Context: University studies in Norway, master level, to become a teacher at either primary education (barneskole, classes 1-7) or mostly middle school level (ungdomsskole, classes 8-10 and pupils of age about 13-16, but can also teach classes 5-7 from barneskole). I am interested in the first couple of years of mathematics education courses.
The law allows giving the students either letter grades, which amount to numbers 1-5 but use letters for whatever reason, or simple pass/fail as grades.
The contents of the courses are a mix of fairly simple mathematics and a fairly big dose of didactics. Exams are sometimes written, sometimes oral.
What are the effects of having pass/fail or more explicit grades on student learning, stress levels, etc.? My intuition suggests that grades encourage towards short-term instrumental learning to get a good grade and increase stress and anxiety related to the exams, so I would be inclined to think that pass/fail would give more room for learning to master the subject matter and maybe reduce the negative emotional effects of having exams by a bit. But maybe there are studies in a context similar to this, so I don't have to trust my intuition only.
This potentially related question seems to happen in a different context and discusses things like graded homework, which we do not have in any case: Would it make sense for math courses to be pass/fail?
