The Bowdoin Orient

In the October 31 issue of the Orient, the Bowdoin community was asked to respond to the question, "Would Bowdoin students be motivated without grades?" The following replies were submitted.

Mike Wolovick '09
Would I be motivated without grades? Yes, but not for every class. The simple fact of the matter is that some courses are more interesting than others. If I had the freedom to divide my effort without regards to grades, I would assign the lion's share of it to those classes that excited me, while those classes which bore me would get next to nothing. This would no doubt give me a less well-rounded education, but it would also be a powerful incentive to professors to make their courses more engaging. I personally believe that any subject can be made interesting if it is taught the right way; unfortunately, many professors are either unable or unwilling to put in the effort to explain their material in clear language or to understand why students do not understand why what is being taught is actually interesting. While the vast majority of Bowdoin professors are competent and talented individuals, some lack the ability to explain what they are teaching directly, or to use a new approach when a student's questions reveal that he or she is not getting the material.

That being said, I am sure that nobody is actually considering abolishing grades at Bowdoin. I assume, therefore, that this question is actually a stand-in for the debate on Credit-D-Fail. On this I have one thing to say: Don't get rid of Credit-D-Fail, get rid of those crazy distribution requirements. The purpose of Credit-D-Fail is to allow students to branch out into subjects which may not be their strong suit without fear of harming their GPA. Making this branching out mandatory defeats the whole purpose of intellectual exploration, and makes it inevitable that students view their non-major subjects as a chore rather than as an opportunity to advance themselves. In addition, the Orwellian names of the distribution requirements are a dead giveaway of their pointlessness: Do the empty phrases "exploring social differences" and "international perspectives" really convey more meaning than the old, straightforward "non-Eurocentric Studies?" I doubt it.

Hannah Jones '12
I would be motivated to learn without grades. I would be able to put more of my focus on learning and less on grades; I would enjoy learning and what I learn more, and I would probably be more laid back and less stressed about it. In the subjects that interest me, I would probably get more out of them because I could spend more of my time truly understanding the material or learning it more deeply or thoroughly than I might if I had to worry about grades. In classes I struggle in, I might be more motivated to improve because I wouldn't be discouraged by the grade factor.

Chester Eng '11
I do not think I would be wrong if I were to say that grades are very important to a great majority of students at Bowdoin. There are many reasons why we spend many long hours studying for exams, writing papers, and doing problem sets. It is clear that Bowdoin students take pride in their work and want to do the best they can in their classes. However, I have little doubt that the elimination of grades would have an adverse effect on students' motivation concerning their schoolwork.

One of the characteristics of Bowdoin that I truly appreciate is that I have not met anyone on campus who likes to talk about how high his or her GPA is. We know that we are all bright people and we do not use a number or letters to judge each others' levels of intelligence. A key reason why we are at the College is that we all have a love for learning and want to grow intellectually, socially, and spiritually as people. I feel that Bowdoin students have genuine interest in academia and have enough pride in themselves to do their best, even if their work is not being evaluated in any sort of manner. Grades are not the most important thing in college anyway, right?