Science Forums 2

[redneckscholar]

It sounds interesting. I often wonder what would happen if the whole system was privatized. I think something like that would end up occuring and then maybe in addition there would be tests to determine how much of the material you actually knew that were funded by the corporate sector. The tests would be administered by whoever could come up with the test that best reflected a person's ability to succeed in the workplace with the knowledge they gathered. If basic functionality was seperable from extreme knowledge that would allow a person to innovate and adapt in many different situations, then there would be economic motivation to recognize this.

I am sure in that case grades would disappear and education would focus on preparing people for these tests instead of assigning arbitrarily determined grades.

In comparison to such a system where any evaluation was economically motivated to be an accurate representation of your ability to apply the knowledge, the current system seems silly. Every professor has their own ideas about how students should be evaluated, and to be honest many of those ideas are just plain backwards. Some professors have purposely (yet indirectly so as not to be clearly prejudice) subjective and illogical methods for grading that allow them to declare grades by fiat perhaps based on what the student looks like to the professor or what types of unrelated ideas the student believes in.

On top of that, most schools have this attitude that it is the professor's right to do this. I don't get this. We pay taxes and tuition to support them, and they get to dictate how we are evaluated based on their selfish motives? The system is archaic and in dire need of renovation IMO. As long as state funded schools exist that operate in this manner, any more advanced private schools will be at a disadvantage.