University professor lets students choose own grades for 'stress reduction'
campusreform.org
campusreform.org
The ultimate source appears to be an alt-right news site that likens this "student appeasement" to appeasement of Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia. It then goes on to insinuate that campus welfare programmes are triggering the downfall of society.
I'm suspicious.
The author also contributes to the Daily Caller which is a right-wing blog owned by [Fox News'] Tucker Carlson[0] that has frequently parroted alt-right platitudes as gospel. They regularly play a pretty wild spin-game. I'd very very wary of any of their "facts". Citing sources like the so-named CSC Media Group USA[1] lends his article little credibility. (Not to be confused with the British-Irish television subsidiary of Sony, CSC Media Group[2], whose name they may be appropriating for less than savoury reasons).
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Caller
I suspect the policy discussion is all bullshit and the only real policy violation was the unwritten policy of "avoid negative media attention".
The school provides students with learning outcomes for each course and publishes in its catalog a written policy for assessing satisfactory student progress through the program. The school measures grades, projects, portfolios, externships, or other assessments against stated educational objectives that the school explains clearly to students. This policy must address performance standards and grading and be applied consistently.
OTOH, anyone in the business world will probably find this article after a quick Google, so graduates from the program will probably have a hard time getting a job that actually requires the credential; even if the stress reduction policy was never implemented in practice, the fact of a professor considering it is something to take note of. But a business degree seems pretty worthless anyway, economically speaking. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GII18KY/ I have a hard time believing it's actually #8: http://www.terry.uga.edu/academics/offices/management-inform...
And of course the professor withdrew the policy, anything that calls attention to the school in a negative fashion is grounds for losing tenure...
What I suspect would happen though is that the student would not be prepared for the real world and any company would quickly realize this. This would lower the economic value of a degree from the institution and as such even students who do not chose their own grades (within the institution) could be negatively affected.
That's right. Since there's no way to tell which ones chose their own grades, all the grades become worthless.
One of my high school teachers decided that everyone taking his class should get an A. The result was the students simply didn't respect him or the class.
How could anyone respect such class? To know that all your hard work means bupkis?
Sure, you could argue that learning is its own reward but really becomes meaningless when you and all the rest of the jack off losers who got an A (who didn't earn them) as well are considered the same by a post secondary institution considering you both for admission.
This part I actually see as a good idea.
In the real world, you have access to Google, to books, to notes, to everything. I'd much rather see difficult tests that allow access to all the needed material than tests designed around the normal distribution of human memory, favoring those who can recall everything they've ever read.
I'd be so crushed if I were attending this institution because the value of the degree I'm earning just plummeted.
Edit: make that a 4.1!