Latest Embarrassing CHE Op-Ed: Make All Courses Pass/Fail

[spork]

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Make-All-Courses-Pass-Fail-Now/248281.

Indicator of (ir)relevance: the column starts with "I'm a visiting professor of government at Harvard, on sabbatical from my regular teaching job at Middlebury College."

[sockknitter]

I saw that article soon after learning that students at my university have started a petition to request pass/fail grading for this semester. I don't think our students realize how many professors issue a D- to those who have actually earned an F, even though the evidence is in the CMS.

[polly_mer]

I like the header: Students aren't having a real college experience. We shouldn't pretend that they are.

How does that translate to pass/fail instead of canceling everything for those who only participated in half a term of instruction?

I am bemused by the saga of the good student being asked to cheat.  Is saying no not an option?  Is this really the first time a good student has been approached to cheat?  If so, then someone was due a rude awakening.

I'm not at all impressed with logic like "But what does excellence actually mean when global public health is under siege? The measures that are necessary to contain the pandemic require the strong to sacrifice their short-term selfish interests for the sake of other humans and the sustainability of our democracy."  A democracy that demands we ignore the distinction between excellence, good enough for this purpose under the given circumstances, and absolute crap isn't being saved.  Instead, that mindset is paving the way for the maximum to be set at "probably good enough for now" for always.  A worthy sacrifice of short-term selfish interest is taking the incomplete/withdraw and resuming/starting over at a later time.  A worthy sacrifice of short-term interest is to accept that this term was a loss, call it off, and do a redo at a later time.  Deeming something good enough when it's really crap is not something worthy of praise or even consideration by people with standards.

"If our purpose in teaching is to engage students in the joy we ourselves have experienced from learning and the life of the mind, removing letter grades from the interaction, especially in dark times, only reinforces our shared commitment. "  That was a distant Nth goal when I was teaching.  Top goals were content and skill mastery for classes that were for majors.  Classes for general education were about becoming conversant with the way one approached solving problems in the field and working together to leverage different expertise to address problems complicated enough to need multiple people. 

I've almost never experienced "joy..from learning and the life of the mind" in a classroom setting.  I'm a much bigger fan of the immense satisfaction in tackling something hard enough that tears and shouting from the frustration are part of the process and then eventually something works or at least comes together days/weeks/months later.  There is enormous satisfaction in having something become clear after weeks/months of wrestling with the problem, reading everything one can on the problem, and then bringing it all together in a whole with a handful of "future work/open questions" as the current snapshot of knowledge. 

A lively discussion can be a kind of joy, but I haven't had that happen too much in the formal classroom, either.  Project discussions in which all the team members are hugely invested in joint success often bring a kind of joy in the moment, but not gen ed classes with people who didn't do the reading, have seldom done the reading, and don't want to be there anyway.

[marshwiggle]

I'm not at all impressed with logic like "But what does excellence actually mean when global public health is under siege? The measures that are necessary to contain the pandemic require the strong to sacrifice their short-term selfish interests for the sake of other humans and the sustainability of our democracy." A democracy that demands we ignore the distinction between excellence, good enough for this purpose under the given circumstances, and absolute crap isn't being saved.  Instead, that mindset is paving the way for the maximum to be set at "probably good enough for now" for always.  A worthy sacrifice of short-term selfish interest is taking the incomplete/withdraw and resuming/starting over at a later time.  A worthy sacrifice of short-term interest is to accept that this term was a loss, call it off, and do a redo at a later time.  Deeming something good enough when it's really crap is not something worthy of praise or even consideration by people with standards.

Yes, that quotation lept out at me as well. (Among other things, it ignores the distinction between grading schemes where 20% of the grade was established "before" and ones where the grade was 80% established before.)

And since when is getting a representative grade "short-term selfish interest"?

[Parasaurolophus]

I'm not at all opposed to shifting to pass/fail. But as far as I'm concerned, that's a directive that has to come from the top. If I shift on my own, I'm sticking my neck very, very far out. My institution has been very persnickety about getting any and all changes to our courses approved by the faculty senate (because they're apparently worried a student might complain/sue).

In the meantime, I've done the least disruptive thing possible: everything stays the same but lectures are recorded, the exam is given through the LMS, and presentations are submitted but not presented.

[polly_mer]

And since when is getting a representative grade "short-term selfish interest"?

When it means that other people who were on their way to a solid B+ (A- when they cram for that final exam and hand in a fabulous end-of-term paper) are now looking at a C- at best due to their life blowing up and transitioning to online.

Don't you know that one way to fix the unfairness of normal life is to hobble the top?  Harrison Bergeron and Brave New World remain as relevant today as when they were written.

[marshwiggle]

And since when is getting a representative grade "short-term selfish interest"?

When it means that other people who were on their way to dreaming of a solid B+ (A- when they cram for that final exam and hand in a fabulous end-of-term paper) are now looking at a C- at best due to their life blowing up and transitioning to online.

Don't you know that one way to fix the unfairness of normal life is to hobble the top?  Harrison Bergeron and Brave New World remain as relevant today as when they were written.

Fixed that.

[mamselle]

The original posting I saw was that the Harvard equivalent of "elective" core courses were being made pass/fail, not that everything was.

Has that changed?

Or are students just hearing what they want to hear?

M.

[marshwiggle]

The original posting I saw was that the Harvard equivalent of "elective" core courses were being made pass/fail, not that everything was.

Isn't that an oxymoron?

[mahagonny]

I like the header: Students aren't having a real college experience. We shouldn't pretend that they are.

well, they're not having an equal experience if some one them get the online course at the same time that they were before spring break, while others, because of the time zone they're in, have to get up and take it at 4:00 in the morning. Or look at a recording.

[pigou]

The question to ask yourself is whether the person would have held a different position (i.e. would have been opposed to P/F grading; or really, passing everyone) in the absence of a pandemic. It's remarkable how many op-eds (and policy proposals) are "here's why what I've always demanded is especially needed during a pandemic!" Never let a crisis go to waste. But they're just as (un)persuasive as they were before.

There are lots of policies that are helpful now that would probably always have been appropriate. I never understood severe late penalties for example. But the reasoning for why we should have them now aren't at all different than from why we should have them when there's no pandemic going on. Maybe it's now just easier for instructors to empathize with the students?

[Puget]

We had a system in which students could "insure" a small number of grades by converting a grade of C- or above to a pass, but only for courses that weren't in the their majors or minors. We've relaxed that this semester so they can do so far all classes if they choose and it won't count against their max for their college career. That seems like a fair compromise under the circumstances-- they are certainly not getting the same quality of instruction, and they are under a lot of stress.

[Wahoo Redux]

Our uni just issued the edict that students may demand a P/NP option on any class that does not count toward a major or minor.

I don't quite understand why----I don't see how on-line instruction will be any harder or, including drive-time, walk-time, and class-time, any more time consuming than traditional instruction.

[downer]

I would like to know which students are taking the class P/F before I read their work, so I know how much effort to put into reading it.

[marshwiggle]

I would like to know which students are taking the class P/F before I read their work, so I know how much effort to put into reading it.

THAT is the big advantage to faculty; grading mostly disappears or requres no more than a cursory look at anything.