TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF PANAMA

MASTERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Reading nº6

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CRITERIA AND EVALUATION METHODS

GRADING USUALLY APPLIED IN UNIVERSITY TEACHING

Naum Kliqsberg
University Pedagogy Advisor
1. CASE No. 11:
Manuel R. has always been and continues to be a serious and responsible student, as he ...
They had been his parents, both highly respected professionals. He never studied.
not only to pass, but also to know.
He/She likes to investigate, discover, and feels pleasure in delving into knowledge.
scientists. That is why on the topics that interest him, he resorts to bibliographies that the
The professor does not make them mandatory. For him, a good grade is like a reward.
just, a stimulus.
He returns home full of joy and shares it with everyone, friends and family,
as if it were a trophy earned with dignity. The parents celebrate him with affection and
pride in every success in his career. This behavior motivates his son even more to
to strive in their studies.
Manuel's average grades were among the highest at the University.
Manuel was not satisfied with the grade he received on his last exam.
written. He believed it was not fair, he was sure that his exam deserved
of a higher qualification.
But what to do? He knows that this teacher is a bit nervous. If he asks him to
re-read your exam and check the grade, it is most likely that you will not accept it and
he gets irritated, as had happened with other students who asked him the same before
different occasions, and the most dangerous thing is that the teacher may end up with some
resentment towards oneself and, consciously or unconsciously, that resentment can influence the
future grades that Manuel will obtain in that subject. What to do then?
Manuel expresses confidence that his exam deserved a better grade.
moment thinks: 'I will ask him to review my writing again,' then he
It's not worth risking making me dislike you and harming me in the
upcoming exams, but the grade I received is unfair, what should I do?
Do I stay with the anger and tolerate this injustice or do I take a risk?

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The names of the people are fictional, but the cases are real; they came for their study and
resolution to the University Pedagogical Advisory offices directed by the author of the present
article.

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Manuel, a serious and studious student, asks himself another question that worries him, how far...
If I hold resentment against the teacher, it cannot hinder the
efficient learning that I can gain from the teaching that will follow
Will this teacher be imparting this to me for the rest of the semester?

There is another question, but this one is asked by Manuel's parents: These teachers who
they instill fear in their students, to the point of not daring to request a review of
a writing, do not harm the development of the personality and values of our
children?
CASE No. 2:
Juan Carlos has been a university professor for many years. In the early years he ...
she was dedicated as a teacher, preparing the class with great care and reading each
examine carefully.
But time passed and he became routine in his work. Other job responsibilities and
Family members, like the children he had in recent years, require a lot of time.
He thinks that the only thing the student is interested in is obtaining passing grades.
It's like to pass. So, what's the point of wasting time studying?
carefully each written work of your students?
Juan Carlos decided on two strategies, which he sometimes alternates, to correct the
written exams of their students.
First strategy: He reads them at a glance, it really can't be said that the
he jumps lines with his eye (some call it the frog eye technique)
scan the eye quickly over a word, then over another phrase beyond, over others
words three lines below, and so it continues.
The second system: consists of reading only one part of the written text (50% of the
shorts and 30% of them have many pages) and assign the rating.
Juan Carlos feels very satisfied with these strategies; they save him a lot of time.
and it does not harm the student because his years of teaching experience allow him to
a few lines to know whether to pass the student or not; at least like this
Juan Carlos thinks. Moreover, he is sure that the student is only interested in knowing if
approve or not. Ever since years ago, no document corrected by Juan Carlos is
returned to the students with comments on the correct aspects and the
erroneous of the concepts it contains.
Logically, Juan Carlos is reluctant to accept requests from students to review the
rating. Accepting it would lead him to have to waste time again
reading the test, even on some occasions when they asked him to return to
he considered the writing and accepted it, took time to review it and had to confirm it.
rating, so as not to delay the response that the student requested any further.
Juan Carlos feels very satisfied with his position as a teacher at the University.
He knows how to make it take a minimum time and to be able to attend in this way.
with ease in his other occupations. He is respected by his fellow teachers
because he is a nice, outgoing man, pleasant in his conversation and in his
modals.

