Hi James:
Good points.
A simplified reason is we want to be sure we are acurately measuring student performance against the course objectives, student learning outcomes, and readiness for future classes or more advanced topics.
Our contemporary society requires thatr we have objective, content-based grading systems. There are many such systems. But we want to make sure the learning occurs. That's most important. Next is the assessment of that learning.
Regards, Barry
