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lessons, Fail 2003 page 11 Dickson believes it should be the instructor's responsibility to present the course material in an effective and understandable manner. It is the student's responsibility to gain knowledge and display comprehension of that material. Second, grade inflation encourages ------------------------- unnecessary competition between students. Sometimes a class can become more concerned about grades than the subject matter. Students compare their '7 had a student come to me grades with one another, judge others once because she got a B on a who do poorly, or become overly harsh paper that she felt deserved an on themselves if they don't do as well as A she sajd jn hjg/? sc/?Qo/ s/?e the maprity. Additionally, grade inflation ° , discourages educational interaction w^ always an A Student. between the student and instructor. Grade inflation causes grades to compress toward the top of the scale, making it difficult to distinguish between outstanding students and average ones. According to a study released by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, less than 20 percent of all college students receive grades below B-minus-as compared with the previous average grade of C. Students have come to worry about grades perhaps more than they need to. For many students earning a C on one test is reason enough to question whether or not they should continue in that area of study, when in fact a C should be understood as an average ---------------------- grade. If grade inflation is so detrimental to the learning process, why do grades continue to be inflated? Perhaps instructors just want to make their students happy. Or maybe more and more students are not adequately prepared to take on the college workloads. As a result, the over-all performance level of students drops considerably over time. The notion that grades should be normally distributed can facilitate inflation. If students don't perform well on a test it is acceptable for a professor to add five to 20 points to test scores. An instructor might also find that students with higher self-esteem perform better. So, to promote self-esteem in students they raise grades. Increasing a student's confidence can do wonders, especially for those who have aspirations of graduate school or beyond. However, increasing Amanda Dickson believes students put too much emphasis on grades. |
