| Sunday, July 2
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Too many A's, B's at colleges? |
Universities are handing out top grades to the vast majority of their students even as they come under scrutiny over the quality of their education.
Almost 70 percent of the grades given at Arizona's three public universities were A's and B's from 2002 to 2005, according to figures provided by the schools.
In some semesters, close to half of the grades were A's. At Arizona State University, for example, 45 percent of its grades in spring 2005 were A's, including pluses and minuses. ASU's percentage of A's and B's has climbed slightly in recent years. The University of Arizona's was flat, and Northern Arizona University's dipped slightly.
The predominance of top-letter grades is similar to national numbers. A 2005 survey by the National Survey of Student Engagement revealed 86 percent of the grades awarded to freshmen were A's and B's. The number climbed to 92 percent for seniors.
Some researchers say the numbers indicate that grade inflation remains strong and is overstating student achievement.
Earlier this week, the federal Commission on the Future of Higher Education warned that "the quality of student learning at U.S. colleges and universities is inadequate and, in some cases, declining."
"Unacceptable numbers of college graduates enter the workforce without the skills employers say they need," the report stated.
Arizona university officials say lower-performing students tend to drop classes or leave.
"It used to be that if students got C's or below, they'd stick around," said Jerry Hogle, UA's vice provost for instruction. "That's no longer true. We lose 20 percent of our students between freshmen and sophomore years."
The case for inflation
NAU senior Trenton Baker, 21, says he has a theory as to why it's easy to earn A's and B's.
"(Newer professors) don't realize just how inflated grades have become," said the microbiology major, who has a 3.89 grade point average.
Retired Duke University Professor Stuart Rojstaczer said it isn't a case of ignorance. Rookie and veteran professors alike purposely inflate grades.
"A college degree is now about the equivalent of what a high school diploma used to be 30 years ago," Rojstaczer said.
The National Survey of Student Engagement has collected other information that indicates grade inflation is real.
Robert Gonyea, associate director of the survey based at Indiana University, said students reported they are doing much less work than professors say they should but are still earning high grades.
"The truth is the amount of work professors say students have to do is either a myth or faculty aren't challenging them enough," Gonyea said.
Rojstaczer, who operates a Web site on grade inflation and writes about higher-education issues, attributes grade inflation to a cultural shift.
"Students are now consumers of a product rather than acolytes trying to obtain knowledge," he said. "We now view them as customers. The customer is always right."
Plus the customer is paying more than ever and expects a good result.
NAU Provost Liz Grobsmith, 60, offered another scenario that explains why faculty awards A's about 12 percent more often than B's at her school. That ratio is similar at ASU's and UA's.
She said the teaching philosophy has shifted.
"(Years ago) the idea was to put peril, competition and fear into every student's heart and mind," Grobsmith said. "(Today, they) know that learning is best accomplished by the students doing the learning rather than faculty believing that students retain the best by being 'taught.' "
Grobsmith cites her 24-year-old daughter, Miriam, who is taking an online nursing class.
"She and her classmates come together (online) not to gain the academic background but to interact, bounce ideas off (each other), test theories. . . . This is how they learn.
"These students take online tests to demonstrate mastery of material. They can use the book to find the answers, and they are given several chances to get the best possible score."
The process helps drive all the students toward success.
The prevalence of A's and B's partly reflects how much of a stigma a C has become.
"Today, students are afraid to get C's," said Hogle, UA provost. The C grade used to mean average. "Now, it means (bad) in the minds of students."
That's why every semester at UA, many students expecting a C or lower withdraw. Most who remain earn A's and B's.
"So grade inflation looks worse than it is," Hogle said.
Hogle said another factor is that "many of us have moved toward improvement rather than averaging, and that's good educationally."
"Say a student submits several essays, gets a D on the first one but then a C and B's at the end," Hogle said. "That student will get a B in the class because the student rose to that level. It's a different philosophy."
Uneven standards
Arizona professors have free rein when it comes to awarding grades.
What merits an A or B can vary wildly from professor to professor and school to school.
Rojstaczer said grades would be more transparent if criteria were uniform.
"(Now) we ensure that virtually everyone is given grades that indicate that they are 'very good' or 'excellent,' " he said.
That has reinforced complaints from employers that higher education is stumbling, because graduates with top grades come to them lacking critical skills in writing, communication, science or math.
Ruth Jones, ASU's vice provost for academic affairs, contends students are coming out of college with stronger skills and wonders if some employers are just looking for narrower, job-specific training. Hogle said UA is trying to understand employers' expectations and bridge the gap.
"I understand why employers are angry," Rojstaczer said. "They think they are ordering filet mignon and they end up with a Big Mac."
source:www.azcentral.com
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posted by ^%&^
@ 7:53 PM
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