I am going to look at this from the student's perspective. Especially when it comes to grade 12, many students focus solely on mark grabbing and hopefully learning occurs along the way. I try to emphasize that if students focus on learning as the priority, then the marks will naturally come.
It's just easier, from the student's point of view, to focus on getting marks first which promotes behaviours that I don't consider 'true learning' such as passing around last year's tests, studying at the last second for the short term memory thing, cheating, and memorizing.
Some will say it's the teachers' fault for setting up this system. Others' will fault the universities' inability to sort through candidates other than through marks. It might be a little from column A and a little from column B, and even from an unknown C that I haven't quite considered.
The beauty of being a teacher is that in many ways, I control the classroom. In my little world here, I can highlight and contrast the difference between a mark grabbing student and a student that learns for my own students.
Every year, at the beginning, my students write a diagnostic that does not count for marks. When I mark it the multiple choice portion, I purposely:
1) take away a mark that they deserve
2) give them an extra mark that they do not deserve
In the end, their mark stays the same. However, after I take it up the test and show the marking scheme, I go around individually to each student asking how I should change their mark.
I have found in the two years that I have done this, many students state that their mark goes up by 1, a few ask to bring down their mark by 1, and many so no change.
I then ask the students to reflect on their action. I cannot judge what they did because I do not know the rationale behind their action but I take the time to highlight the following:
A) If you asked me to reduce your mark knowing full well you deserve another mark, then you are too hard on yourself. You deserve another mark, and should ask for it - after all, you got the answer right as well as another question wrong.
B) If you asked me to increase your mark by 1 or decrease your mark by 1 because you didn't notice the other mistake I made, then you have to pay attention a little more during test takeup. This is a time to learn from your mistakes, which is quite often the best time to learn. Be a little more detail oriented and listen carefully for these are important skills in life.
C) If you said "no change" because you didn't notice anything wrong, then you are not paying attention whatsoever. (I may run the risk of an IEP student that has issues with the delivery, but I do make sure to show the multiple choice answers visually and say the answers aloud for each question so that should cover most minor IEPs.)
D) A few students say "no change" but have already done their self-reflection on what question was actually right and what question was wrong. This is fine as well.
E) Each class, there's always one or two students that tell me explicitly that I marked one question right and one question wrong, showing true transparency to me. This is awesome, and it is something I tell them I try to do for them as a teacher.
F) This is the last option I go over. I've learnt to explain this last option gently as a few of my more sensitive students feel guilty even when they didn't do this. If a student asks for a +1 in marks knowing full well they should have a no mark change, then I ask these students that find themselves in this position to do some deep reflection. I state: "You have just lied to me about your mark. What did I do to you in the last week to deserve this? (hopefully I did nothing wrong in the past week to start the school year off). You have just inflated your mark to your parents about your mark. Above all, you're willing to lie to yourself and pat yourself on the back for getting a higher mark than you deserve. If you're willing to lie to yourself to inflate your mark, lie to me who has done nothing to you, and even your parents on a diagnostic test that doesn't even count for marks - what are you going to do when it comes to money or other situations?
This year, I delivered my speech well. I returned a test on January 4th, and made a mistake on a multiple choice question. This is almost 4 months after my little stunt.
Class 1: I had 7 students come to for a mark increase. I had 8 students come to me for a 1 mark decrease.
Class 2: I had 8 students come for a mark increase and 7 marks come for a mark decrease.
As you can see, grade 9s are very receptive to this sort of thing.
When I pull this stunt with my grade 12s, I get into deep debates with my grade 12 students when I ask them these questions. The one thing they always bring up is that this mark is so small, it doesn't matter. From their perspective, this if this one mark occurred on a summative assessment, it would help them in their goal to getting into university and it doesn't hurt anyone. If it doesn't hurt anyone, why not do it?
We then go back and forth about the fact that if you increase your marks unfairly to get into a university program, you're kicking someone else out of the same university program.
I know deep down that the system will have to change to have any permanent effects, but in the end, it's a fun debate and a good exploration on what honesty really means. I learn much of my students in this little experiment and I'll probably continue to do it.
I have found in the two years that I have done this, many students state that their mark goes up by 1, a few ask to bring down their mark by 1, and many so no change.
I then ask the students to reflect on their action. I cannot judge what they did because I do not know the rationale behind their action but I take the time to highlight the following:
A) If you asked me to reduce your mark knowing full well you deserve another mark, then you are too hard on yourself. You deserve another mark, and should ask for it - after all, you got the answer right as well as another question wrong.
B) If you asked me to increase your mark by 1 or decrease your mark by 1 because you didn't notice the other mistake I made, then you have to pay attention a little more during test takeup. This is a time to learn from your mistakes, which is quite often the best time to learn. Be a little more detail oriented and listen carefully for these are important skills in life.
C) If you said "no change" because you didn't notice anything wrong, then you are not paying attention whatsoever. (I may run the risk of an IEP student that has issues with the delivery, but I do make sure to show the multiple choice answers visually and say the answers aloud for each question so that should cover most minor IEPs.)
D) A few students say "no change" but have already done their self-reflection on what question was actually right and what question was wrong. This is fine as well.
E) Each class, there's always one or two students that tell me explicitly that I marked one question right and one question wrong, showing true transparency to me. This is awesome, and it is something I tell them I try to do for them as a teacher.
F) This is the last option I go over. I've learnt to explain this last option gently as a few of my more sensitive students feel guilty even when they didn't do this. If a student asks for a +1 in marks knowing full well they should have a no mark change, then I ask these students that find themselves in this position to do some deep reflection. I state: "You have just lied to me about your mark. What did I do to you in the last week to deserve this? (hopefully I did nothing wrong in the past week to start the school year off). You have just inflated your mark to your parents about your mark. Above all, you're willing to lie to yourself and pat yourself on the back for getting a higher mark than you deserve. If you're willing to lie to yourself to inflate your mark, lie to me who has done nothing to you, and even your parents on a diagnostic test that doesn't even count for marks - what are you going to do when it comes to money or other situations?
This year, I delivered my speech well. I returned a test on January 4th, and made a mistake on a multiple choice question. This is almost 4 months after my little stunt.
Class 1: I had 7 students come to for a mark increase. I had 8 students come to me for a 1 mark decrease.
Class 2: I had 8 students come for a mark increase and 7 marks come for a mark decrease.
As you can see, grade 9s are very receptive to this sort of thing.
When I pull this stunt with my grade 12s, I get into deep debates with my grade 12 students when I ask them these questions. The one thing they always bring up is that this mark is so small, it doesn't matter. From their perspective, this if this one mark occurred on a summative assessment, it would help them in their goal to getting into university and it doesn't hurt anyone. If it doesn't hurt anyone, why not do it?
We then go back and forth about the fact that if you increase your marks unfairly to get into a university program, you're kicking someone else out of the same university program.
I know deep down that the system will have to change to have any permanent effects, but in the end, it's a fun debate and a good exploration on what honesty really means. I learn much of my students in this little experiment and I'll probably continue to do it.
