I would like to talk about the "bell curve" system which is used in NUS to determine the grades for students. The word "bell curve" comes up every semester during the examinations and releasing of results. Is this system fair or is this system the most appropriate way to determine the grades for students?
Good or bad, the system has its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s look at the advantages first. It is really advantageous for students who find a certain paper very difficult. If he does really badly, he might fail the paper and this would be a huge dent on his hopes to get a good degree as it will affect his overall cap. With the “bell curve” system, his grade is determined by the highest scoring student for that paper. Instead of predetermined grades for predetermined marks, his grade will be determined by the highest scoring student for that paper. So if everyone found the paper difficult, every single student might not be able to score really well for the paper. The mark to determine an A is lowered and the grade to get a D is also lowered. If the A is predetermined at 90 marks and the highest scoring student has got only 85 marks, he would be deprived of an A. With the “bell curve” system, the grade for an A is brought to 85 marks and the student will receive and A for the module. For a student who does really badly, he would not fail the paper as the passing mark is also lowered at the same time the grade for an D has been reduced.
Let’s look at the disadvantage now. For some modules, the scoring for the module is really easy but with the “bell curve” system, the grade A is determined by the highest scoring student for that paper. For example, the student would not get an A grade even though he scored 92 marks for the module as the highest scoring student would have scored full 100 marks for the module. So only students who scored 100 would get an A, the student who scored 92 will probably end up with an A- or a B+. So the student loses out in this system as he would get an A+ if the grade is predetermined for the mark of 90.
There will always be debates about this “bell curve” system. I have given my views on it. What do you all think about this system? Please feel free to comment.
4 comments:
Hi, the bell curve has always been a topic of debate. For me, I think it is fine since this will prevent people from scoring too badly if the test is set too hard. Because of the bell shape curve, it would be almost as difficult (less likely) for someone to get an A as it would be to get a C (strictly in a statistical sense). However, because we take different modules even among students of the same major, the bell shape curve might be a bit unfair. This is because different modules will have different difficulty since the difficulty of the module is set by the standards of the students taking the module. Also, the same module taken in different semesterwill have different difficulty too unless NUS can ensure that the student from every semester and every module have similar standards. This is even more unfair since we bid for our modules without knowing the standards of the student cohort. That means, our grades may be decided since we got our module! But, I guess we cannot help it; this approach of modulation is adopted by many situation like IQ test, SYF (Singapore Youth Festival) Band competition and even in our ‘O’ level.
Any examination system is imperfect and has drawbacks. The bell curve system has the advantage of ruling out the possibility of grade inflation which is increasingly a feature of the British universities. This has already happened in the case of the GCSEs and "A' levels although some people would refute this. Such grade inflation has the effect of making an 'a' grade or first class degree less valuable and this development is particularly unhelpful to those who may have to distinguish and select from applicants (eg. for a job) who may all be equally well qualified. Understandably, if every applicant is equally well qualified then a confused employer may as well as employ the applicant he knows so a meritocratic system may gradually become a nepotistic one.
Wonder what the survey finds?
Teacher -Fiona
Yes I agree that no grading system is without fault and bell curve does have its disadvantages. As you stated, the criteria of an A depends on the current cohort that is taking the module and can be as high as above 92. However, it does 'grade' a student's ability according to his merits with respect to the cohort. We will normally expect the majority of the population to fall between a 'normal' capability, which is another name for the bell curve – normal distribution curve. Abnomality will occur infrequently as the chances of them occuring is already taken into consideration when the curve was first proposed.
I will vote to keep the 'bell' curve because it does save me during times when the module is very difficult and even the smartest in the class have trouble understanding the material. Furthermore, like what Mrs Richardson pointed out, it does prevent grades inflation from happening and our prospective employers will know that the grades on our transcripts reflect how we are placed we respect to our peers in academic terms.
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