I agree with Annette here, but don't mind sharing some general info. Add also the problem of plus and minus grading...faculty here voted that in and the average grade soon became a B. My averages, even after withdrawals, are typically 67-70% and I have gone to 65% of total points for a C. About 30% or more in Psych 100 get Ds and Fs. mostly because of serious reading and study problems, or just not attending. I am tenured and full-time, so not facing the same kind of pressure as adjunct or new faculty to please or be popular. I am not trying to be a hard ass, but just maintain some minimal college level standard. I do extra credit only in Psych 100 to promote research participation, and have feebie pts awarded for class exercises, demos, review games, etc., in all classes. Some students complain when the average is 70% as they now expect a B just for hanging around most of the semester. And so it goes... Gary
Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Psychology Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI 48710 989-964-4491 peter...@svsu.edu ----- Original Message ----- From: tay...@sandiego.edu To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> Sent: Monday, December 21, 2009 10:34:14 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [tips] Grade inflation: A comparison? I sort of like the idea except that there are so very many variables that go into each class's grades--which class it is (I have lower grades in lower division courses and in research methods sections), what type of pedagogy is used; what types of assessments are used; some people give extra credit and some people don't; some people carry their grades to the nth decimal place whereas some people don't believe they are using a true objective system and are willing to round up (seldom down, ha ha); some of my sections are honors sections and some are not and the honors students' grades tend to be much higher on average; and so on and so on. So, I'm not sure what we'd achieve by such as sharing because of all the factors and variables. Hmmm, I think I've talked myself out of the idea. Sorry. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 tay...@sandiego.edu ---- Original message ---- >Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:16:05 -0500 >From: Beth Benoit <beth.ben...@gmail.com> >Subject: [tips] Grade inflation: A comparison? >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> > > I've been wondering about the whole grade inflation > idea, as have all of you, for years. > In light of this, I'm curious how all of you grade, > and thus if you might be seen to be guilty, based > on the grades in your courses. We all know that > some years you just seem to have a lot of bright, > hard-working achievers, and some years you don't. > So....do you think it's acceptable, worthwhile and > ethical for us to compare grades? I'll be the > first to offer my gradebook, from the last several > years and from three different colleges, but only if > you all agree that it's something to consider and > would be a worthwhile topic. Naturally, names of > students shouldn't be used, nor should the names of > the colleges. (I've actually taught at five > different colleges in the last nine years and I > could pull up grades from all of them. And I would > not divulge which grades came from where. Perhaps, > in the interest of anonymity, if you've only taught > at one college and recoil at the thought of having > your home base publicized, you could ask another > member of TIPS to post your grades without your > name. This is particularly important to consider > knowing that TIPS is able to be viewed by anyone. > While it might not be unethical to post grades > that are known to come from just one school, it > would be likely to be insensitive to the > administration.) > Also, if there is such a thing as grade inflation, > it shouldn't matter whether you teach at a high > school, a community college, a 4-year college, > university, etc. Grade inflation appears to > exist everywhere. > So what think you, colleagues? If you think it's a > good idea, let's do it. But if I've overlooked > some slumbering dragon, then I'll let this idea die. > Beth Benoit > Granite State College (now) > Plymouth State University (now) > and three others I shall not name... > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
