I wonder if all of us have experienced angst in assigning marks that can
affect the academic careers of our students. I always took it very seriously
and was concerned about the student who fell below some arbitrary cutoff I
ordained. I started teaching back in the '60s and have seen the rise of
"grade inflation" and extraneous pressures to "equalize." My thinking now is
that we tend to treat our students in the manner we were treated as undergrad
and graduate students. My professors back at Michigan in the "Olden Days"
were fair to me...more than fair. The least I can do is treat my own students
similarly. This thread's diversity of thinking attests to the differing
perceptions of what is fair and to what constituencies? What is right for
employers? What is correct for society? What's best for the individual
student? At the very least, grading is not taken lightly by the various
respondents. I'm not so old I can't remember the pressures on me to get "A's"
and to look good----and keep my ego boosted.
