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Do Grades Affect Student Evaluations and Course Enrollment?



In my post "Re: Problems with Student Evaluations: Is Assessment the
Remedy?" [Hake (2002)], I alluded to a New York Times "Viewpoint" by
Valen E. Johnson (2002). Johnson wrote:

"In a two-semester experiment in 1998-99, several colleagues from
Duke's Committee on Grades joined me in investigating these arguments
[regarding grade inflation], conducting an online study with student
course evaluations. Among other issues, we examined the influence of
grades on evaluations (or, as some assert, can students judge
teaching independently of how they do in a course?) and on which
courses students enroll in (or are they too high-minded to let a
potentially low grade affect their decision?)."

PhysLrnR's Dewey Dykstra has alerted me to Johnson's (2003) recent
book "Grade Inflation: A Crisis in College Education" that details
the Duke study. The publisher's description reads [bracketed by lines
DDDDDDDDDDDDDD. . . "; my CAPS):


DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Grade inflation runs rampant at most colleges and universities, but
FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATORS ARE SEEMINGLY UNWILLING TO FACE THE
PROBLEM. This book explains why, exposing many of the misconceptions
surrounding college grading. Based on historical research and the
results of a yearlong, on-line course evaluation experiment conducted
at Duke University during the 1998-1999 academic year, the effects of
student grading on various educational processes, and their
subsequent impact on student and faculty behavior, is examined.
PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS OF THIS INVESTIGATION ARE THAT INSTRUCTORS'
GRADING PRACTICES HAVE A SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON END-OF-COURSE
TEACHING EVALUATIONS, AND THAT STUDENT EXPECTATIONS OF GRADING
PRACTICES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COURSES THAT STUDENTS DECIDE
TO TAKE. The latter effect has a serious impact on course enrollments
in the natural sciences and mathematics, while the combination of
both mean that faculty have an incentive to award high grades, and
students have an incentive to choose courses with faculty who do.
Grade inflation is the natural consequence of this incentive system.

Material contained in this book is essential reading for anyone
involved in efforts to reform our postsecondary educational system,
or for those who simply wish to survive and prosper in it. Valen
Johnson is a Professor of Biostatistics at the University of
Michigan. . .
[ <http://www.sph.umich.edu/faculty/valenj.html>. . . Prior to
accepting an appointment in Ann Arbor, he was a Professor of
Statistics and Decision Sciences at Duke University, where data for
this book was collected. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical
Association.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD


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
d'Apollonia, S. & P.C. Abrami, 1997. "In response . . [to Williams &
Ceci (1997)]. . . Change, September/October 1997.

Hake, R.R. 2002. "Re: Problems with Student Evaluations: Is
Assessment the Remedy?" online as ref. 18 (a 72kB pdf) at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake> and in HTML at
<http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/hake.htm>. In that post I wrote: "Michael
Scriven (1988) [as quoted by D'Apollonia & Abrami (1997)] stated that
"student ratings are not only A valid, but often THE ONLY valid, way
to get much of the information needed for most evaluations."
(EMPHASIS in the original.) Scriven (2004) has pointed out that the
quote gives a grossly misleading impression of his position. He
wrote: ". . . EVEN IF student ratings are a good indicator of
learning gains, they would NOT thereby be valid measures to use in
the evaluation of faculty teaching. This is simply because, like
other positive statistical correlations such as the correlation
between skin color and criminal record, you cannot judge individuals
based on group characteristics WHEN YOU CAN GET BETTER INDICATORS,
e.g, track record, or, in the present case, pre/post gain scores on
valid tests, or even, at worst, text analysis of posttests against
grades given."

Johnson, V.E. 2002. "An A Is an A Is an A. . . .And That's the
Problem." New York Times, 23 April; online at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/14/edlife/14ED-VIEW.html?ex=1084680000&en=bc72de6fa056cce2&ei=5070>.

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>.

Lang, S. 1997."Cornell study finds student ratings soar on all
measures when professor uses more enthusiasm. Study raises concerns
about the validity of student evaluations." Cornell Science News,
Sept.; online at
<http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Sept97/student.eval.ssl.html>.

Lewis, R. 1998., "Student Evaluations: Widespread and Controversial,"
The Scientist 12(9):12, Apr. 27, 1998; online at
<http://www.the-scientist.com/yr1998/apr/prof_980427.html>.

Scriven, M. 1988. "The Validity of Student Ratings," Instructional
Evaluation 9: 5-18.

Scriven, M. 2004. "Re: Is success dependent on technique - Hawthorne
Effect," EvalTalk post of 3 May 2004 02:09:42 EDT; online at
<http://bama.ua.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0405a&L=evaltalk&T=0&O=D&X=14AD7F14CF0B2527AF&Y=rrhake@earthlink.net&P=963>.
The encyclopedic URL indicates that the EvalTalk archives are open
only to subscribers. However, it takes only a few minutes to
subscribe (and then unsubscribe) by following the simple directions
at <http://bama.ua.edu/archives/evaltalk.html>/ "Join or leave the
list (or change settings)" where "/" means "click on." If you're
busy, then subscribe using the "NOMAIL" option under "Miscellaneous."
Then, as a subscriber, you may access the archives and/or post
messages at any time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!

Williams, W.M. & S.J. Ceci. 1997 "How'm I Doing," Change,
September/October, pp. 13-23; an article summary is online at
<http://www.aahe.org/change/> / "Online Archive", where "/" means
click on. Search for "Williams." Williams & Ceci wrote: "Today, all
instructors would be well advised to ask their students frequently
'How'm I doing?' and listen carefully to the answer. As in politics,
however, the answer may have more to do with style than substance."
See also Lewis (1998) and Lang (1997).