You tell em - #165441824 added by ztron at Self treason

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Reply+233

(10/11/2017)[-]

Is this a US college thing or is it also in US universities?
Where I study (uni), there are simple rules to grading, no "curve". You have to get at least 51% from the max points to pass. Others failing don't affect your grade.

#96 to #2 - juffs

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Test had 100 total points
Highest grade is a 93
93 is now 100%, other grades are taken out of 93 instead of 100, but still get a percentage of 100 points

#93 to #2 - bestestname

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Romanian here. I don't know if all universities do this, but mine has a system like this: you need to have at least a certain grade to pass (30-50%, depending on the subject). The ones that pass are given grades via a Gauss curve: the first 5% have a 10 (max score), the next 10% a 9, and so on down to 5, so there is a relatively equal number of 10-s and 5-s, of 6 and 9, and of 7 and 8, with most people getting a 7 or 8 and the least of them getting 5 and 10.

#90 to #2 - nikoloff

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Pretty much the same here.
The lowest passing score is 61% which is a bit unfair.
Then again some other exams require 71% to pass which is just ridiculous.

#88 to #2 - uassmonkey

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Some of my tough classes at Uni have had curves on tough exams (really only for closed-book closed-note exams), and they curve your letter grade based on your std. deviation from the mean numerical grade.

#87 to #2 - xredsoxmuffin

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

I've noticed that most classes that revolve around sciences like chemistry, biology, physics have a curve.

#83 to #2 - elcreepo

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

On an unrelated note, can anyone explain to me the education logic behind this idea or is it just to secure government funding for schools?

#81 to #2 - elcreepo

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Some teachers in high schools grade on curves, because low enough failing rates = no more sweet, sweet governmental funding.

In college I've rarely encountered it, only the occasional teacher that's willing to round up your grade for a variety of reasons such as showing marked improvement in your work and participating. I think I've only had one class where the lowest grade determined the curve for everyone else, and that professor sucked.

#79 to #2 - AnomynousUser

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

I found it to be all up to the professor, and even then it changes between that professor's classes. I remember one of my classes had FE exam styled questions, and the FE exam only requires a 55% or better to pass, so the professor would just curve everyone's grades up by about 20% so a passing grade on the test would be a passing grade (A-90+, B-80-89.9%, C-70-79.9%, etc.) for the class. But his other classes had more normal tests, which he never curved. The closes thing he'd do to curve a test that everyone bombed was give a short quiz 1-2 classes later which would count as bonus points on the test, so you'd have to effectively curve it by passing the quiz.

#71 to #2 - rplix

Reply+13

(10/12/2017)[-]

You only have to get a 51% to pass?

You had to get a 70% or better to pass at my university.

#95 to #71 - anon id: 36cf0a89

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Depends on the tests I think. Usually multiple choice tests or easier tests require higher percentages for a pass. Or your university was just hard core

#67 to #2 - applescryatnight

Reply+5

(10/12/2017)[-]

Ive seen it many ways.
1- Take the highest grade and make that a perfect score, make 65 passing
2- Take the average grade and make it equate to a 75, make 65 passing
3- Give everyone failing grades, then boost the grades so the bare minimum number of students to keep a class open are passing, with 75 as a passing score
4- Just give everyone that showed up every day an A
5- Make the exam a time trial, doing dozens of job interview level questions. Give no curve, tell everyone to drop if they have an average grade of below 75, then give all remaining students a C, regardless of how they did on exams.

#80 to #67 - anon id: c9237205

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Bro I am post this as anon for a reason but I am currently in university and on my first semester on a math class. I got a 105 on my exam when it was supposedly going to be curved. ******* hell I am glad I that no one knew that it was me that ****** everyone over. Sorry to the people that took that exam back then. It was incredibly easy for me.

#68 to #67 - flamingjaws

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

I'm sensing some weird **** with the fifth one.

#69 to #68 - applescryatnight

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

High level logic was a helluva drug. I ended up as head dumbass, not smart enough to know what was going on, but smart enough to explain to people my half assed understanding. For some reason people just took what i said as fact.

#77 to #69 - flamingjaws

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Sounds intense as hell.

Pic unrelated

#62 to #2 - mrskellington

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Yay! I finally found an Estonian!

Narva Pataljon Laul Anthem of the Estonian Battalion Narva

#59 to #2 - phoenixforger

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

Some professors at my university give tests far more difficult than needed just because they can curve later.

The idea is that in theory any class should have some percentage of high performing intelligent students, some percentage of lazy idiots, and a large number of students in between that. So a curve ensures that the top performers are given A grades to reflect that performance.

