Keith Hudson:
> Sorry if I haven't been clear. Yes, grade creep (inflation) -- exams > becoming easier -- has been occurring for decades, pari passu with the > number of new universities being built (or converted from teaching and > technical colleges). Grade deflation (decreasing the number of high grades) > has been done to avoid embarras de richesses in particular subjects and to > give the appearance of a general increase in achievement from year to year > which can be plausibly attributed to hard work only. > > (Actually, I'm quite sure that students *have* been working harder in > recent years, but this doesn't consist of tackling harder problems but of > doing more practical exercises and portfolio modules at simple level. The > problem with this, as examiners are now discovering fast, is that it is > becoming impossible to discriminate between candidates at all and quite > dense students are now attending universities. But, then, the quality of > lecturers at our lesser universities is distressingly low also.) Keith, I recognize that you are writing from a position of authority on these matters, but what you say doesn't seem to coincide with my own observations. I went to a good university in the 1950s. I was considered passingly bright at the time, but I do know that some of my fellow students were not. And, though I had no way of judging them then, some of my lecturers did not strike me as being of a high standard retrospectively. I again attended university part time in the late 1960s to do a graduate degree. At the time, I felt that there had been no slippage in standards or the quality of lecturers. I had to work hard for the grades I got, and was not merely doing practical exercises and portfolio modules. My current contacts with the academic community are limited to knowing a few students and participating in the preparation of a summer-session seminar at McGill University. From the students, I have reason to believe that they are as competent, and working as hard, as I was nearly fifty years ago. >From the academics I have recently worked with, I know that a main concern is how to make the subject matter they have inherited from past generations relevant to present and emerging concerns. As I'm sure you recognize, this is not an easy thing to do. Grade creep or deflation may indeed be occurring. But IMHO the big challenge in a world as dynamic and chaotic as ours is how to keep education relevant so that we stand a chance of solving at least some of our problems. Best Regards, Ed