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CASE No. 3:
Rosa Beatríz needed a higher grade in that subject to improve her
academic index and the grade I had obtained in the written work was not the one that
she needed, even though she knew it was the grade that corresponded to her. As the
The subject teacher is a pleasant man, kind, I told him and he took it.
the writing promising to read it again. In the next class, he informed that there had been
decided to raise the grade of the writing.
Rosa Beatriz was very happy, she was not mistaken, "he is a good man". She
knew of other colleagues who proceeded with him in the same way and obtained
also good results. Some students say that "he is of little character and for
it is not difficult to say no to a request to modify a
rating, although I estimate that the one applied is the corresponding one.
Other students say that "he acts this way because he is a very good person, incapable of
to do harm to anyone, very paternalistic, and that is why he gives notes assigning for the
general, one higher than what corresponds to it." Knowing this, many students
they study little with him because 'he doesn't postpone anyone'. Among the opinions about the
the behavior of this teacher is also heard from some students who say that
he does so "because he likes that the students consider him a good person."
CASE No. 4:
Professor Luisa Paulina has advanced ideas in Pedagogy and wanted
democratize the teacher-student relationship. To achieve this, he thought of proposing to his
students who self-evaluate and assign themselves the grades they believe they should
she would respect them. Her proposal was highly praised by the students:
This is a fair teacher, who respects the students, who does not abuse her
power, which develops responsibility in the student", etc.
When the system started to be used in the subject, the level of dedication of the
students' study of the subject decreased; the certainty of approval decreased
effort for learning.
The self-assessment was conducted with relative objectivity, but the self-grading
culminated in grades that were usually higher than those that were deserved,
with the percentage of failures being practically null. Luisa Paulina had no doubt that
that several students did not meet the minimum knowledge to pass.
Soon the teacher had a great concern, what to do?, suspend the
system that she herself proposed and face the criticism and resistance of the students and
accept failure in front of colleagues, or allow the system to continue, enjoying
she is aware of the flattery from her students, knowing that unwittingly her
behavior would end up being demagogic, and in response to the questions from other teachers
everything is going well.
Professor Luisa Paulina began the experience guided by a noble intention;
improve the teacher-student relationship and the teaching-learning methods, the
students' responses were not that "it did not take into account the force of the
sociological and psychological variables that act on individuals, whether they are teachers or
students, and condition their interests and behaviors.

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CASE NO. 5:
Esteban F. is a very intelligent and restless student. Since he was little, he was the most
school troublemaker, parents and relatives always praised his "antics" and
this made him more motivated for more adventurous actions. Example
One day, while in primary school, he organized a strike of the
students from their class to demand that the teacher be changed for another "because she was
old and ugly.
Even though the teacher and the school principal spoke with the parents of
Esteban, criticizing that kind of behavior, they as parents felt proud.
the mischief and the precocious manifestation of leadership ability of your son, which
On the other hand, he was an only child.

Today Esteban is a university student, he always tells anyone who wants to listen.
how with minimal dedication to study and with a lot of cleverness he was able to reach that level
university student. Expert at performing all kinds of maneuvers to avoid studying, puts all
their efforts and ability in them to obtain the necessary qualification to
pass the subjects.
Use your experience to detect the weak points of each teacher. 'With this
You have to be nice, flatter him and become friends with him, with the other you have to support.
his ideological position, with someone who seems very sensitive, one must appeal to his
awareness, telling her about a supposed drama with a dying mother, or with a
a woman one fell in love with believing she was good and turned out to be unfaithful, or the
problem he has with a sick child who is making him desperate, these problems
They make it so that one is not in the right mindset to study, I acknowledge that I have been lazy.
in the exam, but you, teacher, will understand.
Esteban adjusts the story and its severity to the professor's way of being and according to the
distance between the grade assigned to him and the one he needs for
approve. If the usual strategies do not yield results and the teacher insists that
The grade he gave is correct and he read the writing again, but he does not find it.
reasons to raise the grade, Esteban will have to appeal to all his knowledge
what he learned from all his wanderings. He will then analyze the degree of prestige that
Does the professor have in that educational institution (to know with what support
The teacher can rely on institutional support in case a conflict arises between him and the
Professor), what is the level of conformity of the students with that teacher, how many
postponed, the personality of those postponed, with whom of them can he count,
possibility of the teacher changing the grade out of fear, etc.
Esteban's experience is to take advantage of every favorable element and to manage
situations and individuals allow you to make this analysis quickly and decide the
new strategy that may consist of trying to scare the teacher, so that he/she
raise the grade: "I deserve a better grade, if you don't give it to me, I will talk to him."
director and I will not only tell you that it is unfair to qualify, but I will also inform you that it arrives
afternoon, that does not prepare his classes, etc.

