I'm baaaack....

Did you miss me? Or perhaps you hoped you were rid of me. I was caught in an end-of-semester “perfect storm” of student papers, assignments, and tests to grade. Then I had a flurry of conferences to attend and present at. All that time I continued to reflect upon teaching and learning. I simply didn’t have the time to record my thoughts. So allow me to backtrack to the end of the semester.

After I dug myself out from under the mountain of student works I had to review, it came time for me to tally the final course grades. That is when I was confronted with the question from one of my readings, “Should the final course grade reflect the student’s cumulative efforts over the entire semester, or should the grade represent the level of expertise the student has achieved by the end of the course?” I have always practiced the first approach and did so again this semester. After all the grading I had just completed I was too brain dead to contemplate the philosophy of grades. The question persists, however. I don’t have an answer but intend to consider the question as I plan my courses for the next semester. Meanwhile, I welcome your thoughts. What do you think a final grade should represent?