Announced Repetitive Tests as a Basis for Self-Directed Study and Evaluation

College students voluntarily took all their courses or one course on a pass-fail basis. The mean grade point average (GPA) before conversion to pass-fail for freshmen taking all their courses on a pass-fail basis was 1.67 (C-), which is significantly lower than the 2.26 (C+) for controls who wanted but were denied pass-fail grading. Even after returning to conventional grading the former pass-fail students continued to get significantly lower grades than controls. Juniors taking one course on a pass-fail basis received significantly lower grades, before conversion, in their pass-fail course (mean 2.07) than did controls who wanted but were denied pass-fail grading (mean 2.40). There was no compensatory improvement in the grades received in non-pass-fail courses.     

An Experiment with Grouping of Freshman English Composition Students

The thesis that low grades cause college students to give up receives some support from early psychological research and from current reinforcement theories. In the present study the effects on subsequent grades of low, average, and high first exam grades were investigated for 192 students in a traditional grading system and fifty-four students in a pass-fail grading system. When regression effects were eliminated, it was found that students receiving D’s and F’s dropped out significantly more than other students, but low graded students who continued the course did better on a later exam. Relative to others, students receiving A’s on the first exam did significantly better on a second exam. Students on the pass-fail system did not show any significant effects from first exam grades, but overall they received significantly lower grades than those on the traditional grading system. The results, though inconclusive, support grading systems which minimize low grades and maximize high grades.     

The Pass-Fail Option: The Congruence between the Rationale for and Student Reasons in Electing

Abstract

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if the pass-fail option was primarily exercised in courses outside the academic majors of university students and (2) to examine the reasons for electing and the influence of pass-fail on learning, motivation, anxiety, and grade aspiration. The percentages of students electing pass-fail in courses within and outside major were calculated. The responses of within major students were compared with the responses of outside major students, using chi-square tests of independence. The responses of the total sample were also examined. The rationale for the pass-fail system was inconsistent with the frequency of and the reasons for student election of the option. Students reported a lowering of anxiety, motivation, aspirations, and learning.     

The Relation between Junior High-School Students’ Problems and Parental Attitudes toward Child Rearing and Family Life

Abstract

This study investigated selected factors relevant to the frequently stated justification for the use of the pass-fail grading at the undergraduate level. Three samples of seventy-five students each were used to investigate the relation between overall, within major, and outside major GPA’s. The outside major GFA was significantly below the overall and within major GPA’s. Stratified random samples of students from four overall GPA ranges were selected from students who had elected a pass-fail course. For each GPA strata, the actual grades earned in pass-fail courses, for within and outside the major, were significantly lower than the previously earned GPA’s.     

GRADING WITHOUT POINTS DOES IT HURT STUDENT PERFORMANCE?

Abstract. We gave students enrolled in a research methods course the option of receiving normal grade feedback on assignments (with point values assigned) or receiving feedback on assignments without point values assigned. With respect to final grades earned, students in the two groups did not differ significantly. Final grades were related to self-report of effort as well as future career plans. We encourage instructors to experiment with the mechanics of grade feedback to optimize educational opportunities for students.     

Academic Attitudes and Performance as a Function of Differential Grading Systems

An empirical investigation of the Princeton University pass-fail system is presented. Findings based on questionnaire and academic performance data indicate that the pass-fail grading alternative is not the panacea that some educators envisioned. It is suggested that further study of the pass-fail system be undertaken before it becomes a permanent grading procedure in our Universities.     

Metacognitive monitoring in university classes: anticipating a graded vs. a pass-fail test affects monitoring accuracy

Three field studies tested the hypothesis that anticipating a graded test as opposed to a pass-fail test enhances metacognitive monitoring. Participants were teacher candidates who completed a mid-term and a final test in psychology courses. Each participant chose whether the result of the final test should be evaluated with one of five grades or with a pass-fail decision. In both tests, participants answered true–false inference items about the contents of the course and indicated their confidence in the correctness of each answer. When a graded test was expected, confidence and the absolute accuracy of the confidence judgments increased and bias decreased to a greater extent than when a pass-fail decision was expected. However, expecting a grade increased participants’ confidence not only in correct answers but also in incorrect answers (Study 1). Feedback and instructions emphasizing the importance of accurate discrimination between correct and incorrect answers did not weaken this effect (Study 2). The generalizability of the findings was investigated by reanalyzing the test results of participants in eight other psychology courses (Study 3). The results are discussed in terms of the motivational consequences of grading.     

