Academic Attitudes and Performance as a Function of Differential Grading Systems

Karlins, Marvin; Kaplan, Martin F.; Stuart, William Joseph

doi:10.1080/00220973.1969.11011129

Cited by 25 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…One of the common~omplaints about grades is that they produce unnecessary anxiety in students (Benson, 1969; Committee on Educational Policy, 1970; Funkenstein, 1968;Karlins, Kaplan, & stuart, 1969;Pass-Fail Study Committee, 1969; Raimi, 1967). Whether anxiety is desirable or undesirable in a learning situation is a complex question.…”

Section: Student Attitudes and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Students and faculty alike believe that grading does have that effect (Katz and Associates, 1968;Sparks, 1969;Stallings & Leslie, 1970), and studies of Pass-Fail grading have indicated that the nature of the grade to be assigned does influence how students will allocate their. study time (Ericksen, 1967;Feldmesser, 1969;Freeman, 19 6 9; Karlins, Kaplan, & stuart, 1969;Milton, 1967;Morishima & Micek, 1970).…”

Section: Motivating Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic sources of reward has been given as one reason for the inadequacy of grades as motivators (Committee on Educational Policy, 1970; Karlins, Kaplan, & Stuart, 1969;Miller, 1967). The extrinsic-intrinsic distinction, however, is not always clear.…”

Section: Motivating Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pass-fail Gradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While these seem plausible expectations to hold for Pass-Fail grading, only the last can be supported with evidence. Students do use the Pass-Fail option to take time and effort from one course and invest it in others (Ericksen, 1967; Fe Idmesser, 1969~Freeman, 1969Karlins, Kaplan, & Stuart, 1969;Morishima & Micek, 1970).The tendency of students to slight courses graded Pass-Fail to concentrate on other courses·has been offered as a defect in Pass-Fail options.Yet the view that student control over their distribution of effort is to be desired seems more defensible (Milton, 1967). A course may have a particular interest for a student or be particularly important to his major field or be more difficult for him than others.…”

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confidence: 99%

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College Grading Practices: An Overview1

Warren

1971

ETS Research Bulletin Series

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Record and descriptive grading are also used.The most commonly stated purposes of grades are for selection to more advanced educational programs and employment, for motivating students, and for providing students with information about their performance. Consideration of purposes, however, seldom enters decisions about form. Grades are charged with distorting both learning and teaching and undesirably affecting students' attitudes and emotional states, yet evidence either for or against these charges is sparse. Education is commonly viewed as a vehicle for social and economic mobility, but a contrary view of the educational system as a device for the restraint of mobility and the maintenance of the existing social class structure has also been presented. Neither view can point to convincing evidence in its support, but grades have a major role in both.Although grades are often charged with being unreliable, those charges usually refer to grades assigned to individual pieces of student work, such as test papers or themes. Course grades and grade-point averages h~ve shown -iihigh internal consistency and good temporal stability up to about a year.Treating academic performance as a single dimension represented by grades is therefore justifiable. Nevertheless, situations probably exist in which the widely presumed but infrequently demonstrated multidimensional nature of academic performance should be acknowledged and put to use. ut the attention on grades, while intense, has been spotty, focusing on one or two of the issues raised in 1964 while almost ignoring more important questions.Of almost 200 articles, papers, and reports related to grading that appeared from 1965 to 1970, about one-fourth were concerned with the form of grades, usually whether they should be limited to indications of Pass and l"ail in place of the customary four levels of passing grades plus Failure'.Another one-fourth were concerned with the use of undergraduate grades to predict grades in graduate and professional schools. Half of the papers that have appeared during the recent surge of interest in grading were occupied, therefore, with two limited aspects of grades--their external form and their predictive relationship with later grades. The remaining half of the literature was scattered over a variety of topics, none appearing in as many While experiments with Pass-Fail procedures and prediction studies touc~on parts of these questions, the basic issues remain obscured.Constructive criticisms of a preliminary draft of this review b¥ several people l indicated a serious flaw in the presentat~on. More than one reader interpreted the review as a biased appeal for the abandonment of grades. The review is, of course, biased, but the favored position is that grading practices should be improved to make them serve their various intended purposes more effectively, not that they should be abandoned. This position implies that purposes should be identified and the effectiveness of grading procedures in serving those purposes should be compared with...

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Section: Student Attitudes and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivating Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivating Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pass-fail Gradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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College Grading Practices: An Overview1

Warren

1971

ETS Research Bulletin Series

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2005

ASHE Higher Education Report

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Grading Problems in Higher EducationAssessment of College Student LearningPurposeOverview and ScopeCorrelates of College GradesStudentsFacultyCoursesDisciplineInstitutionReframing the College Grading ProblemGuiding Conceptual FrameworkConsequences of College Grading ProblemsReexamining the Empirical EvidenceGrade IncreaseGrade InflationGrade CompressionGrading DisparityUncovering the RootsInfluences on Grade ChangeCauses of Grading DisparityCauses of Grade InflationIncentive MattersSearching for CuresEmerging PracticesStrategies and InnovationsA Shared ResponsibilityPolicy Instruments as a Guide for Policy DesignConclusions and ImplicationsImplications for ResearchImplications for PracticeDiagnostic Method for Grading ProblemsAppendix: Grading Proposals at Princeton UniversityReferencesName IndexSubject IndexAbout the Author

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Structuring process to improve student outcomes

Schalock¹

1976

New Drctns Hghr Edu

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Academic Attitudes and Performance as a Function of Differential Grading Systems

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

College Grading Practices: An Overview1

College Grading Practices: An Overview1

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Structuring process to improve student outcomes

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