Ahmed Shaami
When the final weeks encroaches on college or university students, the stress and horror force them to frantically check their grades and calculate the final percentages as if their lives depend on it. But this is not exactly as you think. Good grades are important and every student should no doubt strive for it but it does not necessarily correlate with their intelligence. In order to gain the actual knowledge, you need to worry less about your grades and care more about retaining the content you have learned. But some people think of grading as a method to measure their children’s intelligence. This is becoming a huge problem because grades in no way define your intelligence.
Following are the reasons that show that grades and intelligence are not the same:
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Text anxiety:
Although it is ignored in most cases, but some children suffer from test anxiety. This means that the students may have understood a content better ten others but due to their fear of performing in a test or exam, they may fail to answer the questions that are asked. This is the kind of situation when emotions take over all their understanding and instead of completing the given test, their brain may be directed towards performing other things. Therefore, you cannot link their intelligence with their grades at all.
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Memorizing is just for the test:
When you study in order to take test, then you may become successful in it. But it does not mean that you have actually gained knowledge. The rote memorization enables you to spill out the facts and stats on a page but it will not force you to study the context for a deeper problem solving. This is the reason grades are not an effective way to measure comprehension and does not at all translate your intelligence levels.
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Strengths and abilities cannot be quantified:
There is no single scale that can provide a good look at an individual’s unique talents, abilities, leadership skills, or work ethic. A human being is a lot more than just numbers on a scale. Grades cannot measure how the traits influence each other. Sometimes you take test and perform well without even having any background knowledge. This might spark your interest and encourages you to build a successful career with it.
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Grades fail to reflect abilities:
Every person is brilliant in unique ways. If you measure each person with the same skillset, then you might not be able to achieve the correct results. The balance of strengths and weakness in each person are difficult to recognize therefore using grades to measure intelligence is not a good idea.
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Intelligence is never static:
Many experts believe that there is a good chance that intelligence in people changes overtime. Through training you can easily boost your intelligence levels and become more persistent. Embracing new challenges can help you learn more and shape your own reality.