Is the essay resubmission option a formative or a summative assessment and does it matter as long as the grades improve?

Typically, essays are used as summative rather than formative assessments and students experience them as tasks rather than learning opportunities. Thus, the aim of this study was to see whether providing students with detailed formative feedback and an opportunity to resubmit their essay would improve their essays writing skills. Twenty‐six out of 54 third‐year psychology students resubmitted their essay. Of those 26 resubmitted essays, 18 were awarded higher grades. Although the students observed that their skills had improved, they mainly perceived the resubmission option as a ‘safety net’ and were motivated to use it as a way of improving their grades. Lack of time was the most common reason given for not resubmitting. Therefore, lecturers may be faced with a challenge of finding ways of not only providing formative feedback but also encouraging students to use it as such.     

The effect of being graded on later achievement: evidence from 13-year olds in Swedish compulsory school

The purpose of the study was to investigate how grading of students in primary school affected achievement measured by grades one year later, and how the effect varied as a function of cognitive ability, gender and socio-economic status. The data derive from The Evaluation Through Follow Up longitudinal project. Through a national curriculum change one group of students received grades and one group of students did not receive grades in the 6th Grade, while both groups of students received grades in the 7th Grade. A quasi-experimental design was thus created, with two comparable groups of students. The subjects were 8558 students born in 1967. Several multiple regression models were fitted to the data. The results showed no main effects of grading on subsequent achievement, but there were important differential effects: graded students with low cognitive ability received lower subsequent grades. The results also showed interaction effects between gender and grading and between gender and cognitive ability.     

Fear of Failure and the Pass-Fail Grading Option

The Pass-Fail (P-F) option presents (a) a natural setting for testing some implications of Atkinson’s concept of “fear of failure” (1, 2) and (b) a practical setting for evaluating one aspect of university policy. A sample of students enrolled for P-F credit was compared (on test anxiety, grade utilities under chance and skill conditions, grades, and course loads) with another sample taking course work under an A-F grading system. Only partial confirmation was found for a prediction that test anxiety should be negatively correlated with the difference between grade utilities under chance and under skill conditions. Other findings were (a) that test anxiety and grade option were not significantly correlated, and (b) that the P-F sample had significantly higher grades and heavier course loads.     

新建本科院校学生网上评教活动影响因素研究

运用问卷调查法,对影响新建本科院校学生网上评教活动的评教态度、评教心理等因素进行了调查。结果表明:学生评教态度对网上评教活动的影响各年级之间差异较大,而学生评教心理对网上评教活动的影响各年级之间没有明显差异。     

EFFECTIVENESS OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADES FOR PREDICTING COLLEGE GRADES OF BLACK STUDENTS: A REVIEW AND DISCUSSION1

The purpose of this study was to reexamine the value of high school grades (relative to standardized test scores) for predicting college grades of black students. Data from previous studies and from a predominantly black university were analyzed. Results tend to indicate that high school grades do not consistently make the greatest contribution in predicting college grades of black students, perhaps particularly of men, whereas they do for whites. Unreliability of grade reporting, invalidity of grades in high school, restriction in range due to selection processes, and intergroup differences in personality characteristics were advanced to explain this phenomenon. Further research on this problem was suggested in view of the fact that many selective institutions are relying heavily on high school grades in their selection of black students.     

