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Re: Do Grades Affect Student Evaluations and Course Enrollment?



Trav Johnson (2004) in his POD post of 17 May wrote [slightly edited,
bracketed by lines "JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ. . . . ."]:

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
The book, "Grade Inflation: A Crisis in College Education" [as
described by (Hake 2004a,b)] caused quite a stir on our campus last
fall. Consequently, I took time to read the book and analyze the
research methods, assumptions, and arguments presented, especially in
regard to the possible relationship between grade inflation and
student ratings. I found lapses in both logic and data in drawing
this conclusion. There are some serious flaws in the research. A
summary of my review of the research design and procedures is below.
I apologize for the length of this document (about three-and-a-half
typed pages).
JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

On the other hand, Mark Shapiro (2003)
<http://irascibleprofessor.com/>, the famous "irascible professor of
physics" - are there any non-irrascible professors of physics? -
gives a generally laudatory review of "Grade Inflation: A Crisis in
College Education" [Johnson (2003)]. Shapiro's introduction reads:

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
This is a book with both strengths and weaknesses. Probably the
major weakness is Johnson's failure to chronicle the history of grade
inflation in any great detail. The introductory chapter instead
focuses on the current state of the debate on the issue and on
introducing the DUET (Duke Undergraduates Evaluate Teaching)
experiment that was conducted during the 1998-1999 academic year.
Evidently, Johnson feels that the facts of grade inflation are so
overwhelming that no examination of the data that supports the
existence of the phenomenon is necessary. Fortunately, those readers
who want to see the data that confirm that grade inflation is common
in American higher education can find ample resources at [Geology]
Professor Stuart Rojstaczer's web site . .
.[<http://www.duke.edu/~stuart/>, e.g.]. . .
<http://www.Gradeinflation.com>. . . . [is grade inflation really a
myth as claimed by Alfie Kohn (2002)? (comment by R. Hake)]

The second weakness of the book also is its main strength. Namely,
Johnson is an expert at mining statistical data, and at interpreting
the results. Those readers who have little or no background in
statistics initially will find parts of the book tough going.
However, by subjecting both the data on student evaluations of
teaching (SET) and the data on grades, themselves, to thorough
statistical analysis, Johnson is able to reach firm -- and sometimes
surprising -- conclusions about the effects of student evaluations of
teaching on grade inflation and the relationship between student
ability and grade distributions.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>

REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2004a. "Do Grades Affect Student Evaluations and Course
Enrollment?"; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0405&L=pod&O=A&P=7354>. Post
of 14 May 2004 16:18:41-0700 to AERA-J, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L,
Dr-Ed, EvalTalk, Math-Teach, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, POD, and STLHE-L.

Hake, R.R. 2004b. ""Re: Do Grades Affect Student Evaluations and
Course Enrollment?"; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0405&L=pod&O=A&P=7489>. Post
of 15 May 2004 14:13:50-0700 to AERA-J, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L,
Dr-Ed, EvalTalk, Math-Teach, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, POD, and STLHE-L.

Johnson, T. 2004. "Re: Do Grades Affect Student Evaluations and
Course Enrollment? " POD post of 17 May 2004 17:41:39-0600; online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0405&L=pod&O=A&P=7746>.

Johnson, V.E. 2003. "Grade Inflation: A Crisis in College Education,"
Springer Verlag; the publisher's description is online at
<http://www.springeronline.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,10735,4-102-22-2302396-0,00.html>.

Kohn, A. 2002. "The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation," Chronicle of
Higher Education 49 (11): p. B7, November 8; online at
<http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/gi.htm>.

Shapiro, M. 2003. "Commentary of the Day - June 23, 2003: 'Grade
Inflation' by Valen E. Johnson - A Review," online at
<http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-06-23-03.htm>