It is critically important that students work as hard as possible when they are at school. Personally, I believe that teachers can motivate students to work hard by giving them grades. I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.
To begin with, students who are graded achieve more comprehensive knowledge of academic subjects. When a student has an opportunity to earn grades, he will spend more time working on his assignments and will therefore absorb more information and will achieve more comprehension. On the other hand, students who do not have to worry about their grades won’t work very hard and will only superficially understand their subjects. My own experience as a student is a compelling example of this. During my sophomore year I had to complete a major assignment in a political science class I was taking. According to the course syllabus, the assignment would make up about half of my total grade in the class, so I approached my work with diligence and care. I wrote an amazing speech and spent hours preparing for every possible question my classmates might think of. If the presentation had not been graded, I would not have spent so much time preparing for it. I am sure that students all over the world today are motivated to work hard by the chance to achieve high grades from their professors.
Secondly, grades motivate students because they are a way to determine which people in a group are objectively most intelligent. Grades are assigned in a systematic way, so they clearly demonstrate which students in a class are the best and brightest. For example, in my freshman year I took a literature class where students merely got a “pass” or “fail” at the end. Since only a moderate amount of effort was required to pass the class, I completed my assignments and presentations quite halfheartedly. In contrast, when I took a graded class on the same subject in my junior year, I spent hours in the library researching my papers so that I could show my professors that I was intellectually superior to my classmates. This may appear somewhat shallow, but in today’s competitive academic environment it is absolutely necessary for people to distinguish themselves.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that grades encourage students to learn. This is because they force students to learn as much as possible, and because they give young learners a way to distinguish themselves from their peers.
It is
critically
important
that
students
work
as
hard
as possible when they are at school.
Personally
, I believe that teachers can motivate
students
to
work
hard
by giving them
grades
. I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.
To
begin
with,
students
who
are graded
achieve more comprehensive knowledge of academic subjects. When a
student
has an opportunity to earn
grades
, he will spend more time working on his
assignments
and will
therefore
absorb more information and will achieve more comprehension.
On the other hand
,
students
who do not
have to
worry about their
grades
won’t
work
very
hard
and will
only
superficially
understand their subjects. My
own
experience as a
student
is a compelling example of this. During my sophomore year I had to complete a major
assignment
in a political science
class
I was taking. According to the course syllabus, the
assignment
would
make
up about half of my total
grade
in the
class
,
so
I approached my
work
with diligence and care. I wrote an amazing speech and spent hours preparing for every possible question my classmates might
think
of. If the presentation had not
been graded
, I would not have spent
so
much time preparing for it. I am sure that
students
all over the world
today
are motivated
to
work
hard
by the chance to achieve high
grades
from their professors.
Secondly
,
grades
motivate
students
because
they are a way to determine which
people
in a group are
objectively
most intelligent.
Grades
are assigned
in a systematic way
,
so
they
clearly
demonstrate which
students
in a
class
are the best and brightest.
For example
, in my freshman year I took a literature
class
where
students
merely
got
a “pass” or “fail” at the
end
. Since
only
a moderate amount of effort
was required
to pass the
class
, I completed my
assignments
and presentations quite
halfheartedly
.
In contrast
, when I took a graded
class
on the same subject in my junior year, I spent hours in the library researching my papers
so
that I could
show
my professors that I was
intellectually
superior to my classmates. This may appear somewhat shallow,
but
in
today
’s competitive academic environment it is
absolutely
necessary for
people
to distinguish themselves.
In conclusion
, I
strongly
believe that
grades
encourage
students
to learn. This is
because
they force
students
to learn as much as possible, and
because
they give young learners a way to distinguish themselves from their peers.