Timeline for Is it valid to modify a student's exam grade if you feel they did not earn it?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| May 20, 2020 at 10:32 | comment | added | PLL | @R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE: Of course some kinds of grading criteria are clearly unethical — e.g. bribery, nepotism, and so on — I don’t think MikeM is defending those. But the idea that only objective, numerical, essentially mechanical grading is acceptable is quite recent, culturally-specific, and field-specific (concentrated in STEM in particular) — many meaningful aspects of student learning are difficult to assess in such a way. The benefits of this approach are clear (better transparency + accountability), but it’s pretty narrow-minded to write off all other approaches as unethical. | |
| May 20, 2020 at 1:09 | comment | added | R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE | @MikeM: Such "cultures" are unethical and do not need to be taken into account as a mitigating effect. | |
| May 19, 2020 at 23:19 | comment | added | Buffy | @Chris, you may be right of course, but I can't tell. I worry about suggesting people in subordinate positions challenge superiors who they depend upon in too many ways. A challenge has to be effective to give you agency. But like I imply above, I just don't know. | |
| May 19, 2020 at 23:14 | comment | added | Chris | Disagree about the lack of agency - the question clearly states they had multiple opportunities to take a stand and instead caved to "pressure". They are partially culpable for the result. | |
| May 19, 2020 at 20:24 | comment | added | Panzercrisis | The University of Alabama in Huntsville is far from above taking points from students' grades arbitrarily, particularly in the case that the student is handicapped and is being discriminated against for it. Colleges need to start being held accountable for this kind of thing. | |
| May 18, 2020 at 19:04 | comment | added | Buffy | @CGCampbell, and others. Note that there is one data point here. One grade in one course has ended the potential career of someone. One can certainly advise a person that a field may not be right for them, but this was something else. I've actually had students with a very poor academic history turn into superstars in a difficult course. | |
| May 18, 2020 at 18:48 | comment | added | CGCampbell | I discussed this question and the comments and answers with a co-worker. Neither of us are academicians, and in fact both of us are older and each have only associates. What completely took me by surprise is that we are diametrically opposed on our thoughts of the ethics here. He takes no issue in removing a sub-standard representative of a field, freeing up a seat for a (more) deserving student, while I find the act to be completely offensive (changing a grade to purposefully fail). | |
| May 18, 2020 at 1:53 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | Agreed. Capricious punishment, where someone gets punished even though they could reasonably surmise that they wouldn't be, is very wrong indeed. | |
| May 17, 2020 at 19:38 | comment | added | Mike M | This may not take into account the cultural setting. There are definitely cultures where grades are expected to be invented by the instructor based on a number of factors of which the mathematical points - on a published scale or not - are only one factor. That isn't something I personally like or would choose to participate in if at all possible, but it exists. This question does ask about the US and I might say this answer fits the US -- perhaps it might make that clear. | |
| May 17, 2020 at 16:15 | comment | added | Dave L Renfro | Even if some of your arguments are thrown out (and I wouldn't), it seems to me that this specific situation heavily inflates the importance of one single test taken during a single day of what one would expect to have been a semester filled with homework, short quizzes, major tests, and other grading activities, and if not filled in this manner, then I would have concerns about whether the professor has enough input about the student's understanding to capably be taking another look at the student's final exam. | |
| May 17, 2020 at 13:01 | comment | added | Solar Mike | @Joel that is why Buffy has earned the rep shown.... | |
| May 17, 2020 at 12:33 | comment | added | Joel | Turpitude, pernicious, agency, lol. I love the writing. I suppose I should expect this from academia stack exchange. | |
| May 17, 2020 at 12:11 | history | answered | Buffy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |