Rainy Wednesday
In this Issue: students and grades
At this point of the semester, students have likely gotten a couple of grades back on tests or papers. Sometimes they happy with what they got, other times notsomuch.
From my days as an academic advisor and part-time faculty member, whenever a student tells me they got a less-than-optimal grade, I ask them to reflect on how they got here. I typically ask them to think about questions like these:
Did I follow the syllabus exactly, or did I turn in papers late, have too many absences, not turn in homework, etc.?
Did I do the reading for class and come prepared every time, or did I procrastinate and skip on preparation?
At the first sign of trouble, did I go to my faculty member’s office hours for help?
Did I avail myself of the free tutoring from the Bio Center, Chemistry Center, Math and Stats Center, or Writing Center and/or did I seek out free peer tutoring or academic coaching from the Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success? Or did I go it alone?
Did I spend too much time socializing and not enough studying?
Did I study in a time and place that was free of distraction/optimized my ability to focus and concentrate?
Did I get enough sleep, or have I been burning the midnight oil?
etc. etc. etc.
By reflecting on those kinds of questions, students can often identify what to do next time to improve their performance. BUT, if they sincerely made a great effort and did everything within their control to help them learn the material, maybe that class just represents a superhard subject for them, and they grade they got represents their best effort; in that case, move on with your head held high.
A lot of our students were so high achieving in high school that they got As in most or all of their subjects, and many arrive expecting that trend to continue. But the paths can diverge in college: students who were great at all subjects in high school may only be great now in their strongest areas, and merely good in others. So help your student normalize the idea that “doing your best” in college does not necessarily equate to “getting an A.” It might be getting a B or a C if you gave it your legitimate best effort.
The important part is to encourage students to set themselves up for success: take advantage of faculty office hours, free tutoring and other supports, and the basics like a solid place to study, adequate sleep, and so forth.
And families, students seem perennially afraid that you will be mad about their grades. So if you can focus your Deacs less on the grade proper and more on the notion of maximizing their chances for success through the items outlined above, that could be a win-win for all.