#53 to #2 - catburglarpenis#9 on commentsRank#9

Reply+5

(10/11/2017)[-]

All majors in U.S. academia are settled during finals with a sword fighting dual. Losers in the dual help the rest of the class as they can observe the teacher’s technique as they behead the failing student, otherwise known as observing the “curve” of the instructor’s sword.

RIP Diego Garcia, you really helped me pass my Gender Studies final.

#51 to #2 - alucardarian

Reply-3

(10/11/2017)[-]

In the harder fields like physics and engineering the professors definitely make the tests harder so the average student gets around 75%, then they curve it up. It's so that those people that study really hard will get higher grades like 95% and feel like they earned it. If everyone got 90's then the test doesn't really "test" anyone does it? The few people that get 100's might be able to get 100+ based on their professors.

#40 to #2 - stabbedinthecrotch#30 on commentsRank#30

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

High school thing and ****** online or community colleges sometimes

#33 to #2 - ablakguy

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

I find its more common in GE or 100-200 level classes. Sometimes a professor is extra passionate about a difficult and hard to understand subject for an intro class. If youre a Freshman in community college and are taking an intro class that is basically being taught at graduate level, then youre not going to do very well. Ive had some do a bell curve and I had a professor that just moved the entire grading scale down about 4%-5%. I think a lot of the time they do this so when teacher evals come along they wont get fired for students not learning the material. One of my current professors told me when he worked at UC Berkeley, there was someone who had the curve going DOWN. As in, if they felt that everyone did too well they would knock down everyones grade. Made no sense whatsoever. Idk what happened to them though.

#30 to #2 - yourevsyour#439 on commentsRank#439

Reply+3

(10/11/2017)[-]

Depends on the professor and college policy. I attended both a local community college and a pretty accredited state college while I was a student. Most professors at the community college curved their grades. Most professors at the state college didn't, though they sometimes would if the test they wrote turned out to be particularly hard. That's part of the reason why what college you graduate from can carry more weight than what degree you have sometimes.

#26 to #2 - mychaelmoar

Reply+4

(10/11/2017)[-]

Curving is the only way our grading system becomes comparable to Pass/Fail systems, because the letter grade system is so wonky.

A "C" grades, which is supposedly average, indicates a 70% knowledge/score on an exam. How is an "average" understanding indicated by anything more than 50% on a 1-100 scale?

Lemme tell you, I'm a high achieving student, but grading systems piss me off to an incredible extent. It's entirely arbitrary, both in universities and in post graduate matters, and yet the system is maintained despite this being common knowledge.

#64 to #26 - shiphotel

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

I am a graduate but when I was taking classes 51% was only technically passing. D's, in fact, did not get degrees. C's or better were the only way you get credited for the class.

#39 to #26 - advice

Reply+10

(10/11/2017)[-]

What's worse is when you look at curves across colleges. Some Universities have bigger curves than others, including prestigious universities. For example, if Princeton gave everyone a 30% curve in all classes, you could say 'well Princeton is full of smart people, the class average is a 3.7!' when in reality the class is more 2.5 range. Another college (idfk, DeVry) could do ZERO curve on the same material and you'll end up with a 3.2 and people will laugh at you.

#58 to #39 - Daeiros

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

the grading curve is supposed to be a tool to measure how effective the teacher is. If only one or two students fail, they are bad students, if all the students fail, then you have a bad teacher.

If they are regularly handing out massively curved grades, they are utterly failing to teach the material correctly and need to be fired

#52 to #39 - mychaelmoar

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

Absolutely. Obviously some schools have lower standards or requirements, such as some community colleges, but most universities offer the same course material with the same strenuous workload and exams. Any outside influence upon the grades received then is highly dangerous to academic attainment because, as you mentioned, your GPA can be adversely affected and ivy league dick measuring becomes prevalent if not encouraged.

#21 to #2 - haedshot

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

It's done over here as well, but they usually curve grades only. I remember where a teacher couldn't curve his student's grades cause one student received the highest possible grade on that subject. People failed cause one guy was too good.

and that they were dumb asses who should have ******* studied but then again it was a math class

#19 to #2 - dbqpdb#281 on commentsRank#281

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

Only time I ever saw a curve was in my high school American Govt. class. Almost everyone bombed and had to retake it a week later, but I ended up with a perfect score and my teacher recommended me for honors. It sucked because this was a month into the school year so I had to catch up on a **** ton of homework in a week.

#17 to #2 - captnnorway

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

A curve would be so sweet. Had a math exam with a 60% fail rate earlier. I'm only glad I passed

#9 to #2 - ripgeckosncherios

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

generally you have the curve, but sometimes we had adjustments to it when the result was too far off of the expectations.