If this doesn't work, you can use the threat: "all the students that you
"We postponed signing a petition asking for his expulsion." If this also yields no results,
Esteban will have to make a very delicate decision, either he accepts the grade he

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the teacher put in and suffers the failure of not having been able to get his way (which
it will hurt more than the postponement itself) or risks even expulsion from the university
taking action, bringing together those who were postponed and resentful towards that teacher and
causing a conflict of dimensions between the teacher and the students, involving
to management and other sectors.
The Esteban who can provoke this situation is the same Esteban who can
mobilize to oppose a just student demand if it achieves
congratulating teachers or authorities of the institution. He/She will always be on their side.
of what is convenient for him. Since he was a child, his parents praised him for those actions, those
innocent pranks that were so celebrated and that shaped their scale of
values.

CASE NO. 6:
That student Elba Yolanda B. is nice, good-looking, yes, really very
pleasant, besides she must appreciate me a lot because she is always in the
first seats, she quickly gets up. If I'm missing the eraser and the chalk, she ...
offers immediately to achieve it. She must also be very studious because everything
I say she approves it with pronounced nods, so it seems
knowing it beforehand or understanding things very quickly. He/She is also very
ideologically located because every time that bad student of Roberto presents a
interpretation of the theme with its ideology, she supports me although other students
support Roberto. That's why it's strange to have his exam in front of me and see that he is a
a little weak, although she warned me that she was a little nervous because she had some
family problems, that's why I'm going to give it a note that I do not
It will detach from the written work, a higher one, resulting from a general evaluation of it.
the course.
Professor Mario S. wrote Yolanda's grade on the sheet, that nice girl.
Alumna. She took another paper to correct, it was Roberto's, 'That unpleasant student.'
Roberto never knew why his writing received a lower grade than that of his
companion Yolanda.

CASE NO. 7:
Raúl B. was always a bit lazy, he didn't like to work or study. He always
he relied on his older brother to defend him when problems arose with
his parents or with his classmates. In school, he was a champion at cheating.
others in the exams and were requested by the other students the little papers
small moments I would take to observe them discreetly during the tests.
He didn't mind walking around without money when his parents, who are of good standing.
economic, they were stingy with it so that he would work, he always managed to get some
loan from a friend to get out of trouble. He never did anything for himself, always
he relied on others to get what he needed.
Now he is in university. Upon entering, he was worried about these questions: "Will I be able to
copy me in the tests like I did in high school? How will I do it to
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pass the subjects?, concerns that are understandable in a person like him,
without methods for work or study and always seeking the easiest behavior.
Her concerns largely disappeared when she noticed that in the
At the university, it was common to assign tasks to groups of students.
Once again, he found a framework to lean on others; soon he realized that
He was not the only one, as other students were motivated by the work ethic of some.
classroom mates surrounded them to include themselves in groups with them, thus they
they ensured that with the effort of those colleagues, the task was going to be well done
done.
The grading used to be for the work submitted by the group, without being checked.
dedication and the learning done by each student; therefore, he was going to have
a good grade just by signing at the bottom of the work. If the teacher with some
suspicions about group performance will try to hold a colloquium with the group.
I would have to face resistance from this, which Raúl and others will promote.
interested parties like him in not conducting such evaluations.
Anyway, Raúl knows that it is usual for the teacher to pretend not to have noticed.
account for nothing and the group members receive the grade for which it was made
creditor the work presented. In the classroom, Raúl always defends the need to
to work in groups and evaluate each group's task, also it seeks that each group
is made up of the largest number of students.
Raúl is lazy when it comes to work and study, he is not foolish. He knows that studying and
Doing tasks in groups is an excellent pedagogical tool, with results.
extraordinary for learning when developed as it should be, guided
correctly by the teacher, but Raúl uses the group to get his grade.
That is what interests him, and he takes advantage of the little pedagogical training of the
teachers regarding group management and the deficiencies of the provisions
that govern the teaching-learning-evaluation methods.

