introductory study on grade inflation within msp department

Introductory Study on Grade Inflation Within MSP Department

Study of Grade Inflation Committee:• Fuad AL-Mohanadi, Math Program• Hemyan AL-Kuwari, Physics Program• Muhanad Al-Khasawna, Stat Program

Qatar University-College of Arts and sciencesDepartment of Mathematics, Statistic's & Physics

BackgroundOctober 2010: preliminary study on the university level seems to indicate that a course with percentage of grade of “A” 30% is necessarily “grade inflated”.

Recommendation was given that each department carry out its own study on the matter of grade inflation within it.

In the MSP Department second meeting on November the 10th , 2010, a committee to study Grade Inflation within the Department was suggested and formed as follows:

Dr. Fuad Al-Muhannadi, Math Program , Chair

Dr. Muhanad Al-Khasawna, Stat Program, Member

Dr. Hemyan AL-Kuwari, Physics Program , Member

SGIC-MSP Department – June 20112

Working Plan


Working PlanStep(1) :Questions to be answered

Step(2) (starting point of the study) :Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”

Step(3) :Designing a survey to be answered by the department instructors

Step(5) :Arriving, at a later stage of the study, at more accurate definitions of genuine grade inflation

Step(4) :Analyzing data, drawing conclusions, giving recommendations, and communicating findings

Q.1.What’s grade inflation, and in which sense it is a negative phenomenon:


Not practical workable definition to be used on the departmental level, for the time being, at least.

Questions to be answered:

Worldwide Definition:

G.I. is an upward shift in the curve of grade point average (GPA) of students over a particular period of time without a noticeable increase in overall student ability and motivation

Roughly:

Assigning of a grade to a student higher than deserved

Q.2. Is the growing of the percentage of “A”s and “B” s over a period of time is a reliable tool to identify any unbalanced grade distribution as a genuine grade inflation case?


Q.3. Is the ongoing increase in grade point average (GPA) of students can serve as a measurable benchmark for genuine academic achievement of students?

Q.4. Does the seemingly nice and “statistically sound” grading curves provide a strong evidence of enhanced learning and academic achievement?


Q.5. Does a seemingly nice and “statistically sound” grading curves provide a strong empirical evidence for the absence of grade inflation problem?


Q.6. what is the impact of grade inflation on student’s motivation, and development, quality of learning and teaching processes, and over all on the quality of graduates?.

Q.7. What are the potential causes of grade inflation?


Definition of AGI-Course

A final assessment of the student performance in a course will be considered a candidate of an instance of apparent grade inflation, if either the percentage of the students assigned a grade of “A” is at least 25% or the percentage of the students assigned a grade of “B” or better is at least 50%.


Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”(A.G.I)criterion:A particular course constitutes an “ apparent grade inflation case” If the percentage of high grades (A, B+, B) awarded is remarkably high


Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”(A.G.I)

CAUTION:A Course that fulfills the proposed condition and qualifies as an apparent case of grade inflation is not necessarily a case of genuine inflation . Another in-depth investigation is required to arrive to an accurate conclusion.



A number of 91 cases (57 in fall 2009 and 34 in spring semester, 2010) of apparent grade inflation cases were identified

Of the 57 cases of fall, 2009, 20 are in the Math Program, 14 in the Statistics Program and 23 in the Physics Program.

Of the 34 cases of spring, 2010, seven are in the Math Program, 8 in the Statistics Program and 19 in the Physics Program



60 % of the apparently grade-inflated physics courses were Lab based courses

46% of the apparently grade-inflated courses were from Physics program ,30% from Math program while 24% from stat program

For practical reasons, the cases pertaining to instructors no longer present were disregarded; this left us with only 63 cases of A.G.I


What’s your explanation of the fact that at least 25% of the students have been assigned an “A” grade, AND/OR 50% of the

students have been assigned a “B” or better grade?1. The majority or all of these students are high achieving students,

judged by their overall GPA or the GPA in the term under question.2. The majority or all of these students has done well in the sequence of

courses leading to the course under question.3. A good number of students, who had not done well in the midterm

exams, dropped the course, at some stage, to avoid getting an undesirable grade, and thus the mentioned percentage does not reflect the actual situation.

