Proposed grading system booed by students
By: Daniel Silva
Issue date: 3/10/06 Section: News
Originally published: 3/10/06 at 4:11 AM EST
Last update: 3/10/06 at 4:10 AM EST
Originally published: 3/10/06 at 4:11 AM EST
Last update: 3/10/06 at 4:10 AM EST
One suggestion taken into consideration was applying a 4.3 to an A+. This, however, is an extreme minority among colleges, according to Dreher.
The Faculty Senate used research on benchmark schools in reaching their decision. Out of the 12 benchmark schools, nine use a plus-minus system.
"The majority of our competitors use plus-minus system," Dreher said. "We realized Drexel was a minority, but just because you are a minority doesn't mean you are doing something wrong."
One of the main reasons the administration gave for considering approval of the plus-minus system is that it fosters more competition and makes it easier for students of higher standing to distinguish themselves.
"When it comes to grades, you want to be as competitive as you can be," Dreher said. "Most schools use a plus and minus system. Students that are applying to medical schools that don't have the pluses and minuses on their transcript are at a disadvantage, because many medical schools feel like students without the plus-minus system may have been bumped up to an A if they got a 88 or 89. There are other types of graduate schools that feel the same way."
The speakers commented on the large non-vote throughout the University.
"We wanted more data even though we felt as though there is a very large non-vote out there. People that don't feel strongly about doing it or not doing it, don't vote. There is truly a minority of faculty that is against it, but the majority is for it."
According to a USGA Web site poll, 841 students, 83 percent of those who responded, were against the proposed grade change as of March 9.
"Our main goal is for students to retain the material and learn the material," DiNardo said. "The plus-minus system will add a finer scale. No matter what grading scale you have, the goal should be to learn, and the accomplishment of doing that will be measured by a higher grade."
"A number of universities have gone through this process, and it is usually initiated by Faculty Senate, and then students resist it initially," Director said. "So the response here is pretty typical of what usually happens. There was one interesting study that showed that at most the GPA changed at .06 across the board. So it was a pretty modest change. Another observation was that there were as many students helped by pluses as there were those that were hurt by minuses."
The Faculty Senate used research on benchmark schools in reaching their decision. Out of the 12 benchmark schools, nine use a plus-minus system.
"The majority of our competitors use plus-minus system," Dreher said. "We realized Drexel was a minority, but just because you are a minority doesn't mean you are doing something wrong."
One of the main reasons the administration gave for considering approval of the plus-minus system is that it fosters more competition and makes it easier for students of higher standing to distinguish themselves.
"When it comes to grades, you want to be as competitive as you can be," Dreher said. "Most schools use a plus and minus system. Students that are applying to medical schools that don't have the pluses and minuses on their transcript are at a disadvantage, because many medical schools feel like students without the plus-minus system may have been bumped up to an A if they got a 88 or 89. There are other types of graduate schools that feel the same way."
The speakers commented on the large non-vote throughout the University.
"We wanted more data even though we felt as though there is a very large non-vote out there. People that don't feel strongly about doing it or not doing it, don't vote. There is truly a minority of faculty that is against it, but the majority is for it."
According to a USGA Web site poll, 841 students, 83 percent of those who responded, were against the proposed grade change as of March 9.
"Our main goal is for students to retain the material and learn the material," DiNardo said. "The plus-minus system will add a finer scale. No matter what grading scale you have, the goal should be to learn, and the accomplishment of doing that will be measured by a higher grade."
"A number of universities have gone through this process, and it is usually initiated by Faculty Senate, and then students resist it initially," Director said. "So the response here is pretty typical of what usually happens. There was one interesting study that showed that at most the GPA changed at .06 across the board. So it was a pretty modest change. Another observation was that there were as many students helped by pluses as there were those that were hurt by minuses."
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