tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19751121.post3580257242513356817..comments2023-10-12T08:31:40.424-04:00Comments on Unideal Observers: Student Grade ExpectationsDavid Faracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16731102863010694029noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19751121.post-1342866064524799672020-06-20T18:37:21.752-04:002020-06-20T18:37:21.752-04:00World Info We welcome unsolicited news articles, a...<a href="https://globeobservers.com/" rel="nofollow">World Info</a> We welcome unsolicited news articles, analysis pieces, and op-eds. If you want to write for us, then send your articles to globeobservers@gmail.com. Your articles should be exclusive to us.blogerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15415321214854602173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19751121.post-48035193488070532682010-04-29T23:43:07.641-04:002010-04-29T23:43:07.641-04:00Part of the problem is that different departments ...Part of the problem is that different departments have different "normal" grades. In some departments anything but an A for a graduate student is the same as a D or an F for an undergraduate.<br /><br />What distinguishes the exceptional students is not grades but other things.<br /><br />Is that right, fair, just, ethical? Ah, that is a completely different question.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00219023897626648057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19751121.post-54148574834264521952009-03-17T19:47:00.000-04:002009-03-17T19:47:00.000-04:00I recognize the comments in that article. They sho...I recognize the comments in that article. They should much like the things that my students say when I explain to them why their paper really does deserve the B or C that I gave it. I've actually had a student say to me "This is a good paper! I worked really hard and there aren't any spelling mistakes at all!" I had given him an F because he apparently ignored the assignment. He was right that all of his words were correctly spelled, though. <BR/><BR/>Kids seem to expect that if they do something (anything?) they should get an A. And not an A-, either. <BR/><BR/>I generally grade as though a were the average grade. Perhaps that's a bit of grade inflation on my part, but it seems right. The grade of C means that they need to do some more work to reach the average. <BR/><BR/>I have the mentality that grades must be earned and that an A is exceptional. The students seem to think that they should automatically get an A, and that anything subtracted from that had better be justified. <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what to say about the last paragraph in the OP. I have heard that there are departments in my school who give graduate students almost nothing but A-grades. My department, on the other hand, is perfectly happy to give B-grades. I think that's a bit unfair, but I tend to think that it's unfair to those grads in the A-giving-programs. When there is no way to differentiate between the exceptional students and the average students it is the exceptional ones who lose out.Mike Mattesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755258538798895260noreply@blogger.com