Re: Grades, Curving, Fairness & Motivation

[Beth Benoit]

Title: Re: Grades, Curving, Fairness & Motivation

Hi Mike, I've wrestled with this problem and found the fairest (particularly if I'm feeling like something failed to click in my classroom) is to offer them a retake outside of class at one scheduled time.  (Best if it's a Saturday at 8 a.m.  That will show you who cares.)  This may be a bit of a hassle for you, but you'll be surprised to find it weeds out those who just needed another chance and those who don't care.  Those who don't care will either not show up, show up late, and/or get about the same grade second time around.  The good things are 1) it's a lifesaver for those who blew it and are just sick about it, 2) it will make you feel better.  Of course you will have to offer it to all, so even those who got a 91% may choose to take it again.  (Ah, that's a good student, albeit a student who is a tad obsessive.) Good luck, whatever your chosen path. Beth Benoit University of Massachusetts Lowell ---------- >From: "Michael J. Kane" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Grades, Curving, Fairness & Motivation >Date: Wed, Sep 20, 2000, 3:15 PM > > Hi all, > > I have a 2-part question, based on the following (too true) premise: > > I just gave the first exam of a Cognitive Psychology course, which consisted of > multiple-choice and short-answer questions.  The class includes many 1st and > 2nd year students, with a smattering of 3rd and 4th year students.  Based on > percent-correct scores, my grade distribution breaks down as follows: > A's: 11% > B's: 11% > C's: 11% > D's: 18% > F's: 50% > > Yikes.  Clearly, some students performed admirably, but many others did > not.  So here > is part 1 of my question: > > Would you leave the grades as-is, or re-scale them somehow?  If the latter, > what method > would you choose, given that the 2 highest grades are near-perfect scores > (98%), and the > bottom grade is 25% correct?  I'm typically not fond of finding breaks in > the distributions > as a means to assign grades, because I do not want to foster competition > among my > students.  I also would like each exam and quiz score to be a number (e.g., > 90%, 75%) > so that's it's easy for students to calculate their grades as the semester > proceeds.  Are there > good reasons NOT to simply give everyone a free 10%, for example, which > would raise > everyone's grade and make the distribution look a little more reasonable > (beyond the fact > that a few students will have grades over 100%)? > > The 2nd part of my question is, given that many students did not do well, > many of us -- > including me -- are likely to feel some sense of failure.  Although I would > like to think that > these poor grades will improve the motivation and work ethic of my students > and me, my > previous experience suggests that this will be true for only some > students.  Any suggestions > on how to *build* motivation and/or confidence in a situation like this, as > opposed to crushing it? > I've been at this just a few years and I'm not sure I've figured it out yet. > > Thanks much! > > -Mike > ************************************************ > Michael J. Kane > Department of Psychology > P.O. Box 26164 > University of North Carolina at Greensboro > Greensboro, NC 27402-6164 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > phone: 336-256-1022 > fax: 336-334-5066 > >