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0 pointshardware2win2y ago0 comments

In my country higher edu institutions look at final exam scores, not grades.

Grades are terrible due to bias, difficulty when it comes to comparing them and lack of transparency.

At best they show effort (or "caring" parents)

>Good grades in college make it far, far easier to get jobs and can get you in the door to significantly better and higher

Thats why there should be fair and transparent exam after college :)

This way everything is up to your score, not school name or cool prof who inflates grades

0 comments

compiler-guy2y ago

Tests have their own sets of problems too. A single, high stakes, high pressure test to determine everything is just as absurd as grades, and tends to bias for those who have time and money to prep.

I prefer wholistic evaluations. You are more than both your test scores and your grades and your school and your demographics. But if you put them all together one can get a decent picture.

hardware2winOP2y ago

While tests arent perfect, then they are at least fair, transparent and almost bias free unlike other methods.

>tends to bias for those who have time and money to prep.

Hmm?

So you have time to do various stuff for grades, but dont have time to prepare for exam?

It feels like copy pasted argument from discussions about exams in general, not when comparing them with grades like we do.

>But if you put them all together one can get a decent picture.

Concrete things, please.

How would you evaluate person.

compiler-guy2y ago

In general, exams measure peak performance. Grades measure sustained performance.

The literature is quite extensive that although standardized tests have substantial predictive power as to college performance, adding grades and other factors is substantially better. Eg https://news.uchicago.edu/story/test-scores-dont-stack-gpas-... and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6963451/

You assert without evidence that testing is unbiased. This is widely disputed. You will find some literature taking the opposite view, of course, but given that the debate rages among professional researchers, a plain assertion doesnt carry all that much weight.

http://m.portlandobserver.com/news/2020/jan/14/college-admis... https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537716.pdf

Cheating on college entrance exams is rampant in China and other countries. This is another downside of high stakes exams.

As far as a wholistic view, I think including attributes such as grit, leadership, and talent across many areas such as writing, the various arts and many other fields is useful.

1 more reply

ameister142y ago

I don't really disagree with you; I was just pointing out the way it currently is, at least in the US.

seanmcdirmid2y ago

The USA used to be a hybrid, but many schools are getting rid of looking at (ACT/SAT)test scores and that leaves them with just grades.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointshardware2win2y ago0 comments

In my country higher edu institutions look at final exam scores, not grades.

Grades are terrible due to bias, difficulty when it comes to comparing them and lack of transparency.

At best they show effort (or "caring" parents)

>Good grades in college make it far, far easier to get jobs and can get you in the door to significantly better and higher

Thats why there should be fair and transparent exam after college :)

This way everything is up to your score, not school name or cool prof who inflates grades

0 comments

compiler-guy2y ago

Tests have their own sets of problems too. A single, high stakes, high pressure test to determine everything is just as absurd as grades, and tends to bias for those who have time and money to prep.

I prefer wholistic evaluations. You are more than both your test scores and your grades and your school and your demographics. But if you put them all together one can get a decent picture.

hardware2winOP2y ago

While tests arent perfect, then they are at least fair, transparent and almost bias free unlike other methods.

>tends to bias for those who have time and money to prep.

Hmm?

So you have time to do various stuff for grades, but dont have time to prepare for exam?

It feels like copy pasted argument from discussions about exams in general, not when comparing them with grades like we do.

>But if you put them all together one can get a decent picture.

Concrete things, please.

How would you evaluate person.

compiler-guy2y ago

In general, exams measure peak performance. Grades measure sustained performance.

http://m.portlandobserver.com/news/2020/jan/14/college-admis... https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537716.pdf

Cheating on college entrance exams is rampant in China and other countries. This is another downside of high stakes exams.

As far as a wholistic view, I think including attributes such as grit, leadership, and talent across many areas such as writing, the various arts and many other fields is useful.

1 more reply

ameister142y ago

I don't really disagree with you; I was just pointing out the way it currently is, at least in the US.

seanmcdirmid2y ago

The USA used to be a hybrid, but many schools are getting rid of looking at (ACT/SAT)test scores and that leaves them with just grades.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse