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A statement several people made today was that the notion of the grading curve was insulting. They based this (I assume) on the fact that their grades were measured relative to the overall performance of the class, as opposed to an individualized assessment of the quality of the work done. It seems to me, though, that this mistakes the purpose and significance of grades. Grades are not necessarily an evaluation of the specific person's work done, or the effort they put in; this is especially true when the grading format is an anonymous exam. | | | -- ScottThurman - 31 Mar 2009 | |
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< | Scott, I don't understand the "artificial scarcity" aspect of grades. I read your paper and I understand that that you referenced this there as well when you referred to the scarcity of certain GPAs as empty and mythological. Still, how are good grades, which is the sort of grades I assume meant to refer to as scarce, artificially scarce? If anything, the curve makes them actually, quantifiably scarce. I can understand arguing that the grades that result from the curve might be artificial because they don't measure the right qualities, or perhaps you mean that the grades are artificial in the sense that they are "man-made" by professors defining the curve. | >
> | Scott, I don't understand the "artificial scarcity" aspect of grades. I read your paper and I understand that that you referenced this there as well when you referred to the scarcity of certain GPAs as empty and mythological. Still, how are goodTrash. grades, which is the sort of grades I assume meant to refer to as scarce, artificially scarce? If anything, the curve makes them actually, quantifiably scarce. I can understand arguing that the grades that result from the curve might be artificial because they don't measure the right qualities, or perhaps you mean that the grades are artificial in the sense that they are "man-made" by professors defining the curve. | | | This could be a semantics point, but since you reference it in your paper it seems possible that you may further develop the concept. In that instance, can I suggest finding a different way to phrase the idea than "the artificial scarcity of grades"? I read that and immediately shut off to your argument, because as far as I can see, there is nothing artificial about the scarcity of top grades. | | | | |
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< | Grades might be “artificially scarce” to the extent that we adopt something I’d call “grade platonism.” Grade platonism is the tendency to think of the letter grades as having a kind of external meaning and value, separate from its indication that the student was at a certain percentile in the class on a given exam. To some extent, I think we do internalize (and we worry that employers, etc., internalize) the idea that an "A" signifies great work, that a "B+" signifies good work, that a "B" signifies OK work, and so on, regardless of what percentage of a class fits within each grade bracket, and regardless of whether the underlying test actually measures anything useful. | >
> | Grades might be “artificially scarce” to the extent that we adopt something I’d call “grade platonism.” Grade platonism is the tendency to think of the letter grades as having a kind of external meaning and value, separate from its indication that the student was at a certain percentile in the class on a given exam. To some extent, I think we do internalize (and we worry that employers, etc., internalize) the idea that an "A" signifies great work, that a "B+" signifies good work, that a "B" signifies OK work, and so on, regardlessTrash. of what percentage of a class fits within each grade bracket, and regardlessTrash. of whether the underlying test actually measures anything useful. | | | | |
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< | This is why people get their feathers ruffled about grade-inflation or grade-deflation. No one would care at all about grade inflation if: (1) grades were immediately mappable into percentiles; and (2) we believed that everyone who looked at a grade transcript actually did map the grades into percentiles, when thinking about whether our grades are “good” or “bad,” or when comparing them against transcripts from other schools. We wouldn’t really care whether the median grade is an B+ or a C+, as long as the grade distribution is printed on the back of our transcripts. Our objections would be to the fact that we are being measured against each other, the meaninglessness of those measurements, and the sort of learning we do when the method of evaluation is a single anonymous final exam. | >
> | This is why people get their feathers ruffled about grade-inflation or grade-deflation. No one would care at all about grade inflation if: (1) grades were immediately mappable into percentiles; and (2) we believed that everyone who looked at a grade transcript actually didTrash. map the grades into percentiles, when thinking about whether our grades are “good” or “bad,” or when comparing them against transcripts from other schools. We wouldn’t really care whether the median grade is an B+ or a C+, as long as the grade distribution is printed on the back of our transcripts. Our objections would be to the factTrash. that we are being measured against each other, the meaninglessnessTrash. of those measurements, and the sort of learning we do when the method of evaluation is a single anonymous final exam. | | | While I do think that grade deflation can cause real stress and anxiety, I think after first semester, we do tend to reset our expectations for what a "good" transcript would look like, and I suspect potential employers largely do too. |
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