1.
Pat Belanoff said he celebrates the lack of
conformity when it comes to grading in the humanities—specifically in grading
writing. What do you think of his statement below?
“Frankly, I would be frightened about the
future of our culture if we ever arrived at a point where I was sure that the
grades I gave were the same as those all other teachers would give. This would
suggest some rather unpleasant things about the future of discussion in the
world.”
2.
Peter Elbow describes how he is troubled by
ranking because it is unreliable, uncommunicative, etc. He instead argues for
evaluation over ranking. Has anyone had a good experience with ranking used in
the classroom as a means of assessment? Bad experiences with ranking?
Hi, K.K.!
ReplyDeleteI think something in Elbow touched to your first question, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Elbow mentioned that we can train those ranking essays to read for the same things, but the homogeneity that breeds in reader response has some rather dangerous implications. I think the same principle applies here. To have a homogenized reader is to have no more opinion. To have a homogenized reader is to solidify a good/bad binary. To have a homogenized reader is to lose the art of argumentation, debate, and persuasion. And so on and so forth.