Re: Concerned about grades (longish)

[Doug Craigen <dcc@ESCAPE.CA>]

Joel Rauber wrote:
> My modest proposal, which I can not implement is the following.
>
> Grade transcripts should indicate a GPA and a four year moving average for
> the discipline, and how many standard deviations the GPA is from that
> average.
>
> E.g.  Joe Blow physics major transcript might read
>
> GPA = 3.4, and the average of all graduating physics majors for the last
> four years was 3.2 making Joe Blow 0.1 standard deviations above the mean
> for said physics majors.
>
> Whereas, John Doe, an underwater soap carving major, may have a transcript
> that reads
>
> GPA = 3.95, with the average for all underwater soap carving majors being
> 3.91, making John Doe .01 standard deviations above the average for
> underwater soap carving majors.

We could argue about how to best express it, but this sort of detail is
what somebody (most likely a potential employer) actually looking at a
transcript wants to know.  Anybody looking at a physics major's
transcript knows that their knowledge of physics is far above that of
the typical english major, so it is moot to worry about making the
grading scale express that fact.  What a potential employer cares about
is how this person stacks up against other physics majors.  But if you
don't know whether a typical physics major averages a C or a B+, how do
you know what to think of one with a B average?

\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\_/^\

Doug Craigen
          http://www.dctech.com/physics/about_dc.html