The Scoop

        Throughout the years, in many schools, there have been two types of methods that are constantly implemented to grade students. The first one is based on exams; the grade that you get in the exam is your final grade. The second one is based on how much you participate in class. Studies have shown that nowadays the best scheme that can be implemented for kids to succeed in the learning process is the one in which grades depend on participation during the class. 

 

        Exams are important because they measure how much you have learned through the classes, but students usually just study for the exam. They learn or memorize everything just for that day and after the exam, they just forget the information and hardly keep a bit of what they learned. If someone gets a good grade it is not necessarily because he or she understood the topic, it may be because the night before they studied truly hard just for the grade. As a result, teachers cannot guarantee that their students are learning based on just a grade. This is why the exam-grading method is not really effective at all. Sometimes students learn for a test and not for life, and this is a major problem that society faces these days. It can affect the futures of the students when they start considering what career they want to study since they probably did not have a good basis of knowledge.

 

        When implementing the technique of grades based on participation, teachers can reassure that their students understand the topic and are learning because they are constantly expressing their knowledge from past classes. This method also forces students to ask questions, clarify doubts and share their opinions, which is crucial in the learning process. All this is a warranty for teachers to recognize that their students are not just memorizing everything that is seen during the class (just for the pleasure of obtaining a good grade), but that they actually comprehend what is being taught to them.

 

        It is true that both methods can be effective depending on the way you look at them. But there is one that stands out more than the other based on the current education system. It is the one in which grades are based on participation. Each process is completely valid and depends on the teacher that is going to implement it, but the idea is to always look up for the best learning system for the students so that in the future they are able to apply the concepts, ideas and knowledge that they have acquired so far at school.