In Singapore, the race for grades perforates all levels of society. Much is discussed at the educational level, and even more so, in Singapore homes. As a Chinese Singaporean, it is not uncommon to attend a Chinese New Year gathering and hear younger relatives get asked: “What result did you get in school?”
Yet, after this stage in life, how much of grades are discussed in life? 10 or 20 years later, who would ask you for your PSLE/O Level score? Suppose grades don’t matter, what would be a good substitute for grades and results?
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with my PhD ‘senior’, Robin Nagy. His work focuses on measuring academic effort. His years of research focus on an alternative method to show student academic outcomes. You may have a look at this article.
And this is where my main discussion centres on his proposal to measure effort as an indicator of academic performance in schools.
Changing the definition of success
Why do academic results exist as an indicator of success? People ‘see’ success via the results because it is easy to tell. A student who scores 95 on a test is perceived as more successful than a student who scores 75 on a test.
It is well documented in studies, especially Grit studies (Yes, from Duckworth), that sustained effort predicts academic success. This means that measuring effort is the same as measuring success.
What’s more, results are unidimensional (good vs bad). But effort is recognised in three ways: brain-based, action-based, and Person-based (Nagy, 2023). This means there are multiple ways to tell how much a student puts in effort.
When results justify the goal, essential processes like learning and enjoyment become side-lined. This is what it means when results become an extrinsic goal: students study for the sake of results.
However, students who put in the effort are likely motivated not mainly by these extrinsic goals (i.e., results) but other intrinsic motivation factors. This is when the means to the end is more important: students study because they like to study. [Research idea?]
Furthermore, effort becomes an obvious indicator when results/grades do not matter. Beyond academic situations, effort becomes more notable, and this is especially so for Singaporean guys. As an ex-regular in the SAF, results are inconsequential to how people perceive you. Outside the classroom, if people see you are trying hard, you are more likely to be recognised.
In closing, there is a need to recognise effort when measuring a student’s academic success, and this is not limited to schools.
In schools, educational practitioners could use Effort measures like the one Robin created to show how much effort the student puts into his/her work. At home, parents and relatives could start asking how much effort the student has put into schoolwork.
When students feel that effort is recognised, the effects could go beyond education.
thepsychysggrad 
Future edit: Should have added confirmation bias. Only fixating on getting results can become a loop where you only expect results from effort (which may reinforce extrinsic motivational aspects and a fixed mindset).
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