Read all the comments to n. 14.
In general they seem to manifest ambivalence.
Does it make you feel uncomfortable that you can't articulate a fully persuasive argument either way?
COMMENT and REPLY but make an effort to reflect both about your ambivalence and the discomfort of being ambivalent.
I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with ambivalence here because I don't think there is a right or wrong solution. These very unfortunate circumstances are causing a plethora of complications for everyone involved. If I had to pick the best solution that would be the most fair, I would go with the pass/fail system. It wouldn't positively affect our GPA's, but it wouldn't negatively affect them either. I do think that scholarships and financial aid and the like must be readjusted to account for recent events and I think they could. No specific person is at fault here, so the best solution is the one that penalizes the student the least while also taking into account what said student has done up until this point.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm uncomfortable with my own ambivalence because I know I'm not the only one. My professors are ambivalent, my fellow students are ambivalent, and so is everyone in between. At the end of the day, this is a readjustment for all of us and we need to make do with what is available to us and encourage the use of any and all available resources that might aid everyone involved in order to make this a (almost) painless transition.
I agree with your statement. No one has the right or wrong answers because we've never had to face anything like this before. I am not sure what will come of this suggested grading system. However, I agree, its important to utilize the resources we do have, in order to adjust to our new norm. Thank you for sharing!
DeleteIn my opinion, I think there isn't a definitive solution to this issue. COVID-19 has caused number of issues to all of us whether it be economically, educational, etc. Going back to the article from N. 14, the best solution that can ease the situation is the pass/fail system. As the article stated, this would mean we have the choice to pass or fail, meaning it won't have an impact to or gpa in any way. One thing I would say is that i think stuff like scholarships, financial aid, and tuition could be adjusted based on the situation. As my classmate Nicholas said, no specific person is at fault here and I'm not uncomfortable with my own ambivalence. Everyone like students, professors, faculty workers, and more are doing their best with the situation that we didn't know would hit us this hard. At this point, we have to have the smoothest transition possible and take into account the work students make at this point. Some don't have the luxury to give us their best work so they do their best to give work that is credible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Isaiah, I feel COVID-19 has hit everyone in different ways whether it is econimically or the education system. I feel a pass or fail system would of been good for students. Students who didn't have access to interent or technology now has fallen behind or even students who has ahard time with distant learning. We don't know what the future holds and this could of made the rest of this semster easy on all faculty and students.
DeleteLooking back on the comments it seems that a majority of the class agrees with the idea that the professors should be taking it lightly on the students, and that we should all get passed. It does not make me feel "uncomfortable" not being able to make a 100% persuasive argument. The ability to NOT be able to make a 100% persuasive argument shows me that this is just another debate for the books. The idea of just passing every student that lived through the CoV-19 period needs to be spoken about because education is very relevant to society. Education is no longer a privilege it is now a standard and I believe the real debate is whether or not the students from this period would have the same quality of education compared to the students that do not live through this hard time.
ReplyDeleteThis is John Giannusa. I agree with your statement that the quality of our education is up in the air. The truth of the matter is that some professors are going to be fair and others are not who don't this situation seriously.
DeleteThe comments within post N.14, do seem a bit ambivalence, and I believe that is based off the uncertainty of our future. Seeing as our lives have shifted so drastically in the last few weeks, I would suggest our feelings of instability, affects our decision making. Reflecting back on my own comment, I would say, I focused more on the underlying message, and less on the “get an automatic A”. I don’t know what the right answer is and I don’t know how the suggested system would apply to my present courses. However, I do know education relies on our community, and when circumstances are shifted, and needs are altered, education needs to adapt.
ReplyDeleteNot being able to make a persuasive argument does not make me feel uncomfortable, because I don’t think anyone can make a persuasive argument regarding this topic. However, I will say, not knowing if and when our lives will return to normal, does create a sense of uncertainty and discomfort for me.
You make a great statement in regards to decision making and looking at our future. As students, we are faced with so much pressure each day and this event happening only makes it harder because lots of people are now facing anxiety and depression being quarantined, not working, not making money and maybe unproductive. It's not an easy emotion to face or deal with but I guess it's a part of growing up and figuring out what we want to do or what we can do when our lives are normal again.
DeleteI think not making a great argument for the topic at hand which was giving students the grade of A, was just a difficult question to answer as everyone was and is a student. I think for me I was slightly biased towards the fact that I am a student as well and felt uncomfortable with the idea with getting an A just by being there. Just reading the title I would think every student would want an A just automatically by being associated with that class. I feel the uncertainty in the comments of course come from that same fact and that some people really want to just get the A instead of working for the A. The ambivalence that came from that topic lead to certain comments wanting to stick with working for an A because social norms says that people should work hard to earn their rewards, but the articles goes in the complete opposite and says everyone should get the reward regardless of work intensity. I know this because I found myself in the same standstill and found myself between the scale of trying to say that people should work hard rather than sitting back and this discomfort is shown in my comment. I didn't find it too discomforting as it was just me speaking my thoughts out and believing in what I said rather than conforming to norm.
