Is the correlation between learning a subject and having high grades strong?

Question

I've found myself in a paradoxical situation. I have failed modules over and over, many modules, some modules more than once. One of the failed modules was introduction to computing. After passing it I felt an urge to write lecture notes because I though that the "official" lecture notes made by two teachers of the computer science department were too shallow and unappealing. I took some time to write it and publish in a free webhosting service.

Now I'm feeling like continuing that type of work, expanding it to more modules, such as physics and calculus. It seems that explaning things with plain english, doing comparisons and following a straight path is kinda easy for me. Although I did fail so many modules so many times.

Is the correlation between learning a subject and having high grades strong?

Conversely, is the correlation between not properly learning a subject and having really bad grades strong?

Answer 1

There's no general answer to the question. It depends on the individual course.

• If the course is designed so that grades are earned for demonstrating achievement of a learning outcome, then there will be a strong correlation between having high grades and achieving the learning outcomes of the course.
• If the course is designed so that grades are earned for things that don't demonstrate achievement of a learning outcome, or so that students can achieve a learning outcome but not have an opportunity to demonstrate it to earn a grade, then the correlation will be weak.

Also, your general description of "learning a subject" may not necessarily be strongly correlated with the desired learning outcomes of a course. It's possible to earn a poor grade for a well-designed course even after having "learned the subject" if the course has specific learning outcomes (i.e., "Students will know how to solve a certain class of problem," "Students will have learned this particular skill") and what you are learning about the subject happens to be orthogonal to those learning outcomes.

Answer 2

The correlation between learning facts and getting good grades at the postgraduate level isn't particularly strong, no.

At lower levels an appearance of education can be simulated by the rote learning of facts. But that becomes less true as the education level increases. By postgraduate level, although some facts are useful, it's much more about being able to use academic tools, to be familiar with theories and their strengths and weaknesses, and being able to think things through deeply and critically.

Answer 3

No. I can recall many things that I learned in college 45 years ago from classes in which I received poor grades, and I have forgotten things from classes in which I received good grades.

Answer 4

A few notes:

• Are you actually allowed to post lecture notes online? Many schools or professors will take exception to this.
• I will disagree with some other answers: there isn't a correlation with learning materials and having high grades, but, there is a correlation between knowing enough at a given point in the class and having high grades, if the class is taught well. That is, if you know what you should know at a given point, your grade is more likely to be higher. However, just because you are learning a lot doesn't mean your grade is necessarily good.
• [Edit: wording improved] You mentioned you're studying computing. As CS grad student, I can tell you that studying computing is somewhat different from studying other fields: you cannot "learn" computing in the same way you learn other subjects. Memorizing facts and techniques aren't enough; the largest part of succeeding at computing is understanding at a deep level the implications of the facts. (This is of course important in other fields too, but you can get away with rote learning for longer. In CS, though, lack of understanding is an immediate path to failure.)
  • To prove this, I will mention that I never took notes in my CS classes. I didn't because while the lecture was proceeding, I was internalizing everything I didn't know already, and then applying it every chance I got. Guess who did better.
  • To elaborate, practice and application are literally the most important things to do when studying computing.
• I agree with the commenter that you need to ensure that what you think you are learning is actually correct. For a technical field, it is easy to screw yourself up with mistaken beliefs. Computing, in particular, is a field where being a smartass is a prerequisite. You need to be highly attuned to very slight differences in meaning, and if you're going at it alone, you're going to miss things. Talk with the professor. Talk to your TA. We're there to help you understand these finer points and check yourself.