Topic Proposal

Derek Schetselaar

Topic Proposal

I chose to write about how grades are an insufficient way to measure a student’s learning, and, how we should instead focus in schools be on mastery of the topic. I will explain in detail throughout the course of the blog why and how this can be done. Additionally I will strive to focus on various examples of this style throughout history, and analyze the pros and the cons of teaching towards grades vs teaching towards mastery.

The topic of grades is obviously important to me as a current college student at Utah Valley University. However, there are several additional reasons why I decided to study this topic. Firstly, I chose to study this topic because I have seen the trap that grades put upon students. What do I mean by this trap? While I have been studying here at school I have noticed many students whose primarily concern is on memorizing or cramming material into their head to achieve and “A” in their class. If you were to ask them about the material a month after the final test, it’s improbable that they could tell you much about the topics of the class. This is such an easy trap with grades having such a huge effect on student’s future jobs, scholarships, and their overall well-being. I hope that through my research I can bring to light some of the problems with the current education system, and strive to suggest solutions that have been working throughout the country already. Secondly, I love teaching and learning myself. That may sound a little cliché, but, I even thought about teaching Elementary School my first year here at UVU. Also, as I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I saw the power of effective teaching and the change that it made on students actions and behavior. Lastly, being just a sophomore in college I want to learn the best possible way that I can learn throughout my remaining time at Utah Valley University. It’s critical to me to understand how I can get the most of this experience. I believe that if we put more emphasis on teaching towards mastery, we will help students be more knowledgeable about the world around them.

I know very little about the research done on how mastery teaching works in a classroom. I first came across this topic as I was listening to a TEDxtalk by Salman Kahn entitled “Let’s teach for Mastery—not test scores.” This talk prompted me to think about how I was educated growing up, and how I have seen the most effective teachers teach. I remember a teacher here at UVU named Dr. Barber teaching a class named written business communications. Barber had been in the education system for quite some time in elementary schools, and colleges throughout Utah. It was cool to see the way that she taught her class. Although, she did not fully focus on mastery, Barber strove to help the students learn the material instead of focusing on the grade. She achieved this by allowing the students to fix their assignments after they had submitted them, so the students could achieve a perfect score if they put in the effort. I saw that this created a different attitude in her classroom, causing students to really strive to learn why they needed to change the things they did. These experiences have had a profound effect on what I know about education.

I hope to be able to achieve even more knowledge about this topic. My hope is to learn how many schools are already applying a mastery system instead of grades. It would be interesting to know if these schools did better on tests than schools that focused on grades. I know that Kahn, who I mentioned earlier, has an academy where they strive to implement this strategy. I would love to write a future blog post looking at how Kahn academy achieves success through this mastery method and how Kahn came across this teaching style. I hope to be able to answer some of these questions throughout my research: How did the ancients like Aristotle and Plato teach their students? How does the brain learn the best? How do other countries outside the U.S. teach their students? (Especially ones with higher test score averages) How does the common kid perceive school? What affect do grades have on kid’s self-perception of themselves? How can we change schools for the better?

The main sources that I will use to get my information include google scholar, UVU library, and schools that are implementing mastery teaching already.