects of this transition is that the role of a college-level teacher has been transformed into that of a service employee."

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