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U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

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Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#21

Post by estearum »

joezydeco wrote: post #15

When you force high school kids to work days that are significantly longer than a normal adult to achieve a good GPA and get into a good college, you can expect that they are going to throttle back once they're away from home with way more free time than is normal. From my kid's experience: she was up at 6:30am, in AP classes by 7:30am (three more to go during the day). Classes were done by 3:00, then sports practice…

I wouldn't blame her but anyone who has to check out should just fail.

This is about gunning for the elite/upper echelons of society. Doing that requires working like a dog not just for 2 years of high school and 4 years of college, but for likely several decades after.

It's totally fine if not everyone can do it and that more people try than actually achieve it. It would be surprising if those weren't true, and engineering the system otherwise is just degrading what it means to achieve the result.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#22

Post by SlightlyLeftPad »

joezydeco wrote: post #15

When you force high school kids to work days that are significantly longer than a normal adult to achieve a good GPA and get into a good college, you can expect that they are going to throttle back once they're away from home with way more free time than is normal. From my kid's experience: she was up at 6:30am, in AP classes by 7:30am (three more to go during the day). Classes were done by 3:00, then sports practice…

It’s what the American corporate work culture expects though. She’ll be well acclimated.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#23

Post by otoburb »

dpkirchner wrote: post #14
harimau777 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, I never considered that grades might be intended to help the person learning. I always assumed they were just intended as a signal to the rest of the world that they had learned something.

For the most part, the only people that see the grades are you, your parents, your teacher, and maybe your friends. Most of the world will just see a pass/fail result (degree or not), unless you also earn special awards.

You're right, but I understand that many graduate programs will ask for your undergraduate GPA and/or transcript as part of the application process.

If one doesn't plan on applying to grad school immediately after undergrad then hopefully there is less self-imposed grade pressure.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#26

Post by speak_plainly »

nemomarx wrote: post #10
speak_plainly wrote: post #2

The stated reason for doing this seems suspicious. A pass/fail dynamic would likely maintain student anxiety, if not increase it. What I think is more likely is that this move will help them hire less qualified teachers and reduce administrative oversight as now they no longer have to worry about all the issues that come with grading, such as consistency, or the grades accurately reflecting performance. The quality o…

The pass fail dynamic won't increase anxiety if you tell everyone to not fail students, though.

I would have anxiety if I was a first year student who wanted to transfer out to another school or program and not know if my 'pass' would be sufficient to get prior recognition of learning or advanced standing.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#27

Post by Jtsummers »

speak_plainly wrote: post #2

The stated reason for doing this seems suspicious. A pass/fail dynamic would likely maintain student anxiety, if not increase it. What I think is more likely is that this move will help them hire less qualified teachers and reduce administrative oversight as now they no longer have to worry about all the issues that come with grading, such as consistency, or the grades accurately reflecting performance. The quality o…

> A pass/fail dynamic would likely maintain student anxiety, if not increase it.

Pass/fail means that whatever was a C before is going to be passing now. It lowers expectations compared to the previous grading scheme (in that a C no longer has a serious impact on your GPA, you still pass). If the majority of the students are getting a C or better, the majority of students would get a passing mark.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#29

Post by hodgesrm »

ilc wrote: post #13

To those saying this is soft: https://registrar.mit.edu/classes-grades-evaluations/grades/... If you want to say MIT is soft. Feel free.

Michigan also dropped their mandate for ACT / SAT to obtain admission. So, yes, I would say that's pretty broken. Combined with systematic grade inflation American universities as a whole are removing any real feedback about student preparation, level of effort, or ability.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#30

Post by alistairSH »

joezydeco wrote: post #15

When you force high school kids to work days that are significantly longer than a normal adult to achieve a good GPA and get into a good college, you can expect that they are going to throttle back once they're away from home with way more free time than is normal. From my kid's experience: she was up at 6:30am, in AP classes by 7:30am (three more to go during the day). Classes were done by 3:00, then sports practice…

Personally, I don't blame her if she checks out for a few weeks. Or a semester.

Nor would I, but I'd also accept that she did so and failed a few classes.

Just like I did in the 90s. Although in my case it wasn't burn-out, but system shock at actually having to try to get good grades (Fairfax County PS then UVA).

Did that bombed first semester probably eliminate med school or an elite graduate program? Sure. But I probably wasn't cut out for either anyway. And it was a kick in the pants and got me to pay attention and work.

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