A penny for your thoughts

Pre-registration is my favorite time of year. I wait in earnest for the next semester's timetable and course descriptions to be released on the registrar's Web site. And then I spend hours of time during which I should be studying for the next day's midterm examining the possibilities for next semester's schedule. Negotiations? An urban history seminar? Advanced microeconometrics?

It's a brief rush of intellectual idealism -- so much to learn!

Unfortunately, the exhilaration and hope I once held for the current semester's courses has typically died well before pre-registration, as concerns about grades quickly overshadow those of learning and individual progress.

In the incessant quest for favorable letters on our transcripts, we too easily forget the most important aspect of our grading system, that which is not at odds with the ultimate goal of individual learning and progress -- feedback for our own self-assessment and improvement.

In the fall of freshman year, one of my courses had a take-home final consisting of two essays. When I returned from Christmas break, I was eager to pick it up and read the remarks, even though I knew I had done well in the course. So I e-mailed the professor. She seemed sort of surprised I wanted to pick up my exam, and indeed, she warned me that she hadn't made many comments on the essays. I was disappointed -- how was I supposed to learn anything if I hadn't gotten feedback?

I was so naive as a freshman.

In my six semesters at this University, with the exception of my freshman year writing seminar, I have received few papers and exams with adequate commentary that truly contributed to my own understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. And sadly, I have gotten used to it; only in a few cases have I gone to the professor seeking additional feedback.

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Political Science Professor Jack Nagel has a powerful story he tells incoming teaching assistants in an effort to break this cycle of feedback apathy:

There was a student who requested that he be allowed to submit the same final paper for two courses, with the consent of both professors. Dr. Nagel and the other professor agreed, as long as the student submitted a single paper whose efforts were commensurate with the effort it would have taken to write two papers.

Indeed, the student's final paper was lengthy, but Dr. Nagel did not feel that it was very well executed. He made comments on the manuscript, typed up roughly three single-spaced pages of remarks for the student and gave the paper a C-plus. Once the assignment had been returned, Dr. Nagel wasn't too surprised to see the student make an appointment to speak with him. When the student came in, he showed Dr. Nagel the paper which the other professor had returned to him: it had no marks except for an A-plus on the last page.

The student then thanked Dr. Nagel, saying that he would much rather receive a low grade with clear and meaningful comments, than simply a high grade with no remarks on possible improvement.

Dr. Nagel tells this story in an effort to convince teaching assistants that giving adequate feedback is a crucial part of the grading process, and the effort is valued by students when they receive it.

But Dr. Nagel also has files of graded papers, with carefully written comments, that students have never come to claim. And with each unclaimed assignment, he is more hesitant to spend his valuable time writing an extensive analysis.

Unfortunately, this disinterested student may be more common at Penn. Once students receive their grade electronically, many fail to care about the course any longer; they are not interested in examining their strengths and weaknesses in that final exam or paper. (Unless of course they did poorly and are hoping for a regrade.) It's onto the quest for the next set of As for the upcoming semester.

Not only does this habit compromise one's education, it leaves students ill-prepared for life after graduation -- while you won't likely be required to take tests or submit academic papers to be graded in the "real world," you will constantly be giving, receiving and processing feedback.

Breaking this destructive cycle takes effort from both the students and faculty. Students need to demand more feedback, and professors need to take the time to give it. Assessment should be considered an integral part of the learning process, rather than something that distracts from it.

Shannon Jensen is a senior real estate, business and public policy and urban studies major from Annapolis, Md. Above Board appears on Mondays.

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