The definition of unfair

[applecow]

So like I am sitting in my Chicano Sociology class and towards the end, the professor mentions something about the quiz being extra credit will only applied to those who are not doing well in the class.  Here is what he said

I wanted to set the ground rules for the Pop Quiz. First, it will not be next Monday. Seond, it will cover the Law and

Comments

[ph0enix_rising]

dude, i totally sympathize with you. might not have that many fleshed out arguments, but the whole "free points to people with lower grades" bit is universal. it seriously sucks when professors hand out extra credit or any other incentive/grading/whatever is in such a biased manner. doesn't make any sense how they can do that while telling us they're trying to "be fair" to everyone, does it?

[disfunkshunall]

Do your transcripts post median grades? Ours do, so extra credit is unheard of, as we're not only exceedingly rigorous, but it's worthless to boost grades if our grades are compared to a median. Everything is zero sum. But as a practical matter, this basis of comparison doesn't make things perfectly competitive - medians are driven up, and resumes don't include medians.

Having said that, if the professor wanted to keep top students on top of their game, his policy makes sense - in so doing, the incentive to excel is maintained.

on second thought

[disfunkshunall]

I'd like to think education exceeds simple differentiation - preparation is its purpose. Though inequality is unfair, it does not seem unjust - it'd be a greater disservice to everyone if people like you just walked away half-assed with good grades. I don't mean you're a half-assed student, but if lenience permits you to be one, that's no good either