Poll: Grading System Flawed?

[370999]

Really it depends on how your teacher grades it. I had classes where getting 70% was considered average, and some where 50% was average. it just depends.

 

[violinist1129]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/education/31princeton.html I feel that this may be relevant on the higher education side. High schools, particularly public high schools would have a much harder time adopting this sort of view, so expect Bs to be the average for a long time to come

 

[Rin Little]

I always hated it that if you do bad on one project or test, it screwed over your entire grade and you had to work twice as hard just to get back to your original grade. I don't think a C is horrible, but I think that whole thing comes from the fact that there's now this mentality that you have to be amazing at everything and that an A is only good when you can't get any higher than an A and a B is considered average.

 

[Freechoice]

Wow, this thread became more popular than I thought it would be. Its kinda weird knowing that education standards across the globe are completely different than my own country.

But you learned that most of them are fucked too!

Except for that Nordic guy's gym thing. That sounded pretty good.

 

[chuckman1]

The whole education system in America is horrible and needs radical reform.
That's just one of the many problems with it.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Who said that C = average? Because it is in the middle of "A B C D F"? I suppose that on average then people live to be L years, despite the fact that only 20 people do, and that it just happens to be at the middle of an arbitrary scale?

The interpretation is flawed. Subjective grading is flawed, which is the reality of many courses, but there is no superior option, as if we never do types of work which are graded subjectively, then we'll miss out on a lot of learning.

C being "average" is not referring to a mean or a median. It's referring to the quality of the work. If you accomplish the minimum requirements and do only what is asked of you. As and Bs are when the work goes beyond what was asked of the student. For example, I'm supposed to write an essay on the effects of Industrialization on the southern parts of the US. If I simply describe exactly what it says in the textbook verbatim, then that would be a C paper. But, if I not only describe what it says in the textbook, but also provide further analysis relating it back to the problems of Reconstruction and show how it ties eventually in with the Great Depression, then that would be closer to an A or a B. I proved I have more than a basic or minimal understanding of the topic.

Building on this, where I was educated, a C was a minimum pass, Ds and Es were fail-grades, and Bs and As were good/very good passes. So if the class average is a C it means either everyone is only just managing in the course, or some people failed (to balance out those that did better than a C). If the class average was a B, then it means not only did people do well, but that others didn't necessarily fail.

A B class average isn't saying that you should be getting Bs, it means that there can be a range of ability within the class without that range needing to include failing grades.

 

[I Max95]

yes, the grading system is flawed, yes, it needs to be changed
but not in the way you are saying

i get Cs all the time, i'm not content with a C but that's just me applying myself in a class i honestly suck at, i am not doing well in those classes, and thus, i get a C

the thing is, if the school system was changed the way i wanted it changed, i imagine that wouldn't be the case. but alase, it never will while i'm still in it, i'm stuck with the shitty system for my next 5 years

 

[BlumiereBleck]

I used to think it was, then actually started trying in school. My districts average is very demanding 100-92 is an A, 91-83 B, 82-74 C, 73-65 D, and everything bellow is an F. I think there is nothing wrong with the system, we just all wish we were better in school.