Exploring student test, homework, and other assessment scores is a challenge for most teachers, especially when attempting to identify cross-assessment weaknesses and produce final course grades. During the course, teachers need to identify subject weaknesses in order to help students who are struggling with a particular topic. This identification…

The author examines the reluctance of most American colleges and universities to address grade inflation. In addressing the problem of grade inflation, the author describes two proposals he made to his faculty's Educational Planning Committee. The first, presented in spring 2002, proposed that two new items be added to each course listed on…

Many professors do not give much thought to what students take away from their syllabi. Researchers who have formally pondered the question suggest a number of areas for instructors to consider when drafting a document which is described as a contract drafted with "less attention paid to the language" than any other. In a comparison of syllabi…

Online marking and feedback systems are critical for providing timely and accurate feedback to students and maintaining the integrity of results in large class teaching. Previous investigations have involved much in-house development and more consideration is needed for deploying or customising off the shelf solutions. Furthermore, keeping up to…

Surveyed are undergraduate grading practices and their impact on graduate admissions. A diversity of reasons are offered by the respondent universities and institutes for the dramatic rise in undergraduate grade-point averages since the mid-1960's. These speculations focus on changes in student and faculty behavior, innovations in grading systems,…

A questionnaire on grading systems was sent to the 287 members of the Council of Graduate Schools. Of the 240 responses, 127 indicated that they used systems other than the A-F traditional system, either in part or in toto. Other systems used include pass/fail, satisfactory/unsatisfactory, pass/no credit, and some variations of the A-F traditional…

As far as students are concerned, the real tyrrany exercised by the university is in the classroom where grades may decide a student's fate. The grading system has, therefore, become a major target of radical students and faculty. Significant changes in the grading system will probably not be made until provisions are made for the maintenance of…

The impetus for modifying or eliminating the A-F grading system has come primarily from students. Faculty reaction has been more one of bowing to pressure than that of a carefully considered response. Arguments for and against the traditional grading systems each have merit. It seems illogical, however, to repeat on the graduate level a grading…

A questionnaire on the pass-fail grading system was sent to the 276 deans whose institutions belong to the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States. Of the 230 deans who responded, 214 preferred to evaluate a student for admission to graduate or professional study on the basis of a letter graded transcript, 7 preferred a pass-fail…

Discusses the benefits of a "Pass/Revise" grading system. (DD)

Author suggests that undergraduate colleges and universities should seriously consider the consequences before expanding the use of satisfactory- unsatisfactory grading systems. (Editor)

Cautions are listed following an examination of the difficulties inherent in the teacher's task of student evaluation and distribution of grades on specific testing devices. (JS)

Letter grades should be abolished in favor of personalized and detailed evaluations of each student. (CK)