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Re: grading schemes



(I don't know what level James is teaching at, or exactly how he uses extra
credit, so the following is not focused at him.)

We've discussed the 'extra credit' problem before, but to summarize the
concern many of us have:

1) Students are coming out of High School with straight As who are really B
and even C students. They have supplemented their 'less than perfect' grasp
of the material and half-formed skills with EXTRA CREDIT.
2) In most college classes, these students now perform at their 'root'
level, B or C. While they beg for 'extra credit', such is not built into
most of our syllabi (nor should it be).
3) The students are often frustrated and discouraged--"I've always been an
A student" they argue, and of course the reason they are now getting the B
or C is OUR FAULT!


IMO, while extra credit is not a bad thing in itself, it should not be used
to allow students to raise their grades to the A level when their
demonstrated knowledge/skill is below that level. It does both the student
and their future instructors a disservice. Grades, to be useful, need to
reflect more than a 'work-ethic'.

Rick

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Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

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----- Original Message -----
From: "James Mackey" <jmackey@HARDING.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: grading schemes


All of my classes are based on raw scores for total semester points
compared with points received. In my introductory astronomy class I do the
same, however it includes a significant amount of extra credit exercises and
projects that can be used to raise class grades.
James Mackey


Joe Heafner wrote:

Hi.

How many of you assign (test) grades based on a "raw" score vs. some
kind of "scaled" score? By "raw" score, I mean the ratio of points earned to
total possible number of points. For example, if there are 60 possible
points on a test and a students accumulates only 15 points, the raw score
would be 25%, which is clearly a failing performance (isn't it?). How many
of you take these raw scores and scale them somehow?

Cheers,
Joe

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