As conflicting ideologies have become more and more polarizing in recent years, the United States has become a battleground for numerous culture wars — and higher education has often been caught in the crossfire. At the University of Oklahoma in November, for example, a student received a zero on an essay about gender stereotypes that cited the Bible and called the idea of multiple genders “demonic.” In feedback on the assignment, the course’s instructor pointed to a failure to respond to the essay prompt, a lack of empirical evidence, and offensive messages as reasons for the failing grade. In response, the student claimed religious discrimination. As of Dec. 17, the instructor remains on administrative leave as the university investigates the claim further.
This incident has sparked a nationwide debate about the ways college professors are grading students when their course material conflicts with students’ personal beliefs — especially in a climate where having political, social, and religious conversations in higher education has become so fraught. How are professors encouraging students to see beyond their biases, without students feeling like they’re being told what to think? And, perhaps more pertinently, how are professors ensuring (and proving) that their own biases don’t get in the way of fairly assessing their students?
“I’ve always stuck to the very simple philosophy that we are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts,” Matthew Cohen, professor of political science, policy, and history at Merrimack College, tells Her Campus. “Part of what I enjoy is simply people [having] different opinions. As long as they’re based in fact, I give As to papers arguing the exact opposite thing from one another.”
We are all entitled to our own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts.
One of the keys to achieving this level of objectivity is clear and impartial grading criteria. The exact criteria will vary from course to course, but whatever it is, students should be made aware of it early on — most notably in their course syllabus. Not only do virtually all colleges and universities require professors to make syllabi available to students at the start of every course, but in some states, syllabi must also be posted online for public access. This kind of grading transparency inherently holds professors accountable for fair grading practices — and gives students a roadmap to success.
For Boston University professor Carrie Preston, who teaches courses on border studies, forced displacement and migration, and gender, a difference in worldview isn’t just something to take into consideration when assessing a student — it’s an important part of the curriculum. “I want students to challenge themselves, take intellectual risks, try out new ideas and approaches, and engage deeply with the work,” Preston says, noting that her students can have strong personal stances about the topics her courses cover. Preston uses what’s known as “dialogic grading,” an alternative grading practice in which the professor assigns no letter grades at all; instead, students are encouraged to approach material with curiosity through self-assessment and meaningful feedback. “We challenge ourselves through discussion together and self-interrogation,” she says.
Especially these days, professors generally know if their course is likely to strike a nerve. As such, many make a point to set expectations for their classes early on, something Kevin Tracey, a public school educator and administrator of 30 years, emphasizes the importance of. “If you do a good job establishing norms and expectations around what is appropriate for student debate or discourse, I feel you can address any potentially harmful comments directly and in context, so students understand the difference between stating their personal views and stating views that may be harmful to others and/or harmful to moving the conversation forward,” he says.
We challenge ourselves through discussion together and self-interrogation.
Many college instructors do this not just through the aforementioned required syllabi, but also in those crucial first few days of class. (With most colleges and universities offering an add/drop period for students to decide whether a class is for them, those who don’t feel comfortable with the course material or the professor’s grading practices are then free to explore other options.) For example, Kirstie Dobbs, professor of political science, policy, and history at Merrimack, says she spends the first two weeks of each course prepping her class for what’s to come. “[We go over] the art of having political discussions and how to actually engage as a citizen in a way that’s productive,” she says.
Dobbs acknowledges that biases are a fact of life in college. “We all have our own biases — a lot of time they’re implicit biases, so we’re not even aware that we have them.” But for those with less experience, these biases can be shocking to confront. “[College] might be the first time [students] are actually coming up against a different ideology and learning about other perspectives,” she says. “That can make students feel very, very uncomfortable.”
As the OU incident has shown, the polarization of views has made navigating divisive topics in higher ed classrooms more challenging than ever. But educators maintain that exposure to new ideas and ways of thinking is a formative part of the college experience — one that is still possible to achieve with mutual open-mindedness, critical thinking, and good faith coming from both students and professors.