Does grading affect educational attainment? A longitudinal study

The purpose of the study was to investigate how grading in primary school affected students’ achievement measured by grades in 7th, 8th and 9th Grade and educational attainment in upper secondary school (12th Grade), and how the effect varied as a function of students’ cognitive ability, gender and socio-economic status. The data derived from the Evaluation Through Follow-Up (ETF) longitudinal project containing information on students who received grades in Grade 6 and students who did not. The subjects were 8558 students born in 1967. A quasi-experimental design was applied where multiple growth and logistic models were fitted to data. The result showed a main significant negative effect of grading on subsequent achievement (Grade 7–9) and there were important differential effects: graded low-ability students received lower subsequent grades through Grades 7–9 and had lower odds to finish upper secondary education, compared to ungraded low-ability students. The gender difference seems to increase over time: graded girls achieve higher grades throughout Grades 7–9 and had higher odds to finish upper secondary education, compared to ungraded girls and graded and ungraded boys.     

Does study abroad affect student academic achievement?

The numbers of UK students choosing to study abroad for a period has increased steadily over the years, with many students citing academic, professional, linguistic and cultural reasons as their key motivations. However, while there is an abundance of literature on the advantage of study abroad (SA) for linguistic learning, there is less known about the academic impact of studying abroad. In addition, because SA is largely a process of self-selection, this makes it difficult to derive unbiased estimates of its impact on academic achievement. Using data on students from a London-based Russell Group university, and categorising SA students as those who participated in credit-seeking SA programmes through Erasmus or bilateral/multilateral agreements with partner universities, this paper uses individual fixed effects to compare the post-SA grades for students who sojourned with their expected grades had they not sojourned, as well as with their non-SA counterparts. The results are quite robust across subgroups and indicate that grades in year 3 are less than expected for the SA group, given their pre-sojourn grades. To tackle the problem of self-selection, outcomes for SA students were compared to the group who applied but did not eventually study abroad, and to the outcomes for students who did not apply.     

Schooling effects on degree performance: A comparison of the predictive validity of aptitude testing and secondary school grades at Oxford University

This article examines the cause of school type effects upon gaining a first class degree at Oxford University, whereby for a given level of secondary school performance, private school students perform less well at degree level. We compare the predictive power of an aptitude test and secondary school grades (GCSEs) for final examination performance, using data from the Oxford Admissions Study. Both metrics are predictive of final degree performance but the school effects are only statistically robust for arts students. Private school students perform less well in final examinations relative to their GCSE results when compared with state school students, but they do not under perform relative to their aptitude test scores or in gross terms. It is therefore argued that teaching effects, associated with private school students, distort secondary school grades as an indicator of academic potential in higher education when compared to state school students.     

The impact of COVID-19 on A Level exams in England: Students as consumers

The recent global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges for society, not least for education. England went into lockdown in March 2020; following this, A Level exams were cancelled and the Department for Education announced that results were to be determined by teacher-assessed grades. This paper draws upon research conducted during this time with A Level students. It is based on a total of 53 Skype interviews with students who had their A Level exams cancelled, most of whom had ambitions to start university in September 2020. A number of striking findings emerged from the study. Students were well-informed about the changes to the A Level exam assessment and the impact structural inequalities were likely to have on assessed grades. White students and those from independent fee-paying schools were consistently more satisfied with the measures put in place to assess their grades compared to students from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds. However, all students—regardless of their background—identified patterns of unfairness which were based on structural inequalities. We conclude that these findings point to students adopting some of the attributes of the ‘student as consumer’, not by concentrating on choices associated with free market economies such as ‘good value’, but rather by identifying more ethical ‘values’ within education.     

Does tagging improve the navigation of online recorded lectures by students?

Students more and more have access to online recordings of the lectures they attend at universities. The volume and length of these recorded lectures however make them difficult to navigate. Research shows that students primarily watch the recorded lectures while preparing for their exams. They do watch the full recorded lectures, but review only the parts that are relevant to them. While doing so, they often lack the required mechanisms to locate efficiently those parts of the recorded lecture that they want to view. In this paper, we describe an experiment where expert tagging is used as a means to facilitate the students' search. In the experiment, 255 students had the option to use tags to navigate 18 recorded lectures. We used the data tracked by the lecture capture system to analyze the use of the tags by the students. We compared these data to students who did not use the tagging interface (TI). Results show that the use of the TI increases in time. Students use the TI more actively over time while reducing the amount of video that they view. The experiment also shows that students who use the TI score higher grades when compared with students who use the regular interface.     

