Dear Peggy and Vocalister:
You wrote, in answer to David:
>Third, and this is just my personal view, because you're the
>professor and I'm not, as a student, I want to be dealt with as an
>individual, with individual strengths and weaknesses to be evaluated
>in terms of the whole student - not some arbitrary if well-meaning
>formula. Sorry - I'm not an engineering or math problem to be solved
>by the teacher. I think a student's progress should be the major
>basis for the grade, i.e., how far the singer has progressed from
>the last time a grade was given).
While I would agree with the idea you express here, the climate in
colleges and universities does not allow such subjective or personal
grading. Courses in most universities and colleges must now provide
a syllabus for the student which contains a precise definition of
what the student must do to obtain a given grade. All but a very
small portion of this grading definition must be objective and able
to be defended by the faculty member. It is this requirement that
makes it necessary for David to develop a detailed listing of
required achievements which is used to determine a grade.
In other words, a very talented, gifted singer who did not meet the
accepted requirements of the teacher, would receive a poor grade even
though that singer was the finest talent in the school and performed
with excellence during the grading period. If this singer meets the
accepted requirements of the teacher he/she will receive a good grade
even if little growth is displayed during the grading period.
A below average singer with very limited ability and only an average
voice can also receive a top grade if this singer meets the accepted
requirements of the teacher. In this case a major growth would be
indicated to be able to meet these requirements even though the
student would not be considered one of the finer talents in the
school.
The point here is that the student has the right to know with a large
degree of accuracy exactly what must be done to obtain a high grade.
This demands some formula type of definition.
It was not always thus. Before students had any rights such as this,
it was more typical for the teacher to grade lessons on a subjective
basis which implies a more personal "care" or a more personal
"dislike" of the student. Many voice teachers still grade in this
way but not with the knowledge of their administrators and, in the
case of a grade dispute,those teachers grading in this way are very
vulnerable.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson
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