As the grading deadline winds down, I have made amends with the graduating peoples' grades; I am assured that is a non-issue at the Department, although higher up is a haze. The semester at Ateneo had ended with the slightly abortive Problem Set, the first I have truly regretted not being able to attend to with my usual intensity. I am at MH 209, minding my wayward CS 135 students as they reclaim a sense of accomplishment by taking the finals and salvaging their semester.
Truth to be told, this should be a removal exam, and it is, in a way, as only those below passing can take it. The opportunity is extended to those in the slightly higher red zone, and the results of failing (but being able to bring up to half the total) is an INC (of course, a truly dismal performance merits nothing but a failing grade); however, the exam is only an addendum to their lowest exam - so, ironically, those with good exams but bad everything else would have the hardest time, their own achievements becoming hurdles. It's never an ideal solution, but it is a last gasp, something that should only be made available to the direst.
Maybe I have mellowed, more than I had at the end of my tour at Philippine Science. Is it worthwhile to send someone who had labored for four months back to the back of the line? How much of the course is truly necessary to function effectively? How much of my values and valuations truly matter in the lifeplot of those who must bear its influence?
This is partly the reason why I had never put too much stock in grades, as much of their value is truly subjective to the one teaching. Teacher factor is never truly avoidable, but as an educator you always must make an effort to make it negligible. However, negligible against no absolute measure can never be truly neglible. You can only hope that differential would always be positive, for all involved.
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