Grade Entitlement?

[elkethegreyt]

I got this link from a friend at work after a recent discussion on entitlement pertaining to newer hires at works. It was being sent around in her group of college friends and causing some heated discussions.

So what do you guys think? Are the younger folks feeling more entitled?

Comments

[rebelowl42]

The article almost makes a good point and then fails to follow through. The problem IS standardized testing. But they don't talk about why...the reason is simple:
STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE MINIMUM STANDARDS TESTSPassing a standardized test ONLY says that you meet the minimum necessary skill level...which in the US means a grade of C. Critical thinking skills can be woven into a standardized test, but not truly tested. From kindergarten on students are told they need to pass this test to go on to the next grade (which is not necessarily a bad thing...) but at some point the government started putting more pressure on schools to have more students pass the test that the smart students are stuck bored to tears for half the year or more while teachers are pulling their hair out reteaching the same five things to the same five students because the students never do homework, never take notes, and don't try in class. Then the politicians come along and make the test harder and talk about lazy fat cat teachers who are just in the job to

[electrichobbit]

And by the time we get them in university, they've had this drilled into them for 12 years...and it's impossible to teach them that the whole point of a class is to learn

[rebelowl42]

I agree completely.

[tashar]

Sure, but are K-12 teaching methods the only factor thatat's causing people that are just a few years younger than us to collectively feel more entitled? We grew up in the same style of learning system.

[memeslayer]

Prof. Marshall Grossman has come to expect complaints whenever he returns graded papers in his English classes at the University of Maryland.

I found the problem! Start everyone off with an Engineering class and they'll automatically be trained to accept low grades and little sympathy from professors. :-D

More seriously, though -- other people have brought up some good points, so let me add the emphasis on GPAs to that. When your education is evaluated based on one number, a C is not an acceptable grade. I noticed some of the entitlement attitude in my fellow high school students about ten years ago, but it was mainly the ones trying to play the system to improve their Ivy League applications without any concern for actually learning stuff.

[kuoirad]

"Prof. Marshall Grossman has come to expect complaints whenever he returns graded papers in his English classes at the University of Maryland.

I found the problem! Start everyone off with an Engineering class and they'll automatically be trained to accept low grades and little sympathy from professors. :-D"

That was one of my first thoughts too - the difference between objective and subjective classes/grading. In science/engineering, there's right and there's wrong. Effort (typically) doesn't have any bearing on the grade.

But that's not really what this discussion's about now, is it? :)

[rokitwoman]

This reminds me of my parent's neighbor who taught Botany/Microbiology at OU ... one could never argue about a grade with him ... one time he had a student try to argue that he "gave" him a D ... to which he got the reply, "I didn't give you a D, you earned it

[elkethegreyt]

:) The Incredibles touched on that last point of yours. The scene with Bob and Helen discussing Dash's "graduation" - "It's not a graduation! He is moving From the 4th grade To the 5th grade..."