This is 100% real. A prof. has every incentive just to hand out A's because doing otherwise makes your life miserable for no reason. The only reason I don't is b/c 1. I'm teaching a required course and want to select for better students and 2. it kills the spark in the 10-15% with actual promise. - ThreadSky

stano.bsky.social • 448 days ago

This is 100% real. A prof. has every incentive just to hand out A's because doing otherwise makes your life miserable for no reason. The only reason I don't is b/c 1. I'm teaching a required course and want to select for better students and 2. it kills the spark in the 10-15% with actual promise.

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stano.bsky.social•448 days ago

On the 2nd point, I followed the grade inflation trend in a class once and could literally see the light die in the eyes of my best students when they felt like suckers for caring. I dunno, if I ever become cool with that, it's time to find a new job.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/05/nyregion/yale-grade-inflation.html

zhaoliresearch.bsky.social•375 days ago

I am a bit less pessimistic re dampening the enthusiasm of the best students. They seem to understand that when grades cease to differentiate, other factors (e.g., getting strong LORs, stellar class projects that they can show to recruiters) become more important--and make them stand out.

stano.bsky.social•375 days ago

I sincerely would very much like for that to be true. It would really solve a lot of my problems.

marktspence.bsky.social•448 days ago

The only grade inflation I committed was giving 'D's instead of 'F's to some Freshman Composition students, since a 'D' meant they had to retake it anyway (core class), and I at least wanted to spare them the damage of zero quality points on their GPAs...

vmagsfox.bsky.social•448 days ago

In my college, a 2 meant you could retake the class but the 2 stayed, vs a 0 meaning automatic retake and the new grade replacing the old. If you’re gonna fail, fail hard.

cyneheard.bsky.social•448 days ago

I'm reminded - in an upper-level Ivy History course in 2005 - of the comment the prof put on one of my papers. It was "you didn't read the sources carefully enough", polite version of "this was obvious BS and you know it." I saw the comment, and then expected a low grade but, no, it was "A-/B+."

timlapira.bsky.social•448 days ago

Not true in when teaching quality is critical for tenure and teaching is 50% of your work (unless agree differently ahead of time). We report grade distributions in our annual reports, and they do factor into department committee assessments. Cumulatively it matters for tenure/promotion. 1/

timlapira.bsky.social•448 days ago

We report student evaluations in teaching, but have a policy not to use them in promotion considerations in the teaching category.

This is increasingly true at many universities. That email has real NYT iVY LeAGuE selection bias vibes. 2/2

stano.bsky.social•448 days ago

Yeah, agree that it's more of a problem at private schools and I wish the system you're describing at JMU was in place more widely.

nathankalmoe.bsky.social•448 days ago

Some departments ask junior faculty (and maybe senior?) for grade distributions as a check on grade inflation, and as a rough barometer for contextualizing disgruntled student evals (that are problematic).

profjslewis.bsky.social•448 days ago

I think this is an interesting approach. I've never had a truly normal distribution. I end up with a bimodal distribution with one cluster around B/B+ and then another around D/C-. A healthy amount fail my intro classes.

profjslewis.bsky.social•448 days ago

Upper classes cluster higher, but that seems normal to me. Students are excited to be there, are more likely to read and participate, and have the skills that they didn't have earlier on. Also, many low-performers have been selected out of the sample.

profjslewis.bsky.social•448 days ago

I will say, teaching at a non-elite school, I probably don't end up with nearly as many entitled and pampered students. Many of my students are 1st gen, and those who power through tend to know the meaning of hard work. WSU admits many students, so we also have the other tail of the distribution.

profjslewis.bsky.social•448 days ago

I could definitely imagine a 400-level class in which every student genuinely earned an A or B. But that is nearly impossible, from my experience, in 100- and 200-level courses.

sumitapahwa.bsky.social•448 days ago

Yep. I would tell intro students heartbroken that they didn't get an A...if you're acing every class you take at college as soon as you arrive, you're probably not being challenged enough.

Now, I also believe we need to give feedback & show students how to improve BEFORE final grades. But...yeah.

nathankalmoe.bsky.social•448 days ago

For sure. I don't think normality is the ideal. Mine are usually 25-30% A, 40-45% B, 20-25% C, 5-10% D/F. But my standards are mostly from honors/GPA minimum program admission students.

profjslewis.bsky.social•448 days ago

I tend to all on the "more rigor, less bullshit" side of the teaching spectrum. I believe that public research universities should be "easy to get in, difficult to get through." I grade on participation and attendance and rarely accept late work or give extensions.

vtsaxsocialist.bsky.social•448 days ago

some of the stories from that university near boston are wild. students blowing up TAs over an A-.

shadowhedgie8.bsky.social•448 days ago

if everyone knows that everyone gets an A, an A- is effectively an F

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