4. The enrollment includes two highly polarized groups with regard to proficiency, with one group consisting of students with “science school” background competing with a group of “art school” background.

Designing an online one question survey to be answered by instructors with A.G.I.


What’s your explanation of the fact that at least 25% of the students have been assigned an “A” grade, AND/OR 50% of the

students have been assigned a “B” or better grade?5. The enrollment includes two of highly polarized groups with regard to

proficiency, with one group consisting of students who had already done courses of higher level than the course under question competing with students taking a course of such nature for the first time.

6. The exams were easy because they were unified exams, and hence a “common denominator” compromise between number of instructors teaching different sections of the course.

7. The high percentage is the result of an upward shift of the grading curve to help the large number of students who got an initial score less than the minimum score required to pass the course.

8. The special nature of the course; Explain!9. Other: (Specify!)

Designing an online one question survey to be answered by instructors with A.G.I.

Data Analysis Response rate was 83 % :

All the 5 contacted faculty of the statistics program

answered the survey.

Only 10 out of the13 contacted faculty of the math

program answered the survey

Only 5 of the 6 contacted faculty of the physics

program answered the survey


Data Analysis Math Faculty Responses


Choice 1: GBA

Choice 2: SEQ

Choice 3: DRP

Choice 4: BKS

Choice 5: BKC

Choice 6: CEX

Choice 7: SFT

Choice 8: NAT

Choice 9: OTH

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Data Analysis


Stat Faculty Responses

Choice 1: GBA

Choice 2: SEQ

Choice 3: DRP

Choice 4: BKS

Choice 5: BKC

Choice 6: CEX

Choice 7: SFT

Choice 8: NAT

Choice 9: OTH

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Data Analysis


Physics Faculty Responses

Choice 1: GBA

Choice 2: SEQ

Choice 3: DRP

Choice 4: BKS

Choice 5: BKC

Choice 6: CEX

Choice 7: SFT

Choice 8: NAT

Choice 9: OTH

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Department Faculty ResponsesData Analysis

Choice 1: GBA

Choice 2: SEQ

Choice 3: DRP

Choice 4: BKS

Choice 5: BKC

Choice 6: CEX

Choice 7: SFT

Choice 8: NAT

Choice 9: OTH

0

10

20

30

40

50

60


Data Analysis Most of the apparent grade inflation cases are justified and explicableFor majority of cases (n= 32, or 51.1%) the grades were inflated because the students were high achieversFewer than 5% ( n=3 )of the cases of apparent grade inflation were due to unified easy exams

Surprisingly, upward shifting of grading curve received null response.; Thus it is possible to exclude the occurrence of genuine grade inflation problem within MSP department


Data Analysis For 39% ( n=25)of apparently grade-inflated courses, various vague justification were provided:

a. Few enrollments

b. Easy course

c. The students are from College of Engineering

d. It is a lab course

CONCLUSIONSFaculty feedback on the survey suggests that none of the apparent grade inflation cases pertaining to the survey participants constitute a genuine inflation cases.


This provisional conclusion does not include the apparent inflation cases with no feedback yet receivedBecause most of the apparent grade inflation cases are justified and explicable,

There is a need to design a more unbiased tool to identify the genuine inflation.

The hypothesis that grade inflation skews grade distribution positively towards higher grades should be further examined

CONCLUSIONS

imposing this hypothesis to identify grade inflation, might lead some instructors to apply a shifting –down of the grading curve mechanism or to give unreasonably hard final exams, thus, unfairly cheating good students out of their hard earned and well deserved excellent or good grades

CONCLUSIONSFurther Analysis:

The table presented below shows the pattern of changes in the percentage of high grades assigned to the students enrolled in the courses of MSP department in the period from Fall 2007 through Spring 2011.


No Fall 2007

Spring 2008

Fall 2008

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Fall2010

Spring 2011

Enrollments 1735 2020 1918 1930 1701 1807 1796 1815

A 299.0 322.0 375.0 439.0 370.0 322.0 260.0 307

B+ 178.0 210.0 190.0 210.0 222.0 203.0 193.0 199

B 207.0 227.0 222.0 221.0 203.0 220.0 203.0 222

A % 17.2 15.9 19.6 22.7 21.8 17.8 14.5 16.9

B+ % 10.3 10.4 9.9 10.9 13.1 11.2 10.7 11.0

B % 11.9 11.2 11.6 11.5 11.9 12.2 11.3 12.2

Total (A-B)% 39.4 37.6 41.0 45.1 46.7 41.2 36.5 40.11

CONCLUSIONSFURTHER Analysis :

The graph presented below shows the pattern of changes in the percentage of high grades assigned to the students enrolled in the courses of MSP department in the period from Fall 2007 through Spring 2011.


