In kindergarten and in the upper levels of education, there is the option of taking a class as a pass fail instead of receiving a letter grade. In this kind of system, credit for the class is given and it will not affect a student’s overall GPA. It puts less pressure on students and allows them to make sure that they can understand the information without happening to understand specific bits of information to achieve a graded score. There are some advantages to this practice and some disadvantages to it as well.
What Are the Pros of the Pass Fail Grading System?
1. It Allows Students To Stay Focused On Hard Classes
In any major that is taken, or even in kindergarten, there are certain points of emphasis that students are good at and certain ones that students are not so good at. A well-rounded education is necessary, so the pass fail grading system allows students to show evidence of their competency in certain subject matters without taking a hit to their GPA, which could affect their future job placement.
2. It Makes Classwork Become A Little Easier
Because there isn’t an emphasis to achieve a high tier grade, classwork can become focused on true information retention instead of great specific information retention. There isn’t the heavy need to cram for test to get specifics remembered because a generalized amount of information is usually satisfactory to achieve a passing grade.
3. It May Create More Engagement
Many classes are taken as a pass fail because they are difficult. Without the pressure of achieving a certain letter grade, students are free to engage with the difficult content in a way that suits them best. For many students, this means that they have an easier time learning the difficult concepts.
What Are the Cons of the Pass Fail Grading System?
1. It Creates An Environment Of Laziness
The pass fail grading system allows us to be able to get credit for a class without necessarily putting in a lot of work. This can create an aura of laziness because students will feel like they don’t have to participate in class or even show up on time. This laziness can then become a habit which ultimately will affect their professional performance in a job later on down the road.
2. It Isn’t An Accurate Representation Of Knowledge
Letter grades help to communicate how specific someone’s field of knowledge happens to be in a subject area. The pass fail grading system simply communicates that a student understands both of study in some way.
3. You Can’t Convert To A Letter Grade If You Perform Well
If you perform so well in a pass fail grading system that you would have earned an A for the work, you cannot convert to the letter grading system after the fact. The A that was earned will look on the transcripts like a C that was earned since the goal was to simply pass the class.
Being aware of the opportunity to take classes as pass fail can definitely help with GPA requirements. It is not a way, however, to disregard working hard within the classroom environment and actually learning. It should be used as a tool to succeed instead of as a tool to be lazy.
