Adult Learning

Getting feedback on tests and essays is almost always rank based. Marks are received in either a letter grade or number or percentage format. This allows the student to compare themselves against other students as well as project how they will do in the long run. It also allows the instructor to find out where everyone is ranked and whether or not the concepts they are teaching are being understood.

In a Masters program, that is entirely different. The Managing Director at my EMBA course was the one to tell me that grades don't matter as much when you are in "Adult Learning". Completing the work satisfactorily and actually understanding the concepts and being able to apply those concepts in the real world are much important than the grade.

That is a wacky concept to me. Throughout high school and university, achieving the highest grade possible was the primary driver for spending the extra time and effort to complete course work to a higher standard. Work hard and you will get higher grades which will lead to more opportunities.

I suppose that I can't imagine any interviewer asking me "What grade did you get in Marketing during your MBA?". So, ultimately it does make sense but it will take some time for me to get used to the idea. I hope that people in my group feel the same way.

Now all the rules are broken. This is going to take some getting used to.