Behavioral Education Grading
When we collectively think of learning, our minds jump straight to validation, tests, and quizzes. Experiencing numerous occasions of studying, anxiety, stress, and handing in papers has left our minds altered. We don’t remember the 90% of the time spent learning, but the 10% when we validate what we were supposed to learn. The scarring of minds shouldn’t be the takeaway of education.
What do grades really mean? Mostly, that at one point in time, you remembered something. Or that you guessed correctly during an exam. Grades almost act as a deterrent: Pay attention, or you’ll be held accountable. Similar to don’t steal, or you’ll go to jail.
Grading comes in handy when it is focused on technical competence, such as understanding an algebraic formula so that you can do advanced statistics or knowing how to apply the basics of chemistry to ignite a chemical reaction.
What do we want out of students? Do we want them to be great at trivia? What’s the capital of South Dakota? Bismarck, but I’ve never used that information before this essay. More importantly, we want students who are curious enough to ask what the capital of South Dakota is and who have the ability to find the answer. This mimics life in the world outside school. So, what is the point of spending so much time memorizing trivia?
What we really want out of students is effort. Simply, that they care enough to try. To have the desire to work and try hard. No matter what limitations people have, if they have grit and tenacity, they will come through with the skills and knowledge required by the institution.
We also want students to develop a love of learning. A curiosity about the world and a desire to know more. Time in a class setting is limited, and all the required knowledge will never be touched on. However, if we can create lifelong learners, they will independently continue their journey toward self-mastery.
In general learning, behaviors are more important. Interest overcomes ability in the long run. Thus, institutions should search for effort and not results.
One of the reasons we still revert to tests is that it is hard to assess effort. An old default was subjective monitoring, which quickly turns into a game of favoritism. There is objective monitoring, however, in which measures focus on time spent on learning areas. The most effective method is to redesign the learning journeys and approaches to learning to fix the measurements. There is no way other than to start from scratch.
What is measured is what is done. If you can design an educational or corporate learning system around behavioral motivation, you will end up with better long-term outcomes. The question shifts to what the needed behaviors are, how we teach them, and how we validate them.
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