Happens most often when a new professor starts doing a lecture and has unrealistic expectations.

#8 to #2 - isthisoriginal

Reply+134

(10/11/2017)[-]

American here (ignore flag). It depends on the department regulations, but most of the time it's rare to get a curve. Normally it only happens if everyone in the class bombs an exam, either due to an unfairly tough exam or the professor not providing enough preparation.

#73 to #8 - anon id: e85d2895

Reply+1

(10/12/2017)[-]

I've had the issue with a tough professor. The previous semester I had a physics teacher that was ridiculous. I scored a 51-56 on the first test and it got curved up to a 101. Needless to say this continued for every exam he gave. Absolutely nothing from the homework was on the exams and the book itself made no mention of some of the questions we faced on the tests. No even he brought them up and I had perfect attendance for every class. I somehow managed to make it out with an A and had an email sent to me recently to tutor for it. I wish to stay far away from that physics course though it was hell. I love physics but the way it was taught left a sour taste in my mouth.

#70 to #8 - iambetterthanmypan

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

During my World History class it was the silliest thing to me cause I got somewhere around a 96% on the exam because of my essay.
I was the only student in the class to get an A on the final
the closest grade was like an 87 or something
So I checked my grade the next day and instead of a 96 I had a 103.81%
I didn't even know finals could get curved, much less that hard

#38 to #8 - anon id: 7d5564be

Reply+113

(10/11/2017)[-]

American here (ignore flag)." Sure thing, loyalist, we'll forget that you abandoned the colonies just to fly the British colors.

#44 to #38 - isthisoriginal

Reply+62

(10/11/2017)[-]

Come join the dark side. We have pubs.

#104 to #44 - anon id: ef0f017a

Reply+1

(10/14/2017)[-]

The day muslims try to ban pubs in the U.K is the day the U.K. fights back.

I hope

#89 to #44 - cantexplain

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

And women with crooked teeth. Even dentists in UK have crooked teeth

#102 to #89 - anon id: e7d2026d

Reply0

(10/13/2017)[-]

Shhh you're not allowed to chat when my toilet needs fixing

#103 to #102 - cantexplain

Reply0

(10/13/2017)[-]

Anything, just please speak with your motuh closed

#47 to #44 - spoiledcabbage

Reply+94

(10/11/2017)[-]

Keep your pubes to yourself

#76 to #47 - ztron

Reply+47

(10/12/2017)[-]

You ******* tell em

#5 to #2 - umbrage#210 on commentsRank#210

Reply0

(10/11/2017)[-]

Ontario does it. I think it's a great way to keep a check on professors who make absurdly hard exams.

#4 to #2 - tinfoilhat

Reply+37

(10/11/2017)[-]

That sounds kind of nice, actually. In the US, professors can make a test as hard as they want. What they do is make tests insanely difficult so basically everyone fails then take the average test score of the class and scale it up to around 75%. This is how I passed physical chemistry despite getting about a 20% on the final.

#105 to #4 - anon id: 08e84950

Reply0

(10/15/2017)[-]

American university graduate here.

I've been there, but it still doesn't make sense. The test is a measure of how you understand the material compared to certain standard, not compared to your peers. It may be possible (for certain small classes) that students score low, and all of them actually do not understand the subject enough. That means some of these students will pass, just because they were lucky.

I studied in a small branch campus, with A LOT of funding. Classes were very small (sometimes < 15 students) so we had good interaction with, and attention from, the lecturer. We had a very high averages scores. So much that I had about 2 classes curved down. That's right. People got bumped down because "The average is too high and we can't have most of the class having A's"

Tl;dr: Exams have to be test your knowledge according to a certain standard, not "as hard as you can make it" and just compare students scores, who might in some cases be all very brilliant, or all incompetent.

#92 to #4 - orionthegreat

Reply0

(10/12/2017)[-]

And then some of the times, thee tests are insanely hard to purposely fail a bunch of students because the major was overbooked.

#55 to #4 - arandomanon

Reply-1

(10/11/2017)[-]

Just because you need a 50% to pass (here at least), it doesn't mean the lecturer can't make a test as hard as they want.

#3 to #2 - emiyashirou

Reply+3

(10/11/2017)[-]

Most uni's in the world don't do it unless the class average is drastically off, since class average is supposed to be 50%. At my uni some departments do it if the class average is below 40 or above 60 for a test. I'm in the accountancy department and they don't give a ****. We had a 14% class average for our one Law test last year, lecturers gave 0 *****.

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