“business-school grading is … much more rational than law school grading because MBA students are graded on the strength of their actual work, not a single exam at the end of the semester.” (emphasis mine; quote from here)
Only in law could this be considered a radical and provocative statement. The field of law excites me; it is a shame the profession of law (including the teaching of the profession) is so broken.
*Only* in law? Lots of subjects award marks according to nothing but the final examination. At Cambridge I can’t think of one that doesn’t.
Yes, but I’d imagine in most fields that is known and understood to be broken, and no one can get published merely for saying that it is broken :)
Luis,
I agree with you. Way too much emphasis is put on the playoffs^Wfinal exam.
Sincerely,
Alex Rodriguez
Med school is the same, and quite frequently they will make remediation or supplementary exams much harder for the students who struggled with the initial exam.
I agree entirely. As a side note, last year one of the profs who served as a reference for me said that I was thoughtful and intelligent, and he enjoyed my contributions to his class — this from someone who was selective about who he recommends. But I botched his exam: B-.
(I won’t even get into the disadvantage I’m at for having to handwrite because their exam software won’t run on my machine…)
[…] Syndicated 2007-10-31 01:50:15 from Luis Villa’s Blog […]
I see parallels to the real world. MBAs get graded on quarterly results by Wall St. Lawyers pass out advice for years but only when they end up in the court room do they find out for sure if they really know their stuff.
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Jon: there is certainly some truth to that statement; however, behind the scenes lawyers must work extensively with teammates to prepare for those court appearances, and there is lots of intermediate work there. And that is only even true of litigators. Many lawyers never go to court- all the corporate lawyers who work on contracts and deals, for example, are judged in a much more intermediate fashion, like MBAs.
Unfortunately it’s not just the class exams – all of the ‘entire grade based on one exam’ rigor that goes into finals simply prepares you for the Bar Exam, which … is a single exam that serves as a barrier between you and making a living practicing the profession.