Do grades encourage students to learn?

Essay topics:

Do grades encourage students to learn?

Having a glimpse of the current situation in education around the globe, we may marvel at the large variety of examinations students must take each semester. Apparently, giving grades is considered the most common method to evaluate the performance of a student. The entire teaching system cannot do without it. In a sense, pursuing high grades is indeed an essential stimulus for students to concentrate on their textbooks. It is admitted that marks really encourage the students to learn, but their importance should not be exaggerated.

Evidently, the grading system urges students to study hard for the "Top One", a sacred position in their eyes. No one wishes to fall behind. Thus, once a competition is started among the classmates, learning efficiency might be enhanced. Those who win will make greater efforts to safeguard their superior results, whereas those who lose in the competition will work harder to erase past mistakes and continue the fight for a better outcome next time. It is due to such a mental state that students gain the initiative to learn. Researchers at China Academy of Social Sciences conducted a survey in 10 key high schools in Shanghai. They drafted a list of questions centering on motives to study hard at school and asked the students to fill out the questionnaire. Among the 2,000 students who wrote out their answers, over half of them mentioned the desire to gain high grades in the National College Entrance Examination.

Grades also help reveal a student's shortcomings in studies. Whenever a new round of assessments is done and the final grades are announced, students will have the opportunity to discover their weak points on some subjects. They may go all out to find the reasons for the loss of marks. After a brief review, it is natural for them to finally notice what has been neglected previously and obtain an objective attitude toward their school performance. From then on, their attention might be focused on those drawbacks indicated in the test. As a common notion suggests, learning from past mistakes helps avoid future ones. If such a function works, progress can be made.

Nevertheless, "high grade, but low ability" has become an undesirable feature in some students. Meanwhile, lower grades might also lead to the complete loss of confidence in studies. As a result, schools ought to avoid such two extremes. The learning process is a comprehensive one that involves more than obtaining grades and passing examinations. For instance, starting a large variety of programs aimed at broadening the mind and cultivating interests, offering students to take part-time jobs to increase experience, organizing colorful activities, all these enjoyable opportunities to learn may encourage better academic performance and prepare them for future challenges upon entry into the work force.

Consequently, as long as the grading system is managed appropriately at schools, students will always cherish the dream of gaining high marks and thus have the impetus to fight for it. Concerning all the details mentioned above, there is every reason to believe that grades contribute much to stimulating a student's passion for learning.

Votes
Average: 8.3 (1 vote)
Essay Categories
Independent TOEFL Writing

Comments

Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 9, column 308, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'students'' or 'student's'?
Suggestion: students'; student's
...grades contribute much to stimulating a students passion for learning.
^^^^^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, apparently, but, consequently, finally, if, may, nevertheless, really, so, then, thus, whereas, while, for instance, as a result

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 16.0 15.1003584229 106% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 15.0 9.8082437276 153% => OK
Conjunction : 10.0 13.8261648746 72% => OK
Relative clauses : 7.0 11.0286738351 63% => More relative clauses wanted.
Pronoun: 27.0 43.0788530466 63% => OK
Preposition: 75.0 52.1666666667 144% => OK
Nominalization: 16.0 8.0752688172 198% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2702.0 1977.66487455 137% => OK
No of words: 514.0 407.700716846 126% => OK
Chars per words: 5.25680933852 4.8611393121 108% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.76146701107 4.48103885553 106% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.8750624941 2.67179642975 108% => OK
Unique words: 296.0 212.727598566 139% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.575875486381 0.524837075471 110% => OK
syllable_count: 828.9 618.680645161 134% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.51630824373 106% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 8.0 9.59856630824 83% => OK
Article: 4.0 3.08781362007 130% => OK
Subordination: 6.0 3.51792114695 171% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.86738351254 107% => OK
Preposition: 6.0 4.94265232975 121% => OK

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 27.0 20.6003584229 131% => OK
Sentence length: 19.0 20.1344086022 94% => OK
Sentence length SD: 65.1853956226 48.9658058833 133% => OK
Chars per sentence: 100.074074074 100.406767564 100% => OK
Words per sentence: 19.037037037 20.6045352989 92% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.96296296296 5.45110844103 91% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.53405017921 110% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 5.5376344086 18% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 14.0 11.8709677419 118% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 10.0 3.85842293907 259% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 4.88709677419 61% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.35425948491 0.236089414692 150% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0872776742483 0.076458572812 114% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0723751815877 0.0737576698707 98% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.207406622634 0.150856017488 137% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0789791845904 0.0645574589148 122% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.9 11.7677419355 110% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 52.19 58.1214874552 90% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 6.10430107527 144% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.7 10.1575268817 105% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.23 10.9000537634 121% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.4 8.01818996416 117% => OK
difficult_words: 157.0 86.8835125448 181% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.5 10.002688172 85% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.6 10.0537634409 95% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 10.247311828 88% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 83.3333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 25.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.