We often treat grades as some absolute measure of ability (thermodynamics) but the reality is that they are more the reflection of all of the things going on in the students life at that moment than anything else (kinetics). 2/
If a students parents died and they didn’t do well, everyone would recognize that grade doesn’t reflect much more than a student struggling with grief. 3/
How about the student who doesn’t have massive personal trauma? That C- student in organic chemistry. They just aren’t good at organic chemistry, right? Let’s play a little thought experiment. If that student did nothing for orgo all day, every day, had a private tutor. Would they still get a C-? 4/
I think we would all agree that it’s unlikely that student would still get a C-. If that C- was an absolute measure of ability, it wouldn’t change. The fact that we know it would change means we recognize that grades are context dependent. 5/
So we do we do with this information? One, we can recognize that a student who does poorly in our classes may still have lots of potential at a different time and place and thus avoid saying, “you’re not good at XXX.” 6/
Chemists are good at optimizing reaction conditions, which most often means overcoming kinetic issues. If students aren’t doing well, think of it instead as an unoptimized reaction, with some room for improvement. What can YOU do to optimize the class and remove barriers? 7/
Comments