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Show lessons, Fail 2003 page 13 someone's grade in this manner rewards him or her for work they did not do. Another interesting dynamic that influences grades is the instructor's concern for student evaluations. Evaluations of instructors can now be accessed online. Any student can look up a prospective instructor and choose not to take his or her class based on what other students said about their grading policy. Having a reputation as a "tough grader" is certainly something students take into consideration when registering for classes. Grade inflation is a systematic problem that many faculty members find themselves pressured into. If grade inflation has been practiced at a university for a long time and instructors have unwittingly become involved, the system needs to be renovated. Such a flawed system creates pressure from students who expect high grades and faculty that regularly give high grades. Even if the pressure is not verbalized, it is difficult to ignore what the system has created and maintained. All of this discussion might raise the question, what makes grade inflation so bad? For one thing, inflation causes grades to lose credibility. When students expect higher grades for less work, their work habits suffer. Whatever skills they'll need in the professional world will not be defined or improved if they get by with less effort. Loss of grade credibility may place more emphasis on standardized testing scores. Arguably, standardized tests only measure a student's ability to take multiple choice tests, not their competence in a field of study. Carolan Ownby, a LEAP professor, characterized grade inflation as a problem because college students are expecting the same rules and responsibilities they had in high school. "I had a student come to me once because she got a B on a paper that she felt deserved an A. She said in high school she was always an A student. I told her the standards in college are different and that her paper wasn't significantly above average," Ownby said. Furthermore, no student can be considered "above average" if everyone else is earning an A. How is a student able to stand out among a class-full of A students? Grade inflation skews the distribution of scholarships. Prospective employers increasingly ignore grades earned, and seek more accurate information about potential employees. Letters of recommendation are just as susceptible to inflation. When Congress passed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1 974, students were given access to their records. It is hypothesized that instructors became fearful of litigation from students who viewed their letters of recommendation to be unfavorable. Instructors found that they can avoid confrontations by simply adjusting grades, or recommendations, so they portray students in a more flattering light. Is grade inflation a problem on our campus? Surprisingly, quite a few students have experienced the opposite. Jared Wright, a senior studying English as a second language and communication, had a professor give C-pluses for what she considered good work. Wright said her interpretation of A work is, "exceptional enough to be published." A's are rarely earned in her classes. "I've never heard of grade inflation happening here. But I have heard of the opposite happening in some general education classes, where professors were purposely giving out grades that were lower than what was deserved," observed Preventing Grade Inflation Steve Falkenburg of Eastern Kentucky University has given the following suggestions for dealing with existing problems of grade inflation, or to use as preventative measures: 1) Take steps to assure grades truly reflect mastery of the course content. Evaluate a student's motivation, educational background (i.e. prerequisites), effort, and contributions in class discussion. 2) Set specific course objectives. Decide what you want students to know and be able to do by the end of the course. Then teach them to do it, and test them on it. 3) Improve a student's ability to reason by introducing course material in an interesting, captivating and motivating way. The automatic result is students become interested and actually learn, which results in earning higher grades. This is the "good kind of grade inflation." Marko Laitinen, a piano performance major. Sara Christensen, an accounting major, has seen grade inflation as a problem only in conjunction with students applying for graduate school. "I haven't really heard of it as a problem in any other instance," she said. Whether or not grade inflation is seen as a problem here, it certainly isn't something people would admit to. However, it is beneficial to consider some solutions to the problem. Wright would like to see instructors using a fair and uniform grading policy. "Students should have to go above and beyond the basic requirements to get an A. After all, what do grades really mean if they're left completely to the interpretation of individual professors?" he questioned. Professor Ownby has a grading policy that she outlined as a suggestion for what would constitute "fair" grades. "A C should be the average grade, which means almost all of the assigned work is completed. A B would indicate a little more initiative and creativity than just the minimum requirements. An A reflects significant initiative and creativity. It should be more than just the basics," Ownby said. Consider what is really important in the over-all scheme of things. Grade inflation presents itself as a serious issue, when it really shouldn't be an issue at all. As Professor Dickson believes, too much emphasis is placed on grades. "A college education is a wonderful way to taste the world...Sticking with your education until you meet the requirements and earn the diploma tells a potential employer that you can stick to something, something challenging, and get it done. I believe that's as true if you're a C student or an A student," she said. In the end, it is the student's obligation to earn a grade. They are responsible for making sure they receive the proper education that prepares them for life. Instructors are here to provide learning opportunities-not to "give" out grades. |