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Local college fires two professors who refused to base 60% of student's grades on "effort." I wish I could have gotten away with having 60% of my college grades based on "effort." Must be what they refer to as grading on a curve...

WTF

What the hell is a "science professor?" - I thought "science" was a topic in middle school or something, not coellge?   (maybe it's just the reporter who doens't know their stuff).

Sorry for the cut-n-paste, but this isn't new.  This is from C.S. Lewis' "Screwtape Proposes a Toast", written in 1959.

For those not familiar, Screwtape is a fictional demon (we hope), whose voice C.S. Lewis used to make certain theological points (in an inverted fashion, of course).  This is an excerpt from a sort of postscript to his book The Screwtape Letters.

"At universities, examinations must be framed so that nearly all the students get good marks. Entrance examinations must be framed so that all, or nearly all, citizens can go to universities, whether they have any power (or wish) to profit by higher education or not. At schools, the children who are too stupid or lazy to learn languages and mathematics and elementary science can be set to doing the things that children used to do in their spare time. Let them, for example, make mud-pies and call it modeling. But all the time there must be no faintest hint that they are inferior to the children who are at work. Whatever nonsense they are engaged in must have - I believe the English already use the phrase - 'parity of esteem'. An even more drastic scheme is not impossible. Children who are fit to proceed to a higher class may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma - Beelzebub, what a useful word! - by being left behind. The bright pupil remains democratically fettered to his own age-group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coaeval's attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON THE MAT."

I guess these people dont realize that your effort shows thorugh your acedemic success.  How else are you supposed to judge effort?  Is there some way to get a good grade for no effort, or a bad grade for exceptional effort?

Screwtape letters is a brilliant book


ETA - I wonder how long it will take for the predictable comment to appear

I had one political science class where 70% of the grade was a single, 30 page paper turned in on the last day of class.  The other 30% was stated to be "attendence and opinion".

No conservative got above a flat B (UDel does +/-).

Kharn

I must be stupid.

I haven't missed a class in two years...

Quoted: What the hell is a "science professor?" - I thought "science" was a topic in middle school or something, not coellge?   (maybe it's just the reporter who doens't know their stuff).

Maybe the reporter graduated from Benedict College, and is one of those people who grad-joo-ay-ted with a 40% average?

Don't get me started on when I used to teach college....I used to have to put up with similar grading policies...grrr.......

Quoted: I must be stupid. I haven't missed a class in two years...

I haven't (purposefully) missed a class in 3.  I missed one because I slept through the alarm, and I missed another when I missed the bus.

Quoted: I must be stupid. I haven't missed a class in two years...

Don't feel bad - I haven't miss a class in the last 8 years

Quoted: Quoted: I must be stupid. I haven't missed a class in two years... Don't feel bad - I haven't miss a class in the last 8 years

I haven't missed one in 10 years!

I'm in a 15 person cohort in an 18-month program.  We take one course at a time, 8 hours a week for 5-6 weeks.   Missing 1 class results in, usually, either a reduction in your final score by one letter grade or 2 points off your final average.

One member has consistently missed at least one and usually two class meetings, for every course. I have no idea why she is even in the program.  We were told it was demanding when we started.  All she does is bitch about the work.

Other team members have dubbed her The Deadbeat because of her her antics.