Perhaps, but for most students the grade is the important benefit. An 'F' is a career-altering problem.
Early in my schooling I personally emphasized learning over grades and consistently encountered a high level of disapproval and administrative friction. The students who complained in this scenario aren't wrong, but it's the system that requires reform, not the professor.
And F doesn't have to be career altering if you retake the class. I get that it adds money/time/opportunity cost though.
The parent does raise the question of what is appropriate difficulty. Orgo should probably be difficult & rigorous for ChemE's, maybe less so for pre-meds. I think many schools have different course offerings for different majors for that reason.
In my school it seemed the thermodynamics prof would give a "gentleman's C" to the kids who tried somewhat, and an A to the ones who really put in the work.
If you retake a class at NYU, your final grade on your GPA is the average of your attempts. So a F followed by an A is a C.
Is a C life and career altering? Maybe for some highly competitive paths like med school. And what if you got an F and then a B, not an A?
While at NYU, I failed a class. Then I retook it and got an A. The only major difference was that the first professor was extremely strict and demanding while the second professor was very laid back.
My low graduating GPA (which I take full responsibility for one way or another) haunted my career even as far as after 10 years of industry experience. Doors were closed or slammed shut because of it on more than a few instances - for example, I failed to acquire any internships at all because of GPA, and that subsequently made the search for my first full time job extremely painful.
Yes, I agree that an industry that murders nearly a quarter million Americans annually through fully preventable medical errors needs to train their professionals to work with less rigor. YOLO, baby!
The problem is that this class is frequently on the pre-med track, and a single F will tank your chances of getting into medical school, even if you retake the course and get an A.
The primary objective of students wanting to get into medical school is to get a high GPA, what specific courses they take and what they learned don't end up mattering at all. Very little of what they learn during the 4 years of undergrad will end up applying during medical school, residency, and their careers.
Early in my schooling I personally emphasized learning over grades and consistently encountered a high level of disapproval and administrative friction. The students who complained in this scenario aren't wrong, but it's the system that requires reform, not the professor.