Do students really need letter grades?

   Do we really need letter grades? Some people say yes when others say no. I will talk about whether we really need these letter grades and the pros and cons of not having letter grades. I will be talking about my point of view and why I think that we do need letter grades.

   

   Universities like law schools of Berkeley, Harvard, Yale and Stanford, all ready have changed their system of marks. University of Toronto Law is thinking of following their example. (A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F) were changed into five broader categories of marks; High Honours, Honours, Pass, Low Pass and Fail. For two years the University of Toronto Law for  two years have studied on how to make students less worried about their marks and enjoy what they’re learning. They say that by getting rid of letter grades the students get less stress. But will it really change anything?  "Pass/fail system can help reduce students’ anxiety over marks" is what they say. Will it really? Students will just not be aiming for the A. Students would just be aiming for the High Honours. Wouldn't student's still have the stress of trying to get good marks? How will the government know whether it is a good idea to change the marks system?

Pros

   Answering some of these question need a little bit of thinking. Some people say that by changing the marking system we are allowing people to excel at what they want and not thinking about the marks. They also say that it is an easier way to categorize people and Alexis Archbold, assistant dean of students says that “it’s good advice for your career”. I found that people who think that this new grading system is a good idea say that it gives them more peace. The people who think that a new grading system is good also think that by making the grading system only into five categories not seven people there will be less stress because of the lack of different marks. Since there is only five categories to go to students have less stress because most people will fall into the same category. People will be able to say “Oh! I passed you only were one category higher than me instead of “Oh! You’re so lucky I only got a D but you got a C.” Aren’t they really the same thing? By dividing the grading system into larger categories people agree there will be less stress because there is less to strive for.

Cons

   For me it seems that High Honours, Honours, Pass, Low Pass and Fail marks sounds just more sophisticated than the (A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F). There isn't much of a difference. Either way the students know what it means, and they pretty much have the same amount of stress either way.

I figured out that in the end it’s just the same. The difference between Pass and Honour seem pretty different. High Honours and Honour is like comparing an A+ to and A. There isn’t much of a difference, but a Pass compared to an Honour is quite different. It is similar to a C+ (Which is what I think of an average pass) to an A. It seems to me it give you more stress. Passing and Honours is too much of a jump. It seems like the new grading system is actually asking more from the students. Rebranding is what the new grading system seems to me. It doesn’t matter what happens to the grading system, you know whereabouts each mark is and High Honours sounds just like an A+.

My opinion of the grading system is that there shouldn’t be a change. What is the point? Not all students think the same. Some people could get even more stress from trying to achieve the High Honours. Studies show that the human brain always tries to reach a certain goal. So not matter what the mark is called us humans can’t help but want the best. Pass seems like someone just passed and Honours sound like someone excelled at something. Why are these two right beside each other when there is so much of difference? I think that changing the grading system will do nothing for lessening the amount of stress on students.

Sites I used: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2012/04/23/u-of-t-law-school-adopts-new-grading-system/

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1163267--yoga-foot-massage-and-dogs-this-is-law-school