CASE NO. 8:
Alberto O. is a university professor educated in schools where it was argued that
The foundation of education is discipline and respect for authority. His father
he would also impart these values to him. Cultured man, orderly, meticulous, his father did not
he did not allow anyone in the house to do things otherwise than as instructed by him.
Thinking differently was also not allowed, and thus his children learned at home.
and in the schools where the father sent them, complete obedience to authority is
the essential.
One day Alberto was appointed Professor at the University. For him, it meant not only
a professional success. It was also a source of pleasure. Since his childhood
he should have blindly obeyed everything that was authority. Now he, Dr. Alberto O., was
authority. That is why he will never accept a student's request to review
again a test, a grade given by him, and in case of accepting the
Reviewing an exam will not allow changing the grade given by him, as that
would imply the possibility that maybe... he was wrong, that he graded poorly, and

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even if that were the case, it's not possible to give the student that image that the
a professor (the authority) who must be a role model for the student can
to make a mistake, to be imperfect. This is how Alberto O., a university professor, feels and acts.

II. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EVALUATION AND

RATING:
These eight cases, as well as many others, that occur daily in the
university sphere, they are representative of the complex conflict, manifested some
sometimes, latent at others, that occurs between teachers and students regarding the
grading, adding to the problems that the massive university must face.
today2.

For the university, the grade should be a pedagogical instrument, product

of an evaluation process, aimed at enriching the teaching process
learning. In reality, it is not usually like that.
Many teachers do not consider grading as an act for themselves
independent characteristics of the evaluation act that precedes it. They believe that the
rating emerges automatically as a mere translation or representation of
result of the evaluation. This is how it should be, but it is not, because the act of evaluating
and the act of grading has different psychological significance for teachers and students.
This can be easily seen by analyzing the influences on the rating of the
personality characteristics of the characters reflected in the eight cases
presented.
That is why it should not be surprising to frequently find students who evaluate their exam.
as negative and yet they require a higher grade than is warranted.
The same happens with teachers who often tend to grade in a way that is not
according to the evaluation they conducted. The interests and power games that
and in the act of grading, they do not occur in the evaluation, except in those situations,
also frequent, in which the psychological variables that play in the
rating already acts on the evaluation act; in these cases, there will not only be no
There will not be objectivity in the grading, nor will there be in the evaluation.

Being the correct evaluation a very important process for the success of the process of
teaching-learning is highly detrimental distorted by influence
of the factors at play in the grading. Is there any possibility of preserving the
objectivity of the evaluation?

2
The author delves into this topic in Naum Kliksberg, 'Report of a technical cooperation mission in the field
of University Pedagogy in Venezuela." Edited by the UN Project Ven-543 and the
Public Administration Commission, 1974. Also in Naum Kliksberg, "Elements for a Critique of the
usual pedagogical systems in university teaching of Administration in Latin America, work
prepared at the request of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences for the XVI International Congress of
Administrative Sciences, Mexico, July 1974. Published in Social Sciences Journals of the Faculty of
Economic Sciences of the University of Zulia, July-December, 1974, and included in 'Contributions for a
Latin American Public Administration. Works published by the Central University of Venezuela, 1975.

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There is another aspect that is important to analyze. All the teachers agree.
in which it is necessary to assess not only the memorization content. It is also necessary to
evaluate the student's critical and creative capacity.
If proceeding in this way, these aspects should be evaluated relatively.
independence of one from the other distinct procedures and the evaluation of each one
these aspects should then have their qualification, 'such in knowledge', 'such in
"creativity" And the final evaluation? It would be necessary to analyze the appropriate criteria, they could.
or not being the integration of the two evaluations: it could be considered that they are not
"integrables", being different categories, and therefore it could happen that a
student with the highest grade in 'memorized information'
in "creativity", which would raise the question of whether that student should or should not
to be considered approved for the subject.
These problems usually do not occur at the University because, as we said,
teachers often express that it is necessary to develop and evaluate as well
critical and creative capacity of the student, in practice, most do not do it, nor
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they would know how to do it if they set their minds to it. .

