In the journal written by Richard Kamber and Mary Biggs, Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality, it is obvious that they both have strong opinions that grade inflation is a real thing. In the journal, it is written, “…grades were rising for the same levels of student performance.” (Kamber & Biggs 31) What this quote is trying to say in more general terms is that the amount of effort needed to get a ‘B’ in earlier years (late 1900’s), would now get you an ‘A’, the result, grade inflation. In addition, the authors also state, “When B’s, for example, are awarded for what was previously C-level work, then the only way to differentiate what was previously B-level work is to award A’s to that work - which then deprives the system of its capacity to recognize A-level work.” (Kamber & Biggs 32) What this excerpt is stating is that grade inflation is getting to the point where it is becoming impossible to determine the difference between an outstanding student (A), an above average student (B) and even an average student (C). I personally agree with this claim because now with the physical value of grades decreasing, it is harder to stand out in a crowd of resumes if all of the grades are above average. Although I do agree with this claim, I do disagree with the first claim that the grades are rising, even though students are putting in the same amount of performance. The reason why I disagree with this claim is because of my personal experiences. In my last semester as a college student, I took Calculus II and I knew that going into it, it was going to be extremely difficult to walk out of there with an ‘A’. Because of extremely hard work and effort, I was able to walk out of the class with an ‘A’. My point here is that with my hard work and only my hard work was I able to obtain the ‘A’. If I had not worked as hard as I did, then I know that I would have received a lower grade. With the higher level of performance, I was able to obtain a higher grade.
In the other journal that I analyzed, What is Ethical About Grade Inflation and Coursework Deflation? by Donald Larry Crumbley & Ronald E. Flinn & Kenneth J. Reichelt, grade inflation was still the main point, but the authors added a twist. In their journal, they questioned the validity of the student evaluation of teaching (SET). What this is supposed to measure learning and teaching. Unfortunately, the widely used system looks like it has backfired rather dramatically. What is claimed in the article is that, “[These] SET scores are as much an expression of customer satisfaction rather than anything approaching meaningful, valid, and reliable measures of what a student actually learns in a college class.” (Crumbley, Flinn & Reichelt 188) This quote is saying, in the simplest terms, that the SET system is turning into a complete failure and is turning into more of how the teacher was rather than what was learned from the teacher. I agree with this statement because if you just take a quick look around websites like ratemyprofessor.com, then you will understand what this previous statement means. When you look at the bad reviews on the website, almost all of them have one thing in common, they all say something like, “Too much work,” or “The course was too demanding.” Both of these comments are more about what they did not like about the class, not what they learned. In addition, the journal goes on further to state that students are, “…consumers purchasing education and grades as a commodity,” believe that, “Hard work outside the classroom should not be a requirement,” and that, “Teachers should be entertainers.” (Crumbley, Flinn & Reichelt 188) In other words, students know that they need to get a higher-level education, but the problem is that they do not want to work for it but rather buy it. I disagree with his statement because in my own experiences, when I go to my classes, I make sure that I am paying attention to what the professor is saying because I know that I am paying a good deal of money for my education and I do not want it to go to waste.
Both of the journals, Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality by Richard Kamber and Mary Biggs and What is Ethical About Grade Inflation and Coursework Deflation? by Donald Larry Crumbley & Ronald E. Flinn & Kenneth J. Reichelt, in my opinion, have ideas that I would agree with, but also others that would make me disagree and believe that the idea of grade inflation is fake and phony. This big fault in the higher education system has not been in place for a long time, but in history that is more recent. In addition, the general idea of grade inflation is still on the front lines of debate from local levels all the way up to the federal level. We all know that the issue is well known, but the problem is trying to contain it, and I believe that grade inflation is only true to a certain extent, depending on which classes you take and where.
References:
Crumbley,
Donald Larry, Ronald E. Flinn, and Kenneth J. Reichelt. "What Is Ethical
About Grade Inflation And Coursework Deflation?." Journal Of Academic
Ethics 8.3 (2010): 187-197. Education Research Complete. Web. 31
Mar. 2015.
Kamber,
Richard, and Mary Biggs. "Grade Inflation: Metaphor and Reality." The
Journal of Education Vol. 184.No. 1 (2003): Pp. 31-37. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
Hey man just wanted to say that your article is super rad and it made my entire day to be able to read it. I think you made some very good points that are not really thought about by the average person. keep up the fannntastic work.
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