gennimom
Somewhat Southern (Have I really posted that much?)
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 11,265
Okay, summer is gone. Bring on the snow!
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« Reply #120 on: October 30, 2006, 03:56:05 PM » |
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Hmm. Secondary and college are similar here.
Secondary:
A - 95-100
B - 85-94
C - 75-84
D - 70-74
F - 69 and below
College
A - 90-100 (College of Ed - 93-100)
B - 80-89 (COE - 85-92)
C - 70-79 (not sure about COE)
D - 60-69
F - 59 and below.
In college, though, can't get credit for Ds and Fs.
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...only after reading gm's post, my new mantra is "always listen to gennimom".
Monday reeks! - Garfield The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person (or something like that). |
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philoctetes
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« Reply #121 on: October 30, 2006, 04:01:10 PM » |
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The post that said F was 34-49 in Canada forgot to mention what is it below 34? I seem to remember that is an F as well (though I never went that low, though I did flunk two classes in my first year of undergrad, but mostly because for one I slept through most of the classes after playing Risk all night; and for the other one, I handed in the final assignment about a month late!). This didn't make me a bad scholar...after all, here I am now teaching undergrads!, but it does help me empathize with first year students, first time away from home phenomenon.
Sorry about that it got confused. It should read 49-0, but because the school I took it from has F+s Fs and F-s I didn't collapse the F+ into F. And of course not all Canadian univeristies use this system, but since the four or five I've been at used something close I generalised. It is however the system most found in high schools here that is true. |
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helpful
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« Reply #122 on: October 30, 2006, 04:31:23 PM » |
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The post that said F was 34-49 in Canada forgot to mention what is it below 34? I seem to remember that is an F as well (though I never went that low, though I did flunk two classes in my first year of undergrad, but mostly because for one I slept through most of the classes after playing Risk all night; and for the other one, I handed in the final assignment about a month late!). This didn't make me a bad scholar...after all, here I am now teaching undergrads!, but it does help me empathize with first year students, first time away from home phenomenon.
In my experience an F is an F. So I have never seen anyone getting F minuses or pluses! Sorry about that it got confused. It should read 49-0, but because the school I took it from has F+s Fs and F-s I didn't collapse the F+ into F. And of course not all Canadian univeristies use this system, but since the four or five I've been at used something close I generalised. It is however the system most found in high schools here that is true. |
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steviep
New member
Posts: 12
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« Reply #123 on: October 30, 2006, 04:34:23 PM » |
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It does not mean that at all. It allows you to test not only basic comprehension, but also if they have mastered the material. You can make that last 20% very hard to get without fearing that you are ruining the grades of students who have attained an acceptable level of knowledge of the subject. Okay. That's what I do with my last 5-7%, and it seems to work since very few people get it. I'm not sure it matters much whether it's 5% or 15%, as long as it's there. Indeed, as you suggest: Having gone to schools in the US and Canada in my younger years, I noticed that my letter grades did not change when I crossed the border, just their numerical value.
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steviep
New member
Posts: 12
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« Reply #124 on: October 30, 2006, 04:50:37 PM » |
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You use a bell curve. No, not at all. Time for some intro stats: I was talking about a distribution, and a distribution is not necessarily a bell curve. Suppose 50 people get Fs, 50 get Ds, 50 get Cs, 50 get Bs, and 50 get As. That is a distribution, but not even remotely a bell curve. In a small class, the distribution of performance will almost certainly not be bell-shaped, and it is silly to force it to a bell curve. If everyone does extremely well, they should all get As, and if they all do poorly they should all get Ds. In a larger class (which is what my student was in), the distribution will generally approach a bell curve: you will have very few people who bomb and very few people who excel. Even here it makes little sense to assign grades according to a strict bell curve. What I do, and what most instructors at my university do, is to search for "gaps" in the distribution near the traditional cutoff points, so that you can minimize the number of people who missed the next letter grade by one point. For example, in the following: 4 students get 88% 30 students get 89% 35 students get 90% 20 students get 91% the cutoff for an A- is simply set between 88 and 89%. This is all presented on the syllabus and reviewed at the beginning of the semester (and when each exam is returned), so it's fairly clear. Students know about what they have to do to get each grade, and they know it's unlikely that they'll miss the next grade by one point. As for your other points, in a large class the basic distribution of abilities will be roughly the same from year to year, and you can always tweak slightly as necessary. In my system, if I have a class with a few brighter (duller) students, I'll just end up with a few more As (Ds or Fs), which is fine with me. It's also fine with the university, which has general guidelines about the distribution of grades they expect, but will not bother you about it unless you consistently overshoot or undershoot in large classes. |
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grasshopper
No longer promising 50% fewer snarkies.
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 10,439
Grade Despot.
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« Reply #125 on: October 30, 2006, 04:59:09 PM » |
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This is my all time favourite. It's long, but well worth the read. Trust me. There is something poetic and clever about it, which makes up for its completely inappropriate confessional contents. I felt truly bad for the student and wanted to congratulate her for the great email, but I restrained myself. Where else can one find someone talking about "The Death of the Author" and "He's Just Not That into You" in the same sentence. The student is actually a talented poet. The email is fragmented, but has a great rhythm, I think. Enjoy!