It is important that we take this into account, because by evaluating only the
knowledge and not critical and creative capacity, we are evaluating and grading
Memory capacity and mnemonic content.
This point deserves another consideration, those teachers who want to evaluate, and
they know how to do it, critical and creative ability, they have the right to do it if previously
did not allow those behaviors in him? That is, it is legitimate to evaluate and qualify the
possession by the student of something that was not provided to him. Here again a arises.
difference between evaluating and grading, since it may be possible to evaluate in this case,
but it is not appropriate to assign a grade.

III. SOME QUESTIONS:

The topic of evaluation and grading raises various questions, let us look at only
some of them:
1. About the Professor:
A. Where did the teacher learn to assess and grade correctly?
B. Do the personality traits of the teacher influence the grading?
Do sympathies or antipathies towards each student affect the grading?
2. About the Student:
A. A student can receive a failing grade, even if it is fair and they understand it.
As such, how not to awaken feelings of rejection towards the teacher?

3
The Problems of Teacher Training, the author delves into: Naum Kliksberg
Elements for a Strategy in University Pedagogy in Latin America, Common Task Journal
No. 3. Edited by the University Extension Office of the Central Western University. 1976.

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 B. What is the effect of a grade that the student considers unfair, on their
personality and in their scale of values?
3. About the Teaching-Learning Process:
A. Does it benefit or harm the teacher in the effectiveness of their teaching work?
to have the power to qualify?
B. What role does a grade that is not serve for learning?
accompanied by information about the correct and incorrect concepts that
Did the student pour?
C. What does the evaluation usually assess?
Given the problems and conflicts it creates between teachers and students
exclusive grading by the teacher, is it justified?
E. To what extent can grading lead to a decrease in the level of learning
in the student due to the emergence of aggressive feelings, manifest or
latents, towards the Professor who teaches the subject?
4. On the genesis and permanence of the existence of the qualification as
exclusive instrument of the Professor:
A. How was it generated?

B. What were the current elements?

C. What research supports the effectiveness of grading, such as
How is it being used?
D. What accounts for its unchanging permanence when everything changes?
transform and modify?
E. Is there no other alternative to replace the current way of using the
rating?
F. Was another alternative considered?
G. If it was considered, what were the alternatives and what happened to them?
H. If you didn't think, why?
I consider it advisable that each participating teacher tries to take an active position.
before these questions trying to answer them.
My conclusion is that just as the grading is being used (not it itself
the same), its effects are harmful at every level.
It harms the teacher's personality (it grants them a power that stimulates the
negative aspects of his/her personality.
2. It harms the positive development of personality and values.
student
3. Create all kinds of human conflicts between teachers and students.
4. It is often a source of massive acts of destructive aggression.
from the students towards the educational institution.

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 5. It causes deterioration in the learning capacity of students.
6. It blocks the development of critical and creative thinking skills in
teachers and students. (Due to the grading, students often respond in the
exams and to express in class only what they know that the teachers
they wish to listen, impoverishing the interaction of creative thoughts
between teachers and students). Will we have to resign ourselves? There are no others.
possibilities.

IV. THE NEED TO BUILD ALTERNATIVES:

There is consensus in Latin America regarding the need to produce a
profound restructuring in the pedagogical methods usually applied in
the university.
The achievement of fundamental goals such as trying to form
mindsets suitable for national scientific and technological creation requires
necessarily changes in the existing pedagogical structures.
The necessary change process must include as one of its elements
essential the generation of substantial transformations in the methods of
teaching-learning and evaluation in use, characterized by deficiencies and
questions regarding the seriousness of the individuals indicated. Several have been recorded in various
countries in the area some positive experiences in these aspects4.
Those who participate in the Latin American educational process aiming to elevate
at all levels the level of the Universities and link them more and more to the
the needs of their countries, they have the collective ability to tackle thoroughly
this problem and seek to build pedagogical alternatives for its overcoming.

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The author is preparing a forthcoming work where he discusses some of them that he touched on.
participate, and propose a comprehensive change alternative based on a new teaching model
learning whose main objective is to develop critical and creative capacities of the
students.

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