With respect to the current thread on grading, I guess the point that I
would make is that our grading scales are NOT interval and, especially in
courses that are graded primarily on writing, the scale may "move" over the
course of a semester. In the original post the student had complained
because their B+ paper was "so much" better than another student's B paper.
Clearly both students did not receive the same grade, and presumably
(although I may be making an unfounded assumption about the marking
protocol used by the person who originally posted this) all the "B" papers
would be approximately equivalent in quality and all the "B+" papers would
be approximately equivalent in quality. However, the threshold to move
from a B to a B+ may be quite high, especially since we are nearly the top
of our grading scale once we assign a B+. Additionally, a paper that may
have qualified for a B or a B+ at the start of the semester, may no longer
qualify for a B or a B+ at the end of a semester; presumably all the
students will have shown some improvement in writing skills by that point
in time.
>
>On Fri, 23 Apr 1999, Lou Manza wrote:
>>
>> Why would it not be possible to apply uniform grading standards across all
>> papers within a single class? Unless I'm missing something here, as a
>> teacher, one should set up standards for papers that are made very clear to
>> students, and ALL students are judged equally by these standards.
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Shirley Hensch, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin - Marshfield/Wood County
mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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