Reply to Harvard faculty vote to limit A grades to no more than 20% of the class

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][url]https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/harvard-students-furious-over-plan-061700240.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAD1z6z1tIcGmU6fPqnH5QWV3uhzTpM1vKxuoDMfgIee8pKP5-5Jb2PVaqz2ABIctsxhvgX_k7FT1BF1tMxd7scdKqylNQ9MyzBHFXhXce8vi81WmCLoE2DHUFETMwEofazciWuf8_94YZ2pbZPSP7FJSzRoXpo3Jc13EklHRFRj-[/url]

The proposal under consideration would limit A grades in undergraduate courses to no more than 20% of the class plus four additional students. Roughly 60% of grades were an A in the academic year ending in mid-2025 at Harvard, more than double the rate in 2006. That fell to 53% in the fall semester after Harvard urged faculty to be more disciplined.

the Harvard vote has the potential to be a catalyst for wider changes. If one of the country’s best known and most prestigious universities declares grade inflation a problem, it could inspire other schools to do the same[/quote]

A strict cap on A grades is especially harmful to STEM and engineering classes because these courses are often designed around objective problem-solving rather than subjective evaluation. In many STEM courses, it is entirely possible for a large portion of the class to genuinely earn an A by correctly solving problems and mastering the material. Artificially limiting A grades means students could be penalized even when they meet the standard for excellence.

This is different from many discussion, or writing-based classes, where grading can be more comparative and subjective. In STEM, there is often a clear right answer. If 40% of a calculus or engineering class demonstrates mastery, forcing half of them below an A makes grades less accurate, not more meaningful.
The policy would punish success in rigorous technical courses instead of reflecting actual understanding.[/quote]

You are extremely wrong. STEM grades can be deflated by creating very difficult questions and not spoon feeding example problems throughout the quarter. The burden is on the faculty to create this and create different ones for each section and semester to stay ahead of the Chinese cheaters and frats collecting old tests. An additional mechanism to deflate is to grant no partial credit for any questions.

Humanities courses however evaluated subjectively. What happens in deflation is the papers are rank stacked. Ideally without bias but that is really impossible not to do as a human being. Bias isn’t just racial or gender but bias toward interest, style and other things not intended as part of the evaluation. [/quote]

No one is suggesting spoon-feeding students with exact exam problems. That’s an exaggerated interpretation of the argument. Professors are fully capable of designing assessments that fairly and rigorously evaluate student competency. The responsibility of faculty is to teach the material clearly and assess whether students have mastered it. If students meet the standards the professor has established, then their grades should reflect that mastery. Imposing minimums or maximum quotas on grades undermines that process by taking discretion away from the professor, the person most qualified to evaluate student performance and determine whether academic standards have been met.[/quote]

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