Kelsey Chamberlin, Maï Yasué (Quest University Canada), and I-Chant A Chiang, The impact of grades on student motivation, 24.2 Active Learning in Higher Education (2023).

Many commentators have noted that legal education, more so than our peers in medical and dental education, have designed grading systems that primarily serve legal employers, particularly private legal employers, rather than our students’ learning and motivation. In fact, as Professors Larry Krieger (Florida State) and Gerry Hess (Gonzaga) have argued (and as my co-author Professor Paula Manning (Detroit Mercy) and I argue in a forthcoming article in the Journal of Legal Education) our grading system harms our students. The linked article provides support for our view.

Abstract

Although research has explored how in-class pedagogical practices and narrative feedback affect student engagement and motivation, questions remain on the impact of grading systems (i.e. multi-interval grades vs pass/fail and narrative evaluation) on academic motivation. Here, we compared the motivation of students who received multi-interval grades to students who were evaluated with a pass/fail and end of course narrative evaluation. In addition, we compared academic motivation at institutions with different grading systems. Grades did not enhance academic motivation. Instead, grades enhanced anxiety and avoidance of challenging courses. In contrast, narrative evaluations supported basic psychological needs and enhanced motivation by providing actionable feedback, promoting trust between instructors and students and cooperation amongst students. Even when accounting for potential confounding factors, students in universities that used narrative evaluations experienced higher intrinsic and autonomous motivation compared to students who received multi-interval grades. Given the potential for grades to thwart basic psychological needs and academic motivation, institutions should re-evaluate when and in which programs grades may be appropriate or necessary.