Hi It is common (standard?) in Canadian universities for 50% to define the pass boundary (at least in the 3-4 I have taught for). It is an interesting question whether students interpret it as meaning they need to know "half" the material, but that is of course not a necessary implication of 50% (on a single test, for example) being a pass. The average mark on a test will be some function of the proportion of questions of different difficulty on the test, as implied by Steven's comment about "raising the bar." Put enough challenging questions on a test and 50% might actually represent A performance, not simply a pass. Put enough easy questions and then 60, 70, or even 80% might be a more realistic value for a pass.
It would be interesting to know how different grading standards relate to some common metric (e.g., GRE scores?). Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> Steven Specht <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 08-May-07 4:34:47 PM >>> Stuart, Are you implying that a grade of 50% is passing at your institution? I'm not interested in getting into any argument about appropriateness of grading standards anywhere (since I have no idea about the details of the testing and grading procedures at your institution). That is, I realize that 50% can be quite impressive depending upon difficulty of material. But it raises an interesting question in that it conveys to students that knowing "half" the material is sufficient for a passing grade. Do others have a similar policy? Perhaps on a related note... I teach statistics at Cornell University during the summer session. I typically give exams which are a bit more challenging than the ones I have given at other institutions (because the Cornell students perform very well indeed). I'm always a bit tempted to "raise the bar" a bit given that the mean on the exams is typically in the mid-high 80% range (or higher). On the other hand, perhaps a statistics course should cover certain material and should remain relatively the same no matter where one teaches it. I have been teaching with the Gravetter & Wallnau text for almost 20 years now and find that every semester I get through less because of the ever-eroding competencies of my students. Would love to hear from others who teach at multiple institutions of differing quality. -S On May 8, 2007, at 5:14 PM, Stuart McKelvie wrote: > Dear Tipsters, > > I would not argue that the student should be given an A- in the > circumstances presented, particularly when 90% is the cutoff. > > However, the case raises interesting questions about the precision of > our grading. If I had a final grade of 88.61% I would automatically > round it to 89%, just as a grade of 88.31% would become 88. Because we > actually give percentage grades at our institution, I am not faced > with the issue of granting an A- or a B. However, when someone obtains > 49.61, I am faced with the question of whether to pass the student. > > In these circumstances, and indeed whenever the final percentage is > above 48, I do review the components of the mark, particularly because > the maximum percentage based on multiple choice in my courses is 18%. > At the end of the course, the part of the student's work that I > usually have to hand is the final examination. I look over that to see > how I allocated points. > > The general question is this: > > When we calculate a final percentage grade, how reliable is it? > Another way of putting this is: What is the standard error of > measurement? > > Sincerely, > > Stuart > > > > ______________________________________________ > Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D., > Department of Psychology, > Bishop's University, > 2600 College Street, > Sherbrooke, > QuĊĦbec J1M 0C8, > Canada. > > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > or [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Phone: (819)822-9600, Extension 2402 > Fax: (819)822-9661 > > Bishop's Psychology Department Web Page: > http/:www.ubishops.ca/ccc/dev/soc/psy > __________________________________ > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription go to: > http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl? > enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english > > ======================================================== Steven M. Specht, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Utica College Utica, NY 13502 (315) 792-3171 "Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958) --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
