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Re: grades, pass/fail etc.



This topic is getting a little old, but I will add my 2 cents worth.

We could probably go to an entire pass/fail system, and perhaps do away with
things like final exams. We would replace the entire grading scheme with
entrance exams. At the beginning of a class the students would be tested
over necessary prerequisites. Anyone not passing could not take the class.

Of course the normal administrators' emphasis on student numbers and
quantity rather than quality would reduce this scheme to something worse
than we have now.

Maybe I am getting a little cynical in my old age.

Oren Quist, South Dakota State

-----Original Message-----
From: John Clement [mailto:clement@HAL-PC.ORG]
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 8:06 PM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Re: grades, pass/fail etc.


"Oh I forgot. There was one class I actually dreaded. I dont
remember the name of
it, but I remeber the teacher and the books we read. Billy Budd.
I HATE THAT BOOK!

I can't remember the name of the class. We spent 8 weeks on a
book that was about 60 pages. It is Billy Budd by Herman
Melville. I think we also read Candide that semester but I have
blocked it out.

One person's trash is often another person's treasure. I liked both of
those books. Unfortunately I read Candide in middle school, as I recall,
and totally missed the meaning of the word ravish. Boy did I miss a lot.
Incidentally, I read it on my own, and later recalled many of the ideas and
realized what I had missed. It is also possible that some teachers can be
quite successful in beating the love of literature out of students, just as
physics classes can beat the love of science out of students.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the
AAPT.

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.