In operant conditioning one learns the process of how to get something, but they learn little or nothing from that process. Grades are like operant conditioning because students learn how to get a good grade but they may learn little or nothing from the process it took to get a good grade. With the current system it can appear that the same emphasis is on grades as on learning. It can appear that more emphasis is on grades than learning. The end result of education is to learn, but the current system can make it seem that grades are the end result of education. This apparition can be due to that from an early age grades are stressed more than learning. Students should be taught at an early age to love learning. Students should learn at an early age that learning is extremely pleasurable. If they learn this at an early age then it becomes their attitude for life. Grades would become an afterthought. They would just become dim markers to tell if one is having trouble. In the current system grades are overblown. Students play the game and get treated with a grade, but they miss the real end result, so grades become like operant conditioning.
The ethical implication of the current grading system are not dissimilar to the ethical implication of consumer society. In consumer society people are supposed to feel happy with material things. Material things might make them feel happy on the outside but they still feel empty on the inside. In the current grading system, students are told that good grades mean that they are smart. Students with good grades might feel smart on the outside because that is the message the system gives out, but they might be empty of knowledge on the inside. The ethical implication is that truly smart people might feel dumb if they don't get good grades, and they could become disillusioned and drop out.
I am motivated to learn by understanding that learning is extremely pleasurable and leads to a better life. The mind controls everything. If I can improve my mind through learning, then everything gets better. My own pleasure motivates my learning.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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