Faculty, students have mixed feelings on grade distribution system

The recently developed Grade Distribution feature available on P.A.W.S. sparked controversial opinions throughout campus last week.

Many distinguished faculty expressed their opinions on the GC&SU faculty e-mail talk list through message postings. Dr. David Evans was an avid participant in the discussion.

“Students should not select classes based solely on the information provided on the Grade Distribution,” he said.

Evans believes, while it is human nature to choose what seems like a guaranteed “A”, students should be wary of the validity in these statistics.

For example, if a faculty member teaches 0001 classes, undergraduate classes, and graduate classes his percentage of “A’s” will probably be fairly high. If an undergraduate student wants to figure out the percentage of “A’s” the faculty member really assigns he must factor out those “A’s” assigned to all graduate classes and 0001 classes. The percentage will drop. Many students are unaware of this factor.

Numerous students believe the Grade Distribution is a good addition to the online features.

“The Grade Distribution is an excellent resource that will definitely assist students in determining which teachers to select,” said Laura Cross, a sophomore majoring in business.

“I think the Grade Distribution is going to be very helpful during registration,” said freshman Katie Parker.

“I also think it is trustworthy because it is sponsored by GC&SU,” she said.

“It is a good idea, but at the same time students should be able to see how other students rated how much they learned from teachers,” said freshman Daniel Seibel.

Upper-classmen are less enthusiastic about the Grade Distribution.

“There is no use for the Grade Distribution in upper level classes because you cannot avoid the challenging professors in your chosen field of study,” said junior Nick Bruner.

“I think the Grade Distribution is great for big institutions, but at smaller schools it seems useless,” said junior Ashley Foster.

“At large schools you don’t know your faculty and need guidance on which teachers to take but here [at GC&SU] for example, the faculty cares about their students and how well they do in their classes,” she said.

Dr. Evans believes the spirit of the small liberal arts college is for the students to challenge themselves.

“It is an unfortunate result,” he said, “the only objection I have is that this tool allows students to be motivated to find the easy professors.”

Kathleen Martin shares a similar view.

“The Grade Distribution makes students less inclined to put forth the effort to make the best grade they possibly can,” she said.

“It encourages them to just try to get by,” she concluded.

The Grade Distribution lists the faculty and department along with terms desired and the course number [if known]. Students can access the Grade Distribution by entering the secure area at P.A.W.S., clicking on Student Information and Financial Aid, then Grade Distribution.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 1 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry