Gradeless First Year Not a Guaranteed A+
Text: Colin Ng
In a Sunday Times article in 2012, National University of Singapore Provost Tan Eng Chye shared his vision for a gradeless first year.
Tan said he hoped that emulating this system already adopted by some British and American universities would help “ease the pressure” off students.
The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has also adopted this system, proving that it can be done in a local setting.
Although seemingly ideal, we must examine if such a move is the best for our students.
Without a doubt, there are benefits to embracing such a system.
Firstly, incoming freshmen would have more time to adjust to university life — an important consideration when taking into account the differences in studying cultures between university and junior college, where many new students come from prior to entering university.
The reduced pressure would also potentially allow them to take part in other non-academic activities for a more holistic undergraduate experience.
Freshmen could possibly be more willing to read modules which they may be interested in, without having to worry if these modules would affect their overall Cumulative Average Point score.
Nevertheless, with every scenario, there are always two sides of a coin, and we must first consider the possible drawbacks and practicalities of a gradeless first year.
The intention behind a gradeless first year is so that freshmen would study to satisfy intellectual curiosity rather than to get good grades.
However, the risk would be students choosing not to study knowing they can relax in their first year, armed with the knowledge that a pass is all that is required. This may then become counterproductive since students may ignore their academics, thus weakening their foundations.
In an ideal scenario, students would use the gradeless concessions to better adjust to university life.
However, I doubt students would choose to venture out of their intellectual comfort zone despite needing just a passing grade.
For proof, look no further than students on student exchange programmes.
Most, if not all, students on exchange choose modules with a lighter workload despite knowing that a passing grade is all that is required.
However, even if we were to overlook the potential drawbacks of a gradeless first year, we must consider the impracticalities in implementing it.
For example, while supporters would point to the medical faculty as proof that it can be done, they fail to consider that unlike medicine, which is a five-year course, non-honours students from other faculties can graduate in as short a time frame as two and a half years. Would a student then experience sufficient academic rigour as he could potentially have from graded classes for just 60 percent of his undergraduate term?
Furthermore, a gradeless first year would complicate the current student exchange application process which uses one’s CAP score as one of the determinants in allocating student exchange places. The current system sees a majority of students applying for places in the programme with their first year’s grades.
As a result, how would the International Relations Office award places if students have no CAP scores to apply for an exchange spot in the first place?
Parents too would likely need to be convinced, as they would surely need to be sold on the idea of paying for a year’s worth of classes without grades.
Indeed, a move towards a gradeless first year would answer the government’s call to shift away from a grade-driven society.
Nevertheless, such a move is not as clear cut as it seems, and teething problems in implanting such a set up would still remain.
To an undergraduate, a gradeless first year seems to be a perfect idea. However, there are doubts as to whether it is in the best interests of both students and academia to have such a system.
Tags: commentary/editorial
In a Sunday Times article in 2012, National University of Singapore Provost Tan Eng Chye shared his vision for a gradeless first year.
Tan said he hoped that emulating this system already adopted by some British and American universities would help “ease the pressure” off students.
The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has also adopted this system, proving that it can be done in a local setting.
Although seemingly ideal, we must examine if such a move is the best for our students.
Without a doubt, there are benefits to embracing such a system.
Firstly, incoming freshmen would have more time to adjust to university life — an important consideration when taking into account the differences in studying cultures between university and junior college, where many new students come from prior to entering university.
The reduced pressure would also potentially allow them to take part in other non-academic activities for a more holistic undergraduate experience.
Freshmen could possibly be more willing to read modules which they may be interested in, without having to worry if these modules would affect their overall Cumulative Average Point score.
Nevertheless, with every scenario, there are always two sides of a coin, and we must first consider the possible drawbacks and practicalities of a gradeless first year.
The intention behind a gradeless first year is so that freshmen would study to satisfy intellectual curiosity rather than to get good grades.
However, the risk would be students choosing not to study knowing they can relax in their first year, armed with the knowledge that a pass is all that is required. This may then become counterproductive since students may ignore their academics, thus weakening their foundations.
In an ideal scenario, students would use the gradeless concessions to better adjust to university life.
However, I doubt students would choose to venture out of their intellectual comfort zone despite needing just a passing grade.
For proof, look no further than students on student exchange programmes.
Most, if not all, students on exchange choose modules with a lighter workload despite knowing that a passing grade is all that is required.
However, even if we were to overlook the potential drawbacks of a gradeless first year, we must consider the impracticalities in implementing it.
For example, while supporters would point to the medical faculty as proof that it can be done, they fail to consider that unlike medicine, which is a five-year course, non-honours students from other faculties can graduate in as short a time frame as two and a half years. Would a student then experience sufficient academic rigour as he could potentially have from graded classes for just 60 percent of his undergraduate term?
Furthermore, a gradeless first year would complicate the current student exchange application process which uses one’s CAP score as one of the determinants in allocating student exchange places. The current system sees a majority of students applying for places in the programme with their first year’s grades.
As a result, how would the International Relations Office award places if students have no CAP scores to apply for an exchange spot in the first place?
Parents too would likely need to be convinced, as they would surely need to be sold on the idea of paying for a year’s worth of classes without grades.
Indeed, a move towards a gradeless first year would answer the government’s call to shift away from a grade-driven society.
Nevertheless, such a move is not as clear cut as it seems, and teething problems in implanting such a set up would still remain.
To an undergraduate, a gradeless first year seems to be a perfect idea. However, there are doubts as to whether it is in the best interests of both students and academia to have such a system.
Tags: commentary/editorial