Meritocracy musings: Successful people, including scholars, want to believe their status is earned. @DavidLabaree is honest enough to tell a different story about his own career trajectory: https://is.gd/qS3tQB.
This passage on teaching/assessing jumped out at me:
@alfiekohn @DavidLabaree
I also think about who can afford to spend time in study, and the privilege of time. I know that more than 50% of my students have to work 10+ hours per week to support themselves through college. The privilege of having an additional 10 hours per week to study and work on school stuff often makes students look "smarter"
@ZingerLearns @alfiekohn @DavidLabaree
The article identifies a major problem.
But what's a solution for HE? Options include not using analytical/writing skills, practice a/w skills on top of course content (but my Ss work on average 20+ hours/week), or teach a/w skills instead of other content.
I've tried the latter two extensively (https://sites.google.com/view/reasonedwriting/) and have achieved a decent balance, but the process is always a struggle.
Haven't seen solutions that solve the time problem yet.
@LimbLab @alfiekohn @DavidLabaree
There are larger fundamental societal issues that are part of this problem. The fact that IHEs are inequitable is steeped in these issues. Some are easier to resolve than others. Access to people and connections are probably hardest, one of the reasons that 1/4 of PH.D.s if I remember right had a PH.D. parent.
California has done some good things to make college more accessible, but more needs to be done financially.
All of that said, there are certainly many things instructors can do. I think the reasoning vs. MC is a narrow argument. I think moving away from grades all together helps. I think providing students with multiple modalities to show learning helps. I think having tasks that build on each other and help students show their improvement and learning over time helps. I think giving students choice and agency helps.
