Grading dilemma... what do YOU think?

[CrazierThanYou]

I'm in my third semester of nursing school. This has been a rough semester for many of the students in the class as far as grades go, with the majority failing the first, second, and last tests. So, our instructor came up with a plan. After taking the tests individually, we retook them as a group. Those grades were then averaged together. So, some people had their grades raised by as many as 15 points while myself and couple of other students actually LOST points on the exams. I really don't think any of this is fair at all.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want my classmates to fail but I also don't want my grade reduced based on their grades. I really feel like many of the students are just riding the coattails of the rest of us and really, that's what's happening. It makes me feel like the fact that I passed on my own, with none of this "help" means nothing. Yep, I passed but so did several other people who failed 3 out of 4 exams.

I also caught wind of some cheating that went on during our last dosage calculation exam. All of this is super irritating to me.

[mengil]

if the instructor thinks it is good for extra credit it is fine but only if were for "extra credit" it should be on a voluntary basis. not to reduce points thats crazy

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Wow penalizing you guys that have done good....

But why are the group tests lower still?

[Moogie]

If a majority of students failed three tests, it seems to me that there was a flaw either in the testing or in the way the material was taught. I'm all for the instructor reassessing and giving students another chance. Many educators are doing group tests as a lower-stakes way to assess learning, especially if students are having difficulty with individual tests.

However, reducing points is ridiculous and unfair to students who performed adequately in the individual tests. The group tests should have been voluntary, a way for students to improve their grades, not punish those who did well on the regular exams. This creates a disincentive for students to study for the exams and increases the frustration experienced by students who were unfairly penalized.

The cheating is reprehensible yet it happens with high-stakes testing. I am not a fan of tests being the only factor that determines grades and progression through a program.

[SkiMama]

I would discuss this with your instructor. I had a single professor EVER do this. We took an exam and when everyone was finished we got into groups of 4 or 5 and re took it together. If the group got 100% he added 5pts to each of our individual grades. 90% 3 pts...etc. But no one LOST points on their own exam for any reason... strange!

[CrazierThanYou]

I would discuss this with your instructor. I had a single professor EVER do this. We took