Grade Inflation?

The article on the University of Michigan's new organic chemistry course (The Scientist, Feb. 3, 1992, page 6) provoked in me something akin to an allergic reaction. Consider, for example, this quote: "Their approach seems to be working. In a class of nearly 1,000 students, nearly 75 percent earned an A or B.... Less than 1 percent failed; more significantly, only 2 percent dropped the course. In contrast, when professors grade students on a curve, the results are considerably fewer high grades

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I'm not one who needs a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing. Next semester, I've decided to give everyone in my course an A. I'll be happier, the students will be happier, and my university will be recognized for another innovative contribution to science education.

Can't we find a more reliable measure of accomplishment than grade inflation? I am not questioning the sincerity or teaching ability of the organizers of this course, which I guess to be very high. Instead, I am asking the fundamental questions: Do we have any evidence that their ideas are working? Did the students learn anything? The article says plenty about hopes and beliefs, but nothing about controls, analysis, and experimental design in the evaluation of this program.

Apparently some evidence shows that a problem exists in undergraduate science education. Solutions that look splendid at first glance are abundant, but how will ...

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