After an exciting day learning about and practicing social media techniques (FB, Twitter, Hootsuite…), we spent the afternoon discussing student assessment and grades. We came to some fascinating conclusions.
- First, narratives are essential if we are to effectively communicate the nuances of student experience and learning.
- Second, grades are completely disconnected from grade point average. It blows me away that this has gone on for so long and how emotionally wedded we are to such an archaic system. Specifically, when a student earns a “C” on an assignment, that typically correlates with roughly 75%. However, a “C” on a 4.0 gpa scale is 2.0; but 2.0 is only 50% of 4.0. How does that make sense?
- Thirdly, students learn to think of themselves as “A,” “B,” or “C” students. The quality of their work and their unique approaches to work are lost, or overlooked.
So we determined that we will practice something that makes more sense, even if it requires some adjustment. GCE will operate on a 5.0 credit scale. Students scores on all assignments and for each course are aligned with this scale as follows:
- 5.0 gpa =97-100%
- 4.7+ gpa =90-96%
- 4.3+ gpa =85-89%
- 4.0+ gpa =77-84%
- 3.7+ gpa = 70-76%
- 3.3+ gpa = 66-69%
- Everything else — NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO PASS
After an exciting day learning about and practicing social media techniques (FB, Twitter, Hootsuite…), we spent the afternoon discussing student assessment and grades. We came to some fascinating conclusions.