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January 20, 2006

Plus minus grading system

Grading decision to be made in 2 weeks

Reviews from faculty, students and task force included in evaluations.

Story by: Tracie Morales

The Shorthorn staff

A final decision on the Plus Minus grading system will be made in two weeks, after feedback from faculty members and students are evaluated, Provost Dana Dunn said.

She said input, such as student and faculty e-mails and surveys distributed during the winter break are being reviewed by the Office of the Provost. Dunn and President James Spaniolo will work together to review the information, and Spaniolo will decide on whether to implement the system, she said.

“We are considering all the forms of input,” Dunn said.

She said no specific implementation date is set if the proposed system is approved. The grading scale would break down the A, B and C letter grades into subsets that include a plus or a minus with numerical equivalents. For example, under the new system a student could either have a B+, B or B- instead of the current, all-inclusive B.

A task force that included students, faculty and staff researched the grading system and recommended the proposed system. Their report states that the system provides accuracy in determining students’ grades, offers professors more grading options and is a system employed by 80 percent of Carnegie research universities, a program for research and policy analysis for higher education. The report can be found at http://www.uta.edu/provost.

Student Congress President Josh Sawyer said the proposed system doesn’t reward A students with an A+ because the system divides that letter grade into either A or A-. He said B students are rewarded for their effort to achieve a higher grade in that range, but there’s no incentive for students working to earn a higher A.

“I don’t feel the system works for UTA at this time,” he said. “I don’t see how this helps the students at all.”

Mathematics assistant professor Alexander Retakh said he believes the system will help borderline students. He said that under the current system, he is forced to give some students a B because they made small mistakes. But under the proposed system, Retakh said he can give the student who has shown more effort an A-.

“There is always a drawback. Some people will get a B- or C, but I think, on average, it might improve matters,” he said.

Senior English lecturer Nancy Price said she has graded under many systems and doesn’t believe the proposed system will make much of a difference in a student’s GPA. Price said she uses a form of Plus Minus grading in her Advanced Exposition class and thinks it is effective in providing more feedback.

“It gives a student more direction in the way he or she is going,” she said.

English freshman Isaac Rosas said he will work hard to earn an A in Price’s class because his scholarships depend on it. He said the proposed system concerned him at first, but now he believes it won’t have a major effect.

“If you’re aiming for an A, you’re going to do the work that is required,” he said.

Rosas said some students who slack off might blame the system for getting lower grades that but everything depends on the amount of work a student is willing to do.

“It’s up to the person,” he said.

CORRECTION

The story should have stated that the final decision on the Plus Minus grading system would be made within two weeks from Friday’s date, Jan. 20. The time frame was misidentified in the story.