The discussion centers on the comparison of grading systems between Canada and the United States, particularly focusing on the implications of differing percentage thresholds for letter grades. Participants explore whether these differences indicate variations in educational rigor, cultural factors, or grading conventions.
Participants express differing views on whether the grading systems reflect educational rigor or cultural differences. There is no consensus on the implications of these differences, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the ease of comparing grades across countries.
Participants highlight the variability in grading practices across institutions and the potential influence of individual instructor discretion on grade assignments. The discussion acknowledges the complexity of comparing educational standards across different educational systems.
bobob said:This is a poor way of assigning grades. A much better way is for the instructor to write an exam with some idea of what he/she should represent what the average student in the class should know and set that as an average score. After grading the papers, make a histogram of the numerical grades, possibly adjust expectations a little and then look for natural divisions between clusters of scores that can be used to differentiate, say, an A- from a B+, where the numerical score itself is not relevant other than to place the scores into bins. The scores WILL fall into clusters (which may seem surprising, but try it and see).
If you decide that the average score should be 50% and that represents a B or a C or whatever, then simply placing cutoffs between clusters will do the rest. This also allows you to use the entire numerical range from 0-100% meaningfully instead of being restricted to artificially predetermined percentages, grading on a curve or other rather arbitrary ways of assigning grades.