Hey, Albert -- If you have classes that small and had students who scored well, you surely have enough variability to suggest that there aren't any real differences in performance between those classes. I'd treat them all the same.
In large classes, a mean of about 2/3 was pretty common for me -- I'm not sure what that says about my teaching and/or my exams, but that's what I shot for. There are always other assignments that factor into grades to bring the course grades up from there, so I wouldn't at all be alarmed at those scores. I wouldn't adjust them -- although I might make some adjustments at the end of the semester. In very large classes (100+) I graded relatively (using z-scores, but with a "minimum competency" requirement), and that tended to help the final grades somewhat. The suggestions you got about item analysis are the best. If there are bad items in there (but a low _d_ -- or whichever stat you can get for item analysis -- doesn't always mean it's a bad item), you can throw those out and adjust the grades based on the number of surviving items, and then let the chips fall where they may. This <http://www.uleth.ca/edu/runte/tests/itemanalysis.html> looks like a nifty little website for doing it if you've not done it before. But I'd think twice about making an adjustment simply on the basis of their performance on this exam. I don't know about the structure of your course and what other opportunities the students have to show what they've learned, but being too quick to make adjustments as you go along can have bad (grade-inflationary) consequences down the road. m ------ "There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about." -- Margaret Wheatley -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 4:30 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Question about Exam Scores 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] ________________________________ See what's new at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170> and Make AOL Your Homepage <http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169> . --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ---
