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Introductory Study on Grade Inflation Within MSP Department

Introductory Study on Grade Inflation Within MSP Department. Qatar University-College of Arts and sciences Department of Mathematics, Statistic's & Physics. Study of Grade Inflation Committee: Fuad AL- Mohanadi , Math Program Hemyan AL-Kuwari, Physics Program

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Introductory Study on Grade Inflation Within MSP Department

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  1. Introductory Study on Grade Inflation Within MSP Department Qatar University-College of Arts and sciences Department of Mathematics, Statistic's & Physics Study of Grade Inflation Committee: • Fuad AL-Mohanadi, Math Program • Hemyan AL-Kuwari, Physics Program • Muhanad Al-Khasawna, Stat Program

  2. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Background • October 2010: preliminary study on the university level seems to indicate that a course with percentage of grade of “A” 30% is necessarily “grade inflated”. • Recommendation was given that each department carry out its own study on the matter of grade inflation within it. • In the MSP Department second meeting on November the 10th , 2010, a committee to study Grade Inflation within the Department was suggested and formed as follows: Dr. Fuad Al-Muhannadi, Math Program , Chair Dr. Muhanad Al-Khasawna, Stat Program, Member Dr. Hemyan AL-Kuwari, Physics Program , Member

  3. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Working Plan Working Plan Step(1) :Questions to be answered • Step(2) (starting point of the study) :Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition” • Step(3) :Designing a survey to be answered by the department instructors • Step(4) :Analyzing data, drawing conclusions, giving recommendations, and communicating findings • Step(5) :Arriving, at a later stage of the study, at more accurate definitions of genuine grade inflation

  4. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Questions to be answered: Q.1.What’s grade inflation, and in which sense it is a negative phenomenon: Roughly: • Assigning of a grade to a student higher than deserved Worldwide Definition: G.I. is an upward shift in the curve of grade point average (GPA) of students over a particular period of time without a noticeable increase in overall student ability and motivation • Not practical workable definition to be used on the departmental level, for the time being, at least.

  5. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Questions to be answered: Q.2. Is the growing of the percentage of “A”s and “B” s over a period of time is a reliable tool to identify any unbalanced grade distribution as a genuine grade inflation case? Q.3. Is the ongoing increase in grade point average (GPA) of students can serve as a measurable benchmark for genuine academic achievement of students? • Q.4. Does the seemingly nice and “statistically sound” grading curves provide a strong evidence of enhanced learning and academic achievement?

  6. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Questions to be answered: Q.5. Does a seemingly nice and “statistically sound” grading curves provide a strong empirical evidence for the absence of grade inflation problem? Q.6. what is the impact of grade inflation on student’s motivation, and development, quality of learning and teaching processes, and over all on the quality of graduates?. • Q.7. What are the potential causes of grade inflation?

  7. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 • Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”(A.G.I) Definition of AGI-Course A final assessment of the student performance in a course will be considered a candidate of an instance of apparent grade inflation, if either the percentage of the students assigned a grade of “A” is at least 25% or the percentage of the students assigned a grade of “B” or better is at least 50%. • criterion: • A particular course constitutes an “ apparent grade inflation case” If the percentage of high grades (A, B+, B) awarded is remarkably high

  8. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 • Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”(A.G.I) • CAUTION: • A Course that fulfills the proposed condition and qualifies as an apparent case of grade inflation is not necessarily a case of genuine inflation . Another in-depth investigation is required to arrive to an accurate conclusion.

  9. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 • Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”(A.G.I) • A number of 91 cases (57 in fall 2009 and 34 in spring semester, 2010) of apparent grade inflation cases were identified • Of the 57 cases of fall, 2009, 20 are in the Math Program, 14 in the Statistics Program and 23 in the Physics Program. • Of the 34 cases of spring, 2010, seven are in the Math Program, 8 in the Statistics Program and 19 in the Physics Program

  10. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 • Adopting a provisional workable definition for an “apparent grade definition”(A.G.I) • 46% of the apparently grade-inflated courses were from Physics program ,30% from Math program while 24% from stat program • 60 % of the apparently grade-inflated physics courses were Lab based courses • For practical reasons, the cases pertaining to instructors no longer present were disregarded; this left us with only 63 cases of A.G.I

  11. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 • Designing an online one question survey to be answered by instructors with A.G.I.

  12. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 • Designing an online one question survey to be answered by instructors with A.G.I.

