Hi Albert- Without knowing what the standard deviations are for your classes it's impossible to test to see whether these classes are statistically reliably different from one another. Based on my classes I would be willing to bet that the small differences that you see are simply chance variations. I would not curve these grades, but I would use it as an oportunity to teach students the difference between "real" differences and differences attributable to chance.
Hopoe that helps, -Don. Don Allen Dept. of Psychology Langara College 100 W. 49th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. Canada V5Y 2Z6 Phone: 604-323-5871 ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, November 12, 2007 2:30 pm Subject: [tips] Question about Exam Scores To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> > Dear Colleagues: > > I teach at the community college, and this semester my teaching > load is four > courses. Today, I administered the second exam in all of my > courses and just > scored each of them. The average for each class is as follows > > Class 1- N=27 70% average raw score > Class 2- N=31 66% average raw score > Class 3- N=29 67% average raw score > Class 4- N=30 67% average raw score > > The exam consisted of 50 multiple choice items and scored on a > 100% scale. > My colleagues at my campus are divided, some say that they deserve > the score > they get, others will curve the exam scores. In fact several of > my students > asked if I would curve even before I handed out the answer forms > and exam > booklets. > > Each semester I do have a handful of students who do not test very > well, > however this semester I seem to have more of those that do not > test well or are > not studying adequately for my exam. In each class three students > scored 90% or > higher > > My question is as follows > > At what point does one scale or curve the results and are there > any specific > methods of doing so? > > Thanks > > Albert Bramante > Department of Psychology/Sociology > Union County College > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > > > > ************************************** See what's new at > http://www.aol.com > --- ---
