Fail students when necessary to encourage success: Opinion

Instructors should strive to honestly grade their students, and that may mean using a failing grade when necessary to encourage students to complete their assignments, writes Louis Haas for Inside Higher Ed. Haas writes that many faculty members assign students passing grades even when they do not do the work expected of them, which incentivizes students to continue to not complete assignments. The author argues that instructors should boldly use the F as an indicator of students’ lack of success, as it is a useful way of providing feedback to students about their preparedness, and behaviour. Haas writes that providing this kind of feedback encourages student growth and success, since students tend to pay attention to their GPA and will make an effort to achieve better grades.