Happy Bunny, thank you so much. That email is one of the funniest things I've read in a good long while. Someone walking by actually heard me laughing through my (closed) window, and looked in to see what was going on. |
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The CloudCooKooLand Bunch! Happy juice and moonbeams!
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voxprincipalis
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« Reply #126 on: October 30, 2006, 05:04:19 PM » |
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Sorry about that it got confused. It should read 49-0, but because the school I took it from has F+s Fs and F-s I didn't collapse the F+ into F.
You know, there have been rare instances where a student has failed the class so spectacularly (and/or had an unimaginably poor attitude) that I would have loved to give an F-. In fact I would have snickered about it for the rest of the day. But then, I'm mean like that sometimes. VP (F-minus! Tee hee!) |
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Given these facts, one would indeed expect better reading comprehension as well as the basic knowledge that one cannot win a poo fight with an entire community.
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kgb76
New member
Posts: 2
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« Reply #127 on: October 30, 2006, 05:39:37 PM » |
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Here's my absolute favorite e-mail from a student. It's a tad inappropriate, don't you think?
"OK- so I have a kind of bizarre request... I talked to someone in your 1:00 class recently and I wanted to get his e-mail... his name is Nick and he has blonde spikey hair... I was wondering if you could give me his e-mail but not tell him about this of course because I don't want to seem like a psycho-stalker... :) do you know who I am talking about? If so then please e-mail me back ... otherwise have a great new year!! Thanks!"
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helpful
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« Reply #128 on: October 30, 2006, 05:55:01 PM » |
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You use a bell curve. As for your other points, in a large class the basic distribution of abilities will be roughly the same from year to year, and you can always tweak slightly as necessary. In my system, if I have a class with a few brighter (duller) students, I'll just end up with a few more As (Ds or Fs), which is fine with me. It's also fine with the university, which has general guidelines about the distribution of grades they expect, but will not bother you about it unless you consistently overshoot or undershoot in large classes. I worked at a university that forced us to have averages in classes of a certain range. What this meant in practice and effect is that we were loath to give high marks as every high mark meant someone had to get a low mark. So what this did was force everyone into the middle, into the range the university wanted as our average. Crazy system, but instituted because the discipline didn't lend itself well to right or wrong answers or yes or no answers or even multiple choice exams. Most assignments were essays and even though there were pretty good rubrics for each assignment, it made it real difficult to do what the administration wanted us to do. |
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takapa
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« Reply #129 on: October 31, 2006, 11:46:59 AM » |
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during the one (and ONLY) online class i have taught, the syllabus and mutliple emails/online discussions mentioned that all online class materials would go offline the evening before and stay offline during the testing periods. the students were on the honor code to not use notes or the texts. after the second of four exams, i received this email from a master's degree student in his 40's.
"Hi, I wanted to email to see what your problem is. We've had two tests and each night before the exams come online I get on the blackboard to print off the powerpoints and the other materials to study and to keep for the exams. But both times they were not available and the discussion boards were down as well. Is this a technical glitch, or are you being a jerk about it? I don't think you know what your doing in this class. I have gone to the deprtment chair about it and she doesn't know either. How can I study and take the exams without the notes? Its bad enough your lectures don't have sound and video."
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redrock
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« Reply #130 on: October 31, 2006, 03:39:34 PM » |
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Just got this one this morning:
"I will not be able to attend class on Tuesday because a very close
family friend just completely and unexpectedly died."
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dr_evil
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« Reply #131 on: October 31, 2006, 03:58:44 PM » |
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Just got this one this morning:
"I will not be able to attend class on Tuesday because a very close
family friend just completely and unexpectedly died."
Excuse my sarcasm, but what would happen if this person only partially died? Which would be more appropriate for the holiday? More seriously, I imagine the student's mind might have been on other things. Hu may not have thought about how it sounded. |
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I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids and their dog! Yes, of course. Dr Evil is always correct. |
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elsie
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« Reply #132 on: October 31, 2006, 04:51:51 PM » |
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Just got this one this morning:
"I will not be able to attend class on Tuesday because a very close
family friend just completely and unexpectedly died."
As opposed to being merely undead. |
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"People assume that time is a strict progression from cause to effect. But actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff." - the Doctor
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trentsands
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« Reply #133 on: October 31, 2006, 05:09:26 PM » |
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Just got this one this morning:
"I will not be able to attend class on Tuesday because a very close
family friend just completely and unexpectedly died."
Excuse my sarcasm, but what would happen if this person only partially died? Which would be more appropriate for the holiday? More seriously, I imagine the student's mind might have been on other things. Hu may not have thought about how it sounded. Indeed, I think "completely" was meant to modify "unexpectedly," as in "Her death was completely unexpected." |
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"In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo."
-- T.S. Eliot
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diotima
New member
Posts: 6
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« Reply #134 on: October 31, 2006, 06:22:12 PM » |
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I received this email this morning, a few hours before discovering this delightful forum:
Dr. Diotima,
I apologize that I will be missing today's quiz. My husband and I are wanting to have a baby soon and I have gone off my birth control pills for the first time in 14 years. This has caused me to have the worst and most painful cramps of my life. I know this is more information than you probably need but staying home for cramps is not normally something I would do. I hope that you can grant me the option of re-taking the quiz.
Sincerely,
NAME
Question: How can she re-take a quiz that she isn't taking in the first place?
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