Should students who work hard but don get good grades be rewarded anyway?
I think you should get a grade based on whether or not you have learned the material. Effort is nice but quality and competence are what counts. In the real world, results matter. You can either pass the tests and write competently or you can’t. Your grades should reflect your abilities. That said, showing up and participating are important. I don’t believe in giving people higher grades than they deserve just because they tried hard but it is ok to make participation and attendance part of the grading process. I’ve been in college classes where the teacher gave everyone an A for turning things in, regardless of the quality of the work. Some of the people who graduated with the same degree I hold were basically illiterate and had absolutely no comprehension of the topics they had allegedly studied. I think that grades should reflect the quality of the work. If everyone gets an A, that A isn’t really worth much. There was one class where we were divided into two teams to give presentati