Effects of childhood setting and interaction with nature on academic performance in introductory college-level courses in the environmental sciences

This study explored the relationships between student background and academic performance in college introductory environmental science (ES) courses at a large U.S. research university with the premise that this analysis may inform teaching practices, curricula, and efforts to increase retention. We surveyed over 700 students across eleven introductory ES courses and used multiple linear mixed-effects regressions to model the data. We found that students who grew up in rural settings or who had frequent childhood interactions with natural environments earned higher grades, on average, than students from urban settings or with fewer childhood interactions with natural environments. Our results indicate that students reporting frequent childhood interactions with forests, for example, were projected to earn grades up to 1.5 letter grades higher in these courses than students with no such interactions. In addition, students with frequent childhood interactions with nature were likelier to report that such interactions helped them in their ES course, suggesting that these students may recognize the value of these experiences. Greater interest in the subject matter also correlated with higher ES course grades, whereas amount of prior ES coursework did not. We discuss the possible implications of these correlations for ES academic performance and educational practice.     

A Preliminary Study of Grade Forecasting by Students

This experiment enabled undergraduate business students to better assess their progress in a course by quantitatively forecasting their own end‐of‐course grades. This innovation provided them with predictive feedback in addition to the outcome feedback they were already receiving. A total of 144 students forecast their grades using an instructor‐prepared spreadsheet, and then responded to a brief survey. Of these participants, 29% said the forecast grades were lower than expected, while 6% said they were higher. Subsequent to the forecast, 47% of the respondents said they were studying more than planned, while 3% said they were studying less. The relative difference between the students’ forecast grades and their prior expectations showed no direct influence on subsequent motivation or studying effort. Instead, increased studying was reported by students who had experienced increased anxiety, increased motivation, or positive impressions subsequent to the forecasting experience, as well as by students who had received low absolute grade forecasts.     

Klassenwiederholen in PISA-I-Plus: Was lernen Sitzenbleiber in Mathematik dazu?

This study analyses the effects which repeating a class has on ninth grade students’ development of mathematical competency. The following research questions were addressed: How many students repeat grades in the different types of schools? How do students who repeat a grade differ from those who do not in their performance and background characteristics? How much extra mathematics do students repeating a grade learn in one school year? What are the differences between various types of school? Can students with poor mathematics grades in particular profit from repeating a grade? The sample is a sub-sample of the PISA-I-Plus study and comprises N = 360 ninth grade students. The total sample of PISA-I-Plus is representative for all ninth/tenth grade students from the different school types in Germany. The data survey was carried out in the ninth grade and then repeated after the students had repeated a year. The results document differences in the amount of grade repeat quotas between types of school. Furthermore, compared to students not repeating, those repeating a grade had lower mathematics (d = 1.02) and german (d = 1.14) grades, a lower level of mathematical literacy (d = 0.51), and lower test results with regard to basic cognitive abilities (d = 0.32). In terms of the development of mathematical literacy, the students repeating a grade could improve by an average of 23 points (d = 0.27) on the PISA mathematics scale. However, the results identify 38 percent of students repeating a grade who do not make any significant improvement in mathematics or even get worse. A differentiation according to school types shows that students repeating a grade in integrated comprehensive secondary schools and in schools with several educational levels in particular do not, on average, show any noteworthy improvement in their mathematical literacy. The analysis of the school grades received in mathematics shows that students whose mathematics grades are unsatisfactory do not benefit more from repeating a grade than students whose mathematics performance has been rated as being “satisfactory” or better. The article concludes with a discussion of the possible consequences of changing the way in which repetitions of grades are dealt with.