Abstract:
Graduate students have been conditioned by 16 years of formal schooling to expect a grade for their work. What happens to student learning when the threat or reward of earning a grade is removed? The theory and practice of adult education is situated to emancipate learners from external rewards so that lifelong learning can become a habit. One goal of the study was to reinforce this lesson in a dramatic and concrete way by creating a condition of grade neutrality (awarding all students an A grade regardless of future behavior) in a graduate-level adult education course at a Midwestern land-grant university. Students benefited from the experience by becoming aware of the role grades have played in shaping their learning behaviors. However, the majority of the students adopted surface learning strategies (Marton and Saljo,1976) as they completed from 11% to 64% of the recommended assignments. Three of the eleven students adopted deep learning strategies by maximizing opportunities for self-directed learning. Traditional courses should continue the practice of awarding grades as more than one grade-neutral course experience is required to change the well-established habits of extrinsically motivated students and instructors should provide a variety of grade-based feedback to students.
Keywords:
grades, neutrality, adult learners
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