Do they have anything similar to NCSU's grade distribution reports?

Link anyone?

TYIA

5/12/2009 3:59:52 PM

i'll let someone google that for you

5/12/2009 4:02:47 PM

I must be bad at googling, did not find it...

5/12/2009 4:06:28 PM

Generalities:

http://www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/reports/2003-04/R04EDP1.htm

Quote :

"Easily accessible information about grade distributions could also erode public confidence in whether the University is effectively fulfilling its obligations with respect to evaluating student performance. In recent years, some of the nation’s most prestigious private universities have been subjected to ridicule in the press over the proportion of their students who graduate with honors. It is easy to imagine that information about grade distributions (at least for some classes or departments) could lead to the same kind of negative public reaction to grading at Carolina."

5/12/2009 5:23:42 PM

it's pretty bad when you come out and say "we're too embarrassed by our inflated grades"

5/12/2009 5:50:30 PM

^^l-o-fucking-l

I don't see any reason why the grade distribution of a public university should not be available to the public.

5/12/2009 6:33:58 PM

Wow

5/12/2009 6:39:56 PM

lawl i'm not even sure how to look at this scenario

5/12/2009 6:56:01 PM

wow that's pretty bad

5/12/2009 6:57:15 PM

Quote :

"It is easy to imagine that information about grade distributions (at least for some classes or departments) could lead to the same kind of negative public reaction to grading at Carolina."

publicly posting a statement like this is, in my opinion, much worse.

5/12/2009 6:59:16 PM

Wasn't there an article in the N&O recently saying that 83% of all grades given at UNC were As?

5/12/2009 9:49:32 PM

According to that report I linked above, in the spring of '03, 40% were As and roughly another 40% were Bs.

Couldn't find the same type of data for State, just the course-by-course numbers. Seems pretty high, but I'm not really sure how it compares to other schools.

5/12/2009 9:53:14 PM

if that includes grad courses, then it's not really that big of a deal

5/12/2009 9:54:51 PM

nope, undergrad only

5/12/2009 9:57:25 PM

I teach math at a large public university

we have very lenient admissions standards, but this semester I gave out (I believe) 3 A's and 8 F's in a class of 37 people

maybe at Carolina it's the other way around...hard to get into, but easy once you're in

5/12/2009 10:04:41 PM

Here we go:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1416322.html

from the creator of http://www.gradeinflation.com/

Quote :

"N.C. State's grading, about an average 2.9 GPA, is actually very similar to other state tech schools like Purdue and Georgia Tech. Nerds apparently don't cry when they get B's."

5/12/2009 10:08:07 PM

^I would assume that's usually because there isn't much to argue about on an objective exam. If you got the answer wrong, it's wrong. There's not really anything to talk about unless you thought the exam was "unfair" in some way, but this is usually very rare because everyone knows exactly what material they are expected to know.

V agreed.

[Edited on May 12, 2009 at 10:20 PM. Reason : .]

5/12/2009 10:13:19 PM

Quote :

"Nerds apparently don't cry when they get B's."

all humor aside, this is basically the whole story.

5/12/2009 10:13:30 PM

if there is a discrepancy, its probably more likely due to different subject matter than anything else. at ncsu, i'd have to try hard to get less than a C in a humanities course. if you look at the distribution for eng331/eng101, for example, most students are in the A-B range:

http://www-records.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/grddist3.pl?semyear=108&curr=ENG&num=331
http://www-records.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/grddist3.pl?semyear=108&curr=ENG&num=101

so i'm not sure why anyone would be up in arms at unc doing the same.

in contrast, i handed out pretty flat grade curves for unc's equivalent of csc116 (i.e. equal A's, B's, C's and D's). The other grad instructors gave similar grades, although theirs tended to be more bimodal (e.g. lots of As and lots of Fs). compare that to ncsu's distribution, where it's dominated by As and Bs:

http://www-records.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/grddist3.pl?semyear=108&curr=CSC&num=116

i understand that unc and ncsu are "sports rivals" but its silly to harp on the idea that unc students have "inflated grades" compared to ncsu (or other stupid lounge-talk claims like "ZOMG UNC CAUSES DEPRESSION!1"). both schools are pretty much the same: they reward you for minimal effort, devaluing the worth of a degree. the only difference i've noticed is that unc has a higher concentration of breasts.

5/13/2009 1:08:54 AM

Quote :

"in contrast, i handed out pretty flat grade curves for unc's equivalent of csc116"

Ah, CSC116... the course where the TAs basically do absolutely everything for you.
I have trouble understanding how anyone fails that class unless they just get so frightened by the thought of "OMG machine code"

Seriously, though, that's probably not a great example to use... from everything I've seen of the course, it's designed to give non-CSC majors free credit hours and give actual CSC majors a good laugh.

If we're looking at grade inflation, seems like we'd want to examine the actual in-department advanced coursework instead of elective-esque GPA boosters, because it's obvious that the latter will be inflated.

[Edited on May 13, 2009 at 1:21 AM. Reason : .]

5/13/2009 1:19:51 AM

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=178&f=2515&t=4324335

5/13/2009 1:24:39 AM

Quote :

""Nerds apparently don't cry when they get B's.""

moreover i think it plays into the average UNC student and their sense of entitlement they have. They feel as if they should get an A regardless of effort. Some teachers rather not deal with the bitching, especially if the parents are wealthy and also act with a sense of entitlement.

5/13/2009 9:46:47 AM

Quote :

"moreover i think it plays into the average UNC student and their sense of entitlement they have."

i'm not sure about that. this is a state school with almost 30k students you're talking about.

5/13/2009 9:52:15 AM

Quote :

"maybe at Carolina it's the other way around...hard to get into, but easy once you're in"

I was advised by my academic advisor (COM) to transfer to UNC to get my GPA back up to an aceptable level when my grades were slipping at NCSU (too much drinking, etc). I took two semesters of classes there, had almost no homework, and the grading was all subjective, and finished with all A's with little to no effort at all.

I think we all have friends at UNC that seem to have way too much free time on their hands - they arent challenged at all but get passing grades for just "showing up". Their education isnt worth the eco-friendly paper its printed on.

5/13/2009 10:05:19 AM

Quote :

"maybe at Carolina it's the other way around...hard to get into, but easy once you're in"

I was advised by my academic advisor (COM) to transfer to UNC to get my GPA back up to an aceptable level when my grades were slipping at NCSU (too much drinking, etc). I took two semesters of classes there, had almost no homework, and the grading was all subjective, and finished with all A's with little to no effort at all.

I think we all have friends at UNC that seem to have way too much free time on their hands - they arent challenged at all but get passing grades for just "showing up". Their education isnt worth the eco-friendly paper its printed on.

5/13/2009 10:05:50 AM

Quote :

"moreover i think it plays into the average UNC student and their sense of entitlement they have. They feel as if they should get an A regardless of effort. Some teachers rather not deal with the ----, especially if the parents are wealthy and also act with a sense of entitlement."

They're putting in some effort when they go back to their professors to moan about their grades. Maybe the lesson at UNC is:

A pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure.

5/13/2009 10:08:31 AM