Hi I included some stats on grade inflation from various sources for a talk on a system we use at U of Winnipeg to try to maintain some comparability of marks across courses. You can access the results I reported at:
www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark/univ/ccis.pdf The story is a complex one of course, because of greater proportion of HS students attending university now (presumably would work to lower grades, rather than inflate them) and a number of other factors mentioned in the slides. One thing I have always meant to do but never had the time was to explore the implications of the Flynn effect (i.e., rising average IQ) for student performance in HS and university. Flynn effect would appear to predict increases in grades across time due to rising "intelligence", rather than "inflation." And of course any improvement in the quality of instruction from the good old days to now would predict increases in grades, although perhaps improvements in our ability to enhance performance of students has been at the expense of more fundamental skills learned better from "bad" instruction (learning to learn, how to make sense of difficult material yourself, developing on your own organized conceptualizations of large bodies of material, ...). Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 28-May-08 3:07:32 PM >>> This does not answer my question...I teach my students that their own counting of hits and misses in the natural world is influenced by confirmation bias. I assume that mine is also and by default so is that of my colleagues. With all due respect, I would like some controlled research that verifies the claim. Nancy M. LBCC Long Beach CA -----Original Message----- From: John W. Nichols, M.A. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, 28 May 2008 12:59 pm Subject: Re: [tips] SAT for selection Must be. Look at those getting into our classrooms. (We are 100% pen-door [and 50% revolving-door], so I get to see the full range of tudents.) Perhaps "Alcohol Consumption" would be a more effective predictor of ollege performance. How could that not product an effect size of ote? FIGMO * 65 Days and counting!) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I am wondering if we have an empirical basis (research of some type) for the claim that high school GPAs are inflated. Nancy Melucci Long Beach City College Long Beach CA -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, 28 May 2008 9:11 am Subject: Re: [tips] SAT for selection But if you toss on the SAT then what will you use to made admissions ecisions? Clearly high school GPAs are so inflated as to be nonsensical. Regardless of effect sizes, at leat for our freshmen, the SAT-V is the best predictor we have at the moment. Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---- Original message ---- >Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 00:36:33 EDT >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [tips] SAT for selection >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> > > I use the relationship of SAT to College vs HS GPA > in my stats class as an example of the importance in > considering effect sizes. Both the College Board > and Fair Test use the same correlations and > regressions. They each characterize the magnitudes > (effect sizes) differently. The College Board uses > language that makes the effect sizes look larger > than they are. Fair Test actually reports effect > sizes and characterizes them as small. Imagine if > you used prediction models like this to make > financial decisions. You may as well invest your > money at the Blackjack Table. > > From the College Board: > The SAT has proven to be an important predictor of > success in college. Its validity as a predictor of > success has been demonstrated through hundreds of > validity studies. These validity studies > consistently find that high school grades and SAT > scores together are substantial and significant > predictors of achievement in college. In these > studies, although high school grades typically are > slightly better predictors of achievement, SAT > scores add significantly to the prediction. These > findings tend to hold for all subgroups of students > and for all types of measures - freshman grades, > course grades, cumulative grades, and measures of > persistence. > > From Fair Test: > Validity research at individual institutions > illustrates the weak predictive ability of the SAT. > One study looked at the power of high school class > rank, SAT I, and SAT II in predicting cumulative > college GPAs. Researchers found that the SAT I was > by far the weakest predictor, explaining only 4% of > the variation in college grades, while SAT II > scores accounted for 6.8% of the differences in > academic performance. By far the most useful tool > proved to be class rank, which predicted 9.3% of > the changes in cumulative GPAs. Combining SAT I > scores and class rank inched this figure up to > 11.3%, leaving almost 90% of the variation in grades > unexplained. > > It's all about effect size. The bottom line is that > for a variety of reasons, we cannot predict success > in college with any reasonable accuracy. My > proposal is that we use a very rough cut-off based > on High School grades or rank to make an initial > selection and then run a fair lottery to determine > who gets accepted. We may as well operate on the > truth rather than lies. Have you ever counseled a > student who was rejected from college or graduate > school. They believe they did not work hard enough > or did not have some necessary credential. The > truth is that they likely fell into the 90% random, > unaccounted for error in prediction. The situation > is even worse for applications to graduate and > professional schools. It is all a lottery posing as > some sort of scientific selection process. > > Mike Williams > http://mindcampus.learnpsychology.com > > ************** > Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch > "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. > (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002) > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay informed, get connected and more with AOL on your phone. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - ----------==========>>>>>>>>>> *** <<<<<<<<<<==========---------- ometimes you just have to try something, and see what happens. John W. Nichols, M.A. ssistant Professor of Psychology ulsa Community College 09 S. Boston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119 918) 595-7134 Home: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols egaPsych: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/megapsych.html --- o make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
