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Re: Concerned about grades



Lisa (and others),

Whether 93 or something else on a given test should be an A depends on
how hard the test is. Some instructors can write a test for which 93 or
whatever will be a reasonable A threshold, but I have never been very
successful at that. Still, I agree with you that one person's grade
should not depend on how bright the rest of the class is, so I rate the
difficulty of the exam after I have graded it. I can do this by looking
at what kinds of mistakes led to how good or bad a score. Then I tell
the students what the scale is for that exam. Sometimes an A is 95,
sometimes it is 85 or even lower. Also, classes in different years do
get different numbers of A's, B's, etc., even more than a given year's
class gets different grades on different exams. Doing a good job of
grading is complicated.

I am impressed that you are reading this group when you are 10 years
old.

Lisa Gardner wrote:

Wow, all this discussion!

I'm sorry, but what I would always prefer is 95, 93 or 90 -100 % for
an A for all tests, lab or anything graded in the class; period! I
want to be graded on what I know not how I stand in relationship to my
fellow students. That way the class could be all A's (or??) and that
would be fine, and FAIR. You can't imagine how upset I would be if I
got a B for some reason other than my own doing (or lack of ).

I sure hope this all becomes reasonable by the time I get to high
school or college.

Lisa Gardner (age 10)

--
Maurice Barnhill (mvb@udel.edu)
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716