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To Speak or Not to Speak: That is the Question
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Fields, Joyce W. |
| Copyright Year | 2007 |
| Abstract | In the best of all academic worlds, the phrase "grading in honors" is an oxymoron. According to many and various sources, the gifted college student is more of a perfectionist with higher educational aspirations than non-honors students. She tends to be more autonomous, self-aware, and willing to engage in discourse than non-honors students. We know that she comes to us with higher academic credentials than non-honors students and that she is, therefore, more poised for success. How, then, do we assess the creative, energetic, enthusiastic, impassioned work we expect from such students? Should we be required to do so? In the best of all academic worlds, students sit at the feet of wise and experienced professors and gather knowledge until they feel they have achieved the measure of education to which they aspire. Such students determine the parameters of their own learning and, thus, their saturation point. They maintain their own quality control so that their efforts reflect their personal best. In an age of big-business education and rising credentialism, however, this model is impractical and unmanageable. More's the pity. Legislators, academic officers, registrars, department chairs, parents, and students create a formidable parade of constituents clamoring for grades, evaluations, and hard assessment data. How do we know if teaching is successful if we cannot provide the evidence of high marks for our most excellent students? With some apprehension, more of us may find ourselves, like Harvard, reviewing grade inflation and adjusting our sights. As Larry Andrews postulates, undergraduate honors programs, not unlike many other social institutions, are forced to play the numbers game. Obviously, a number of games are involved: assessing the program itself, assessing the classroom instructor and content, and assessing student learning and outcomes. The assessment of student learning is the focus of this discussion, with guidance from the second of Andrews' two major values: "the noble honors pedagogical advising tradition of investing in the individual student." Numbers games have an obvious impact on retention and program development but are more far reaching in terms of personal student outcomes, a product we market as characteristic of honors programs. Andrews delivers one solution in the form of creative assessment of honors students' work. With interest in this creativity and a desire to be true to our honors tradition and institutional philosophy, I surveyed our honors students. I asked them to share their ideas about the necessity of assessing their work, the best method for assessment, and their preferred method of assessment. Roughly a third of our students (n=36) responded to my request for information. Of these, twenty-four were in their second semester of their first college year, ten were second-year students, and two were third-year. Perhaps because this group was composed mostly of first-year students, there was a clearly expressed desire for evaluation. When asked to comment on "how important you feel an assessment of your work is to your education and intellectual progress," representative comments were: * The assessment of my work is often as important as actually doing the work. It's essential. * I believe that assessment from instructors helps me, as a student, to hone my work. Advice from a professional helps me make wise choices. * I believe evaluation and constructive criticism provide opportunities for growth and mastery in most of my courses. A third-year student affirmed Andrews' understanding of assessment as a motivator for student learning and growth: * I do think it is important because assessment is the motivation to do it well. If you always studied and did work but no one assessed it, there wouldn't be as much satisfaction or motivation. I am an eternal seeker for an answer to the proverbial question "What is an honors course? … |
| Starting Page | 37 |
| Ending Page | 37 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 8 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=nchcjournal |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
