Writing for an Academic Discussion Is academic performance an important indicator of a student’s potential?

Should academic performance continue to be treated as the most important indicator of a student’s potential, or is it time to shift toward recognizing other qualities?  (A class on education)

                                                                                                                            

 

☆Let’s Think

1.       Do you know of any person who didn’t do well at school that has become successful?

2.       Does academic performance indicate only a person’s intelligence level or does it show any other properties of the individual? If so, what are they?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

Agree

1.       Test scores are more or less accurate to measure intelligence level such as high cognitive level, strong power of reasoning, and good memory.

2.       Academic performance indicates not only intelligence level but also key characteristics that show how well the person will function in society in the future.

3.       There must be a reason why top-class corporations sift through job candidates by their academic backgrounds.

 

 

Disagree

1.       Not all geniuses were straight-A students.   e.g. Albert Einstain

2.       Test scores reflect personal history rather than the person’s potential.

3.       Most characteristics that are considered important by society are not measured by GPA. For example, creativity, emotional intelligence, social skills, and compassion cannot be quantified.

4.       Each individual is a unique treasure of this world. We need to focus on nurturing their aptitudes instead of forcing them to adapt to the traditional academic standard.

 

 

☆Sample Reply for Ideas and Expressions

Being the devil’s advocate, although I agree with Selina’s point that there are average people who accomplish something remarkable, I agree more with Harry in that test scores show the solid personality that promises the person’s future success. Indeed, academic performance shows important properties other than the innate intelligence level, such as honesty, awareness, passion, diligence, discipline, tenacity, ability to manage time, ability to negotiate, adaptability, and resilience. It even shows how well the person is socialized, which doesn’t mean how many friends the person has but how well the person knows the dynamics of society and act accordingly. All these factors related to individual characteristics and the personal history affect test scores and grades. Of course, bad scores do not directly mean poor humanity. Poverty prevents one from performing to the person’s full potential for instance. But in general, academic achievement is most reliably indicates that a student is freer from future problems.  (154 words)