Fall 2007 spring 2008

FALL 2008 spring 2009

FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

FALL 2010 Spring 2011

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0 Total (A, B+, B %)A %

Towards spring 2009 percentage of grade ”A” had increased by 32% , and then decreased by 22% towards the period in which the phenomenon of grade inflation attracted attention within the university

consistent pattern of quite semi-increase in the percentage of high grades. This percentage varies from 39.4% ( fall 2007) to 40.11% (Spring 2011)

CONCLUSIONSFurther Analysis :


Fall 2007

spring 2008

FALL 2008

spring 2009

FALL 2009

SPRING 2010

FALL 2010

Spring 2011

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

B+ & BA%

The chart shows that the problem of Apparent Grade inflation was serious problem during Spring 2009 & Fall 2009. The graph indicates that after Fall 2009, the percentages of A’s are back to normal rates. However, the decline in A’s percentage after Fall 2009 is quite sudden.

RECOMMENDATIONSOn The Department Level


Recomm.1.To avoid the observed cases of extreme apparent

and semi-genuine grade inflation :1. Not to allow students to enroll in courses

offered to students of much lower background; e.g.

•CENG students who want to register for MATH 103, MATH 104, MATH 119, STAT151, STAT153,..•CBE Students who want to register for MATH 103, MATH 104, ..




and semi-genuine grade inflation :2. Avoid having two highly polarized groups with respect to mathematical background (example: “art school-graduated” and “science school-graduated”) studying in the same section.




and semi-genuine grade inflation :3. Not to make a lot of fuss about courses with many F’s

4. Develop a mechanism to ensure that all course outcomes are really covered and fully achieved by all instructors




and semi-genuine grade inflation :5. Set a procedure to guarantee that the assessment/grading process for the lab based courses is supervised by a faculty

6. Devise an assessment/grading scheme for the capstone course that allow the other “examiners” to have some reasonable input

RECOMMENDATIONSOn the Department Level


Recomm.2.Most of the apparent grade inflation cases are justified and explicable, and thus It is necessary to invoke new criterion to identify cases of genuine grade inflation:

“Grade inflation occurs in a particular course when there is an increase in the average of the grades

awarded over time without a corresponding enhancement in the ability and academic

achievement of students”

RECOMMENDATIONS


Recomm.3.Develop a reliable measure that quantifies the ongoing improvements in the ability and academic achievement of Students; e.g.:

1. Placement tests2. Academic entry requirements3. Academic ability entry tests4. comprehensive qualification exit exams5. Comprehensive study of student's GPA trend over an

extended period of time6. A standing committee to monitor genuine grade inflation:

the incongruity between the grades and student learning & performance.

On The Department Level

RECOMMENDATIONS


Recomm.4.The university should take leadership role in investigating the issue of grade inflation by establishing a task force to be charged with:

On The College /University Level

1. Recast the proposed grade inflation definition (percentage of grade of “A” 30%) to account for the time dependence nature of genuine grade inflation

RECOMMENDATIONS



2. Establish a mechanism to measure quantitatively the student academic ability and achievement over an extended period of time

3. Generalize the obtained numerical pattern of grade increases and the corresponding students’ ability to develop the functional relationship between these two factors

RECOMMENDATIONS



4. Provide supporting evidence of existence of a serious grade inflation and evaluate its rate

5. seek explanation why grade inflation occurs in QU

6. Identify the negative impacts of grade inflation on the process of learning and teaching

7. Suggest a series of solutions to be adopted by the university to avoid the extreme negative impacts of genuine Grade Inflation

THANK YOU

And let us work together to have educational environment free of grade inflation


introductory study on grade inflation within msp department

Documents

study grade inflation

percentage of grade

grade of b

impact of grade inflation

whats grade inflation

matter of grade inflation

genuine grade inflation

apparent grade definitionstep3