marks-manship bullshit

8/13/2019 Marks-manship Bullshit

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Marks-manship bullshitSome thoughts about what marks represent in education

By Chia Wei

I am barely a few months into being a teacher and the

perversion of marks has me reeling in disgust. Its less the

disgust against the idea of marks, but rather what they stand

for in the current education system.

In the present tertiary education, students fawn and obsess

over the idea of having bonus marks and choice-based

assessments; and groan over the idea of projects,

assignments and essay-based assessments. Academic

departments furl up their brows thinking about moderating

scores to fit into a nice bell curve, with talks about pass-

rates, turnovers,and student feedback. That has triggered a

chain of thoughts about the current system of assessment,

and the representation of marks and grades.

Let us first examine what do marks represent:What does it mean if you have scored 75 out of 100 in say,

MECH111 Mechanics? Ideally, it means that you have

achieved roughly a 75% mastery of what the course needs

you to know and apply in this subject including objectivessuch as calculation, problem solving, and practical

application of said knowledge. It is usually composed of a

final exam, usually a test of knowledge, and project and

assignments that could assess the course objectives that is


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relevant to the application of such knowledge. The individual

marks of the component should thus correspond to an

assessment of the skill or knowledge of the person, and the

composite grade a weighted average of these components.

If and when an external party should ask about the grade

(say in this case 75%), the grade should thus give an

approximation of the skill and knowledge of the person. A

person that obtained a High Distinction, or an A+/A8,

should indicate that the person understands and is able to

apply proficiently such knowledge to problems in the subject

matter. In extension, the fine line between fail and pass

should serve to indicate the suitability of the person in being

able to reliably use the knowledge and skill. The definition of

fail/pass varies between fields for example in certainMedicine courses, a pass is only given if the student can

obtain a 70% grade. Obviously, one would only trust a doctor

who could reliably perform a particular operation or

diagnosis and perform suitable treatments for the patient.

Yet, even if a particular course requires students to score a

50% only in the subject, it should still serve to delineate

those that can versus those who cannot. Would you live in a

house that is built by an engineer whose houses

are sometimes designed and built reliably. Only 4 out of 10

houses collapsethats a 60% success rate, which is a passright?


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Perhaps what a pass in a subject means is that the student is

able to reliably demonstrate knowledge and application of

the core components of the subject. If a student passess

electronics, he should be able to construct a basic closed

circuit that switches a light on and off, every single time he is

asked to. Perhaps he is not well versed with very complicated

circuits, but at least there is a basic competency to the

subject.

How would an external party know how is the student

assessed? Is there a common consensus between educational

institutes? Does society and the public have to put every

single person to the test again even if they have a formal

acknowledgement of competency (e.g. a degree, diploma,

certificate)?

Just some food for thought.

This brings us to the topic of the adjustment ofmarks:Teachers occasionally award bonus marks to students they

feel should deserve extra academic credits. These extra effort

demonstrated by students could take the form of

participating in out-of-class activities that ideally should be

related to the subject matter. Usually, this serves to reward

students who are already proficient in the subject and are

able to demonstrate their capabilities beyond what the

course requirements measure.


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The issue arises when students who tread between the pass

and fail gap are awarded bonus marks which allows them to

pass a subject, which they technically would be failing. Have

they at least demonstrated the knowledge or skill of the core

components of the subject? It is unlikely. Should such

students deserve to fail or pass the subject?

On the flip side, how about students whose marks are

deducted because of a departmental policies that

unfortunately penalizes students based on the fault of the

student, but which is unrelated to the subject? Should they

deserve to pass or fail?

In certain countries or education systems, marks are

adjusted against the mean/median, such that there will be a

proportionate part of students that obtain the distribution of

grades. For example, in the Malaysian high school graduate

exams, the subject of Additional Mathematics is infamously

known for havingjusta passing score of about 30 marks. If

you obtain 60 marks, it is likely that you would have scored

an A, or a distinction. Based on the discussion of the

representation of marks above, would this be a fair

adjustment? In this particular scenario, it is just a high

school examination, so arguably it is not of a life/death

importance. Certain courses and universities are also known

to practice such adjustments. Should society be concerned?


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The possible) implications of condoning such laxrepresentation of marks:Assessments and marks are a core pillar of most educationsystems in the world, especially countries whose education is

largely derived from the British. A vague and misrepresented

assessment system might have various effects on society.

Students could graduate into work without knowing their

own capabilities, and thus create a mismatch of expectations

between students and jaded employers. Bosses comment, Adegree is not worth much anymore, since any Tom, Dick, or

Harry can obtain one nowadays. In other cases, services and

products might be of sub-par standards malpracticingdoctors, collapsing structures. Of course, these are relatively

far-fetched claims, and there are many factors such as

societal expectations and the enforcement of minimum levelsof service. However, without a particular reference standard

in education, proliferate mediocrity (or worse, incompetency)

can influence the general expectation, work ethics, and

culture of a particular field.

Who should be the one to fix this? Society? Employers? Thegovernment? Educational Institutes? Families? I believe it is

a network of expectations and perspective. In dear Malaysia,

many would attribute it to the government and its policies of

implementing an adjusted nationwide high school

examination, as well as the quota system which purpose is to

graduate particular groups of student as a representation


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of a successful education system (i.e. 70% of people have

obtained a university degree; and not a focus on excellence

or standard). I believe educational institutes and society too

have a part to playwhy the focus on marks and it alone?Should marks and assessment not be an indication of the

competency of the student?

I write this article in hopes of getting people to think about

the education system. Marks, assessments, grades and what

they represent only covers a particular aspect of where

education seems to be failing in providing society the

productive people it needs, and individuals the learning and

growth they need. Change can start from individuals I amjust one teacher, but if I put thought into educating others,

and inspire others to do so, we can slowly but surely make

changes in education.

Some other food for thought:In some disciplines, assessments cannot be even graded

against a 100% cap. Marks represent what you need to

achieve in the course, and does 100% represent full mastery

of the subject? What about divergent, creative skills such as

writing, performing, inventing? Can they be fairly graded

against a 100% cap?

There are other questions about education is the focus onassessment and marks diverting our attention away from the

most crucial aspect of education the process of learning


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and thinking? A select few countries have already made the

change to educating children in elementary and high school

differently (seeEducation in Finland), and even without

formal nation-wide assessments, the Finnish are considered

one of the most highly ranked ininternational student

assessments.

Who and what does education ultimately serve? Should there

be multiple channels of further education?

I hope to cover these topics in the future. Stay tuned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland

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