But, why?
Since when did assigning copious amounts of tests and papers all due at the same time seem like a good teaching technique to anyone?
Professor of Wooly Mammoth Hunting: The students all really like my class this year. They are doing all their homework and visiting me in my office hours bearing the tusks of beasts they slayed all by themselves.
Professor of Cave Painting: Ha! Three of my students just finished a mural the size of a mammoth depicting me teaching them to paint. Another two drew a stunning portrayal of a mammoth clobbering a man who had arms and legs that resembled your thick stumps. Clearly, they like my class much better.
Professor of Building Large Fires: If you'll allow me. I believe that the students enjoy my class the most. Did you see the size of the forest they burned yesterday? However, there is a simple way to solve this disagreement. We shall make each of our students slay a mammoth, paint the wall of a large carvern, and build a massive fire by sundown tomorrow. For every student that completes your assignment more effectively than either of the others, you get a large rock. The professor with the most rocks at the end wins.
What the professors failed to realize was that they had not given any incentives to their students. As such, none of them got any rocks because the students roasted them over a large fire with their freshly caught mammoths in their lavishly decorated cave.
However, when those students became teachers and a similar conversation arose, they did not make the mistakes of their forerunners. They created the GPA system.
Yes. I just wasted my time making up a story about cavemen.
Professor of Wooly Mammoth Hunting: The students all really like my class this year. They are doing all their homework and visiting me in my office hours bearing the tusks of beasts they slayed all by themselves.
Professor of Cave Painting: Ha! Three of my students just finished a mural the size of a mammoth depicting me teaching them to paint. Another two drew a stunning portrayal of a mammoth clobbering a man who had arms and legs that resembled your thick stumps. Clearly, they like my class much better.
Professor of Building Large Fires: If you'll allow me. I believe that the students enjoy my class the most. Did you see the size of the forest they burned yesterday? However, there is a simple way to solve this disagreement. We shall make each of our students slay a mammoth, paint the wall of a large carvern, and build a massive fire by sundown tomorrow. For every student that completes your assignment more effectively than either of the others, you get a large rock. The professor with the most rocks at the end wins.
What the professors failed to realize was that they had not given any incentives to their students. As such, none of them got any rocks because the students roasted them over a large fire with their freshly caught mammoths in their lavishly decorated cave.
However, when those students became teachers and a similar conversation arose, they did not make the mistakes of their forerunners. They created the GPA system.
Yes. I just wasted my time making up a story about cavemen.