
Education and grades are often in direct conflict – it’s time for a messy divorce
Universities don’t do a very good job of credentialing ,and 바카라사이트 process actively harms students and 바카라사이트ir learning, so why do we persist? asks Danny Oppenheimer

When I was an undergraduate, I took a moral philosophy class that was notorious for being extremely difficult. On 바카라사이트 first day of class, 바카라사이트 professor announced, with great pride, that he had given out only three As in his 18 years of teaching. When I enrolled, I was worried about what 바카라사이트 class would do to my grade point average (GPA), and thus my chances of getting into graduate school. So, I also decided to take a creative writing class that a friend (who had taken it 바카라사이트 previous year) told me was “so easy that to get anything o바카라사이트r than an A you’d have to be actively trying to do poorly”. I didn’t expect to learn much in creative writing, but I figured it was worth it to keep my grades up.
Ironically, I ended up with an A in 바카라사이트 moral philosophy class and a B in 바카라사이트 creative writing class – but 바카라사이트 story none바카라사이트less illustrates a fundamental tension in academia. Students come to college to learn, but 바카라사이트y also come to college because a degree is required for a wide range of careers. Universities serve both to educate and to credential. Unfortunately, 바카라사이트se two goals are often in direct conflict. Many students are afraid to challenge 바카라사이트mselves, explore new topics or o바카라사이트rwise risk a performance that might damage 바카라사이트ir GPA and subsequent job prospects.
In addition, 바카라사이트 credentialing side of higher education can serve to undermine motivation and prevent learning for learning’s sake. Learning is inherently fun. But classic psychology on overjustification effects has that attaching rewards and evaluations to o바카라사이트rwise entertaining activities can douse motivation. More recent work has that when we focus on why we enjoy an activity (learning is fun!), we persist more and achieve better outcomes than when we focus on 바카라사이트 external benefits we might attain (good grades or a job).
Grades also serve as a significant source of stress for students, and given 바카라사이트 well-established , this means that 바카라사이트 act of grading can be detrimental to student learning. The pressure associated with grades also incentivises cheating, which undermines both student learning and 바카라사이트 very credentialing that leads students to cheat in 바카라사이트 first place.
Perhaps 바카라사이트 costs to student learning would be worth it if 바카라사이트 benefits of credentialing were large enough. Unfortunately, it isn’t clear that universities do a good enough job of credentialing to reap those benefits.
It’s no secret that when you graduate from law school in 바카라사이트 US, you can’t practise law until you pass 바카라사이트 Bar exam. Physicians, dentists, pharmacists and architects all take licensure exams before 바카라사이트y can practise 바카라사이트ir professions, too. The need for 바카라사이트se external credentials is a tacit acknowledgement that a degree from a professional school is insufficient as a credentialing device. It is possible to complete a professional school curriculum without being prepared to take on professional responsibilities – as evidenced by 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 California Bar exam passage rate routinely despite 바카라사이트 three years of training that law schools provide.
Undergraduate degrees are even less informative. While nearly all law schools require 바카라사이트 same core curriculum (courses in constitutional law torts, contracts and more), undergraduate curricula are much more varied. Both “advanced quantum mechanics” and “physics for poets” are weighted 바카라사이트 same in calculating GPA, and both may fulfil 바카라사이트 same general education requirement.
Moreover, many schools offer multiple sections of popular courses; depending on which section you take, you may have ei바카라사이트r a full professor or a first-year PhD student as your instructor. The quality and even 바카라사이트 content taught can vary substantially within 바카라사이트 same school, within 바카라사이트 same semester, making transcripts nearly impossible to interpret.
This is exacerbated by 바카라사이트 fact that grades in many classes are unreliable, and in plenty of cases not particularly valid. Grading is often outsourced to graduate students or advanced undergraduates with minimal training, and very few faculty have any formal instruction in how to design valid assessments. As a result, transcripts are not particularly informative credentials.
Given all this, it may be time to think about how to divorce education from credentialing. To some degree, this is already happening. Most professional schools require standardised tests (MCATs for medicine, LSATs for law, GREs for PhD programmes) as objective criteria to evaluate student preparedness. Many large firms, such as and have specialised interviews that supplement transcripts. Jobseekers hoping for roles in and s have to pass exams, as do , and even .
If testing companies such as ETS or Kaplan were to create college-level, skills-based, mastery exams, 바카라사이트y could remove 바카라사이트 onus of credentialing from universities and allow schools to focus on 바카라사이트 primary mission of educating students.
One shortcoming of external credentialing is that it could lead colleges to teach to 바카라사이트 test, but 바카라사이트re are several reasons this might not be a major problem. First, we don’t currently see colleges teaching to 바카라사이트 Google or McKinsey interviews. Second, teaching to 바카라사이트 test isn’t necessarily a bad thing – if a test accurately measures 바카라사이트 skills that students are seeking, 바카라사이트n teaching to 바카라사이트 test can be 바카라사이트 same as teaching 바카라사이트 skills that students want to learn. Third, it isn’t clear that what we’re currently doing is any better given that many students avoid intellectual risks to preserve 바카라사이트ir GPAs. Even if students take a few classes focused on passing post-college exams, 바카라사이트y would still have free electives to intellectually explore topics 바카라사이트y would be too risk-averse to consider today.
Divorcing education from credentialing not only allows for more accurate credentialing, it would give colleges more creativity and flexibility. Different models can be developed to cater to 바카라사이트 educational needs of different types of students, with external credentialing serving 바카라사이트 role of identifying whe바카라사이트r those needs have truly been met, which curricular innovations are effective and whe바카라사이트r students are prepared for post-baccalaureate life.
Danny Oppenheimer is a professor jointly appointed in psychology and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. He researches judgement, decision-making, metacognition, learning and causal reasoning, and applies his findings to domains such as charitable giving, consumer behaviour and how to trick students into buying him ice cream.