ReplyDeleteI am not uncomfortable because I think I can articulate a fully persuasive argument. However I don't think having ambivalence is bad because sometimes there are great reasons why someone is on both sides or has mixed feelings. You can't please everyone and falling in the middle is sometimes best for compromising. One can develop a great argument pro that subject or against it which is very skillful. My ambivalence in regards to that article was that although I agree that students should be passing, I don't think everyone can get an A if students show different levels of work and effort. They can all pass, but the grade should reflect on what the student brings. If they earn a C, it's a C but still passing if that makes sense. She does make a few great points however about having a lighter work load and I fully agree with that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your POV. Also, I am not uncomfortable with the arguments. Like you said, ambivalence is not always bad. I would say that ambivalence makes it harder to make a decision but as you stated it gives you an opportunity to compromise. I also agree with the article, but I know that it is not realistic. I think that teachers should excuse students during this time. For example, do not count previous absences against them. Also, they should be more clear on their expectations and deadlines. For example, I did not know that my Chinese class was meeting on Blackboard Collaborate because I did not get an email. It is not until I reached out to a classmate and she told me that they made a group chat on WeChat the last day. On the last days of class, many students did not come including me because I was sick. I did not want to endanger other students, however, turns out it was allergies.
DeleteI think that although we have never dealt with something of this nature, I was able to voice a cohesive opinion. This type of event is one for the history books and it' definitely not easy to figure out solutions that can help everyone without additional problems arising. I do agree with most of the class though, professors need to make it lightly on students. We are all in the same boat here and we should all be treated like we are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because what happens during this time makes everyone confused and pressured like economic issues, education, and health. As you said, we are in the same boat so both professors and students should sympathize with each other and come up with easy and good solutions for both sides.
DeleteThis time is a very difficult time for me. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the thing that makes me worry is my studying abroad. After this semester is over, next year is going to be my last year in college, and I will graduate. But the number of cases of the people who got infected in New York in particular and in the US in general shows no signs of stopping and will continue to rise. So I don't know if I can go back to the US to finish my senior year. I don't like distance learning like this. I am still struggling to learn online because of electronic problems and my timetable in the isolation camp. I think all professors should be easy on grading to avoid putting extra pressure on students during this time.
ReplyDeleteThis is John Giannusa. I am not uncomfortable because the issue is controversial and not black and white. I think that we should get all A's, only because there are so many people who weren't prepared to take online classes. But, there are other's who think that they shouldn't be deprived of their education. Either way, nobody has experienced anything like this in the past so there is no right or wrong answer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John that in todays situation when we need care about our health and when we not prepared to take online classes because of the many different reasons, we should get good grades that relive pressure which we are all experiencing today.
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ReplyDeleteI think I am ambivalent because from one side I have an increasing pressure how to protect myself and my family members from COVID-19 and from other side I have pressure from the amount of work that I am receiving each day from my five courses which I have to finish this semester because it is my last semester before student teaching as my major is early childhood. Also, I think it is ok in today's situation to feel uncomfortable to make any decision because we don't know how long we will be in isolation and what consequences will bring COVID-19 for us. In my post n.14 I told that the grade “pass” sounds for me like I just attend this course without doing any work, but who knows that if I still choose this grade for example after two years when I will be trying to get job the school principal won’t think the same way while looking through my diploma.
Based on the comments, I think that there is a sense of ambivalence. Many students would love to get an automatic “A,” however, they recognize that it is not fair. This is mixed feelings toward the situation. It does not make me uncomfortable because they all have a valid point. This situation was sudden, therefore, it is not surprising that there would be mixed feelings. I am also not uncomfortable with my own ambivalence because at this point I couldn’t care less. I am ready for this semester to be over. CUNY is disorganized, and this professor is from Columbia. Therefore, her opinion has no weight on disorganized CUNY.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree in that I am also ready for the semester to be over. if anything, I believe that CUNY's disorganization alone should be the argument for just calling it a semester.
DeleteI could not agree more and Joseph brings up a good point. The CUNY system as a whole is terribly unorganized, not responsive and they do not show any type of urgency to take care of what is a priority. The people that work within the system (not the professors) do not understand how much their work impacts the student body. In my opinion from my past experience, the CUNY systems employees besides the professors are not fit to have the jobs they do and the people working the system do not care about their job or the students, they only care about not doing any work and collecting a pay check.
DeleteAmbivalence is a funny feeling of i want this but do we/I deserve it? as others have said a pass or fail that’s up to the professors professional opinion is definitely good but is it sound? Not necessarily, as some professors are biased in different ways, so a unanimous gage or score chart like that of an essay in finals and tests and such. 0-5 and you’re total score decides you’re fate. essays are surely complicated and so is this fast track grading system. And if not each professor prepares a test for there class to take on whatever material they wish.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would absolutely love to receive an A for all my courses this semester. It would certainly relieve me an undue burden on my life due to the sudden and unprecedented pandemic. However, I know in my heart that I probably do not deserve it. There is a sense of pride and accomplishment that accompanies actually earning a decent grade, and just being handed a good grade will completely diminish that. However, at the same time, I also believe that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. My work life and home life, along with everybody elses academic life has seen some great changes due to the new order of things as of late that I am currently still trying to adjust to. Unfortunately for me, my academic life is barely hanging on, but I recognize that this is my responsibility alone to find the right balance. This ambivalence in my own feelings make me uncomfortable because I am already an indecisive person by nature. If anything, I believe I am going on the side of relieving the stress, and any undue burdens that absolutely can be waived, probably should be.
ReplyDeleteWhile writing my comment for blog I was conflicted between my thoughts and my desires. Automatically getting an A in all of my courses is something I would want but I know it won’t happen. And even if it were to happen it might not be entirely fair to all students. But not being able to definitively chose one side and make a fully persuasive argument for it doesn’t make me uncomfortable. Like many of the comments prior to mine on this blog post have stated these are very uncertain times. This is the first time we are experiencing something of this scale. So I believe that there is no right or wrong choice in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThis situation is something we never imagined would ever happen to us. I wish professors made it easier for us while some did, many didn’t. When this is all over it will be something to discuss in the future, and hopefully we will learn from it. I personally don’t think I deserve an A it has been so hectic so impossible to breathe in the past few months.
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