>From my experience,when sydents ask if I graded on the curve or not,they
>usually have received a poor grade.There are two types of
>grading,namely,criteria and curve.For criteria the cut off points for grading
>is pre-established such as 90-100 =A,80-89 =B,and so on.
However when grading on a curve the cut off poimts for grades depends on the
mean of the class scores and and standard deviation factors.There seems to be
advantages and disadvantages to both types of grading.There is an element of
elitism in criteria grading with its pre-established norms on the other hand by
knowing the parameters of the criteia students know how to adjust their
preparatory study habits.On the other hand grading on the curve allows for a
more normal distribution of grades based on class performance and may proximate
the reality of varying students' abilities.
One concern has been that the curve grading may be of advantage to
some groups. A few years ago at the Ivory league colleges
Asian students were disliked because they were referred to as "curve raisers"
because they were brilliant and tended to have higher
scores than their U.S counterpart.Asian educators have had the attitude that
American students perform poorly because blacks and American minorities are
lowering the curve in the U.S educational system.Curve grading
reminds me of the experimental procedure of "using subjects as their own
control".
However it does appear that one can not be accused of grade inflation when
using the curve method.
Feedback requested.
Michael "omnicentric" Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
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