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A Quest to Explain What Grades Really Mean
Published: December 25, 2010
It could be a Zen koan: if everybody in the class gets an A, what does an A mean?
The answer: Not what it should, says Andrew Perrin, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “An A should mean outstanding work; it should not be the default grade,” Mr. Perrin said. “If everyone gets an A for adequate completion of tasks, it cripples our ability to recognize exemplary scholarship.”
As part of the university’s long effort to clarify what grades really mean, Mr. Perrin now leads a committee that is working with the registrar on plans to add extra information — probably median grades, and perhaps more — to transcripts. In addition, they expect to post further statistics providing context online and give instructors data on how their grading compares with their colleagues’.
“It’s going to be modest and nowhere near enough to correct the problems,” Mr. Perrin said. “But it’s our judgment that it’s the best we can do now.”
Why not add class rank with grade? If you get an A but you're 10th in a class of 15, that gives you instant perspective.
ReplyDeleteI read that article this morning with great interest, but it does seem like there should be a rationalizing equation that can add a "real value" to each grade by adding context of environment. Maybe Mathsquatch can write that equation...
How's about going back to basics-grading based on the objectives listed on the syllabus.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in differential calculus, if a student can demonstrate an understanding of the derivative in an applications problem and what the significance of it is, that goes a long way towards demonstrating complete competence in the material. I tend to look at grading, especially when grading exams, in terms of a rubric: no competence, limited competence, substantial competence and complete competence with the attendant letter grades to boot.
I how the normative assumption at the outset ("An A should mean outstanding work") is stated as if it were unambiguous, much less true. I'll tell you what an A means in my class - it means that, in my judgment, the student has mastered the material as well as I could possibly expect and then some. What *that A* means to other people is a function of the reputation of my institution in that area, or, if I'm sufficiently well known in my own right, a function of my reputation, as well as of the subject matter in question (whether the class is an introductory class or graduate level, what is being studied, etc). In a sense, surpassing mastery of the material is a kind of "outstanding work," I guess, as long as the material is sufficiently rigorous, but I wouldn't imagine one would have to be an outstanding student to get As in a wide variety of courses.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for it. I particularly like the idea of posting grade distributions along with grades.
ReplyDeleteI don't like that the UNC chancellor characterizes those who have high standards (chemists in his example) as grading harshly. He should've chosen his words more carefully.
ReplyDeletethe UNC chancellor characterizes those who have high standards (chemists in his example) as grading harshly.
ReplyDeleteThe bloody bureaucrat probably has never had to work hard for an A in his life. What constitutes "harsh"? Keeping your course GPA on the C/B border, like I do -- and I get plenty of complaints about how hard it is? Not worrying about whether, in a given semester, half the class gets an F if they don't master the material (see point #15 in the link)? What?
I try very hard to do what Lord Humungus suggests in terms of asking students to demonstrate competency. This is a bit tricky in my discipline where it's easier to encourage students to memorize random facts than it is to get them to master and apply disciplinary tools. They WANT to memorize random facts, too...they ASK for them. And I say "Geez, you COULD look that up. Why would you need to memorize it?"
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I would give my left canine for the chance to make them calculate a standard deviation...we do USE such things in Social Science Land, you know.
This semester I am trying a new approach. I think I am going to show people examples of A, B C work together with short explanations of grading criteria. I've done this in other disciplines in the past, but not in my own. Perhaps seeing a concrete example of shitty writing (I mean, a 'C' or 'D' paper) will help them out?
The worst feeling, though, was the one I got as I was marking at the end of Fall term. I realized that I had no sense anymore of what the grades MEANT. I knew what they meant in my head, but how might my colleague grade this work?
I should be able to use my own metric, right? On the other hand, I'm sick of "But Prof XYZ says..."
ps: Latest diabolical scheme to screw with the little buggers? Withhold final exam grades AND final paper grades until the start of classes AND make them come to my office to discuss their grades. Mwaahahahahahah!
Ugh, Blackdog. You've finished with those students. Why do you want to continue to see them next semester? Sounds like a lose/lose to me.
ReplyDelete@Blackdog I have found that showing 4 different examples of A work actually works better than showing a range - the A paper, the B paper and so on. My students used to get fixated on stupid little things that were wrong with the D paper and couldn't see the forest for the trees.
ReplyDeleteI hope you report back on how the examples work for you.
I think the grading war is over. We've lost it.
ReplyDeleteMy students used to get fixated on stupid little things that were wrong with the D paper and couldn't see the forest for the trees.
ReplyDeleteDitto. I ask students to write a particular type of section for their reports that has a stereotyped format in the literature. What they need to do is go to the library database and look up half-a-dozen or ten examples of the section, then copy the style and format.
What they do is tear their hair out trying to figure out what I want, flail around randomly, and typically just fail.
Point value? 7 out of 100. Meanwhile, they're skimping on the analysis, which is worth ten times as much.
I post a rubric/criteria sheet for what makes an A/B/C/D paper or journal entry. I post samples of "A" papers. When I give back graded papers (each of which has been marked in the margins to show errors as well as good things), there's a grade sheet attached, with the Higher Order Concerns (thesis, organization, etc.) and Lower Order Concerns (grammar, style, tone, etc.) mapped out to show that individual student where s/he went off the rails (i.e. the reason for the grade). Want to know what one of my student evals said? "Mostly grades on attendance and effort." Another wrote that s/he wished I "had a more extensive explanation at the end of graded papers depicting the reasons you liked or dislike the paper, not just “Xs” on a sheet."
ReplyDeleteWTF??