  13. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis • Response rate was 83 % : • All the 5 contacted faculty of the statistics program answered the survey. • Only 10 out of the13 contacted faculty of the math program answered the survey • Only 5 of the 6 contacted faculty of the physics program answered the survey

  14. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis • Math Faculty Responses

  15. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis • Stat Faculty Responses

  16. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis • Physics Faculty Responses

  17. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis • Department Faculty Responses

  18. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis Most of the apparent grade inflation cases are justified and explicable For majority of cases (n= 32, or 51.1%) the grades were inflated because the students were high achievers Fewer than 5% ( n=3 )of the cases of apparent grade inflation were due to unified easy exams Surprisingly, upward shifting of grading curve received null response.; Thus it is possible to exclude the occurrence of genuine grade inflation problem within MSP department

  19. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 Data Analysis For 39% ( n=25)of apparently grade-inflated courses, various vague justification were provided: Few enrollments Easy course The students are from College of Engineering It is a lab course

  20. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 CONCLUSIONS • Faculty feedback on the survey suggests that none of the apparent grade inflation cases pertaining to the survey participants constitute a genuine inflation cases. • This provisional conclusion does not include the apparent inflation cases with no feedback yet received • Because most of the apparent grade inflation cases are justified and explicable, • There is a need to design a more unbiased tool to identify the genuine inflation.

  21. CONCLUSIONS • The hypothesis that grade inflation skews grade distribution positively towards higher grades should be further examined • imposing this hypothesis to identify grade inflation, might lead some instructors to apply a shifting –down of the grading curve mechanism or to give unreasonably hard final exams, thus, unfairly cheating good students out of their hard earned and well deserved excellent or good grades

  22. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 CONCLUSIONS • Further Analysis: The table presented below shows the pattern of changes in the percentage of high grades assigned to the students enrolled in the courses of MSP department in the period from Fall 2007 through Spring 2011.

  23. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 CONCLUSIONS • FURTHER Analysis : The graph presented below shows the pattern of changes in the percentage of high grades assigned to the students enrolled in the courses of MSP department in the period from Fall 2007 through Spring 2011. Towards spring 2009 percentage of grade ”A” had increased by 32% , and then decreased by 22% towards the period in which the phenomenon of grade inflation attracted attention within the university consistent pattern of quite semi-increase in the percentage of high grades. This percentage varies from 39.4% ( fall 2007) to 40.11% (Spring 2011)

  24. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 CONCLUSIONS • Further Analysis : The chart shows that the problem of Apparent Grade inflation was serious problem during Spring 2009 & Fall 2009. The graph  indicates that after Fall 2009, the percentages of A’s are back to normal rates. However, the decline in A’s percentage after Fall 2009 is quite sudden.

  25. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The Department Level Recomm.1. To avoid the observed cases of extreme apparent and semi-genuine grade inflation : • Not to allow students to enroll in courses offered to students of much lower background; e.g. • CENG students who want to register for MATH 103, MATH 104, MATH 119, STAT151, STAT153,.. • CBE Students who want to register for MATH 103, MATH 104, ..

  26. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The Department Level Recomm.1. To avoid the observed cases of extreme apparent and semi-genuine grade inflation : • 2. Avoid having two highly polarized groups with respect to mathematical background (example: “art school-graduated” and “science school-graduated”) studying in the same section.

  27. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The Department Level Recomm.1. To avoid the observed cases of extreme apparent and semi-genuine grade inflation : • 3. Not to make a lot of fuss about courses with many F’s • 4. Develop a mechanism to ensure that all course outcomes are really covered and fully achieved by all instructors

  28. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The Department Level Recomm.1. To avoid the observed cases of extreme apparent and semi-genuine grade inflation : • 5. Set a procedure to guarantee that the assessment/grading process for the lab based courses is supervised by a faculty • 6. Devise an assessment/grading scheme for the capstone course that allow the other “examiners” to have some reasonable input

  29. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On the Department Level Recomm.2. Most of the apparent grade inflation cases are justified and explicable, and thus It is necessary to invoke new criterion to identify cases of genuine grade inflation: “Grade inflation occurs in a particular course when there is an increase in the average of the grades awarded over time without a corresponding enhancement in the ability and academic achievement of students”

  30. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The Department Level Recomm.3. Develop a reliable measure that quantifies the ongoing improvements in the ability and academic achievement of Students; e.g.: Placement tests Academic entry requirements Academic ability entry tests comprehensive qualification exit exams Comprehensive study of student's GPA trend over an extended period of time A standing committee to monitor genuine grade inflation: the incongruity between the grades and student learning & performance.

  31. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The College /University Level Recomm.4. The university should take leadership role in investigating the issue of grade inflation by establishing a task force to be charged with: • 1. Recast the proposed grade inflation definition (percentage of grade of “A” 30%) to account for the time dependence nature of genuine grade inflation

  32. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The College /University Level 2. Establish a mechanism to measure quantitatively the student academic ability and achievement over an extended period of time • 3. Generalize the obtained numerical pattern of grade increases and the corresponding students’ ability to develop the functional relationship between these two factors

  33. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS On The College /University Level • 4. Provide supporting evidence of existence of a serious grade inflation and evaluate its rate 5. seek explanation why grade inflation occurs in QU • 6. Identify the negative impacts of grade inflation on the process of learning and teaching • 7. Suggest a series of solutions to be adopted by the university to avoid the extreme negative impacts of genuine Grade Inflation

  34. SGIC-MSP Department – June 2011 THANK YOU And let us work together to have educational environment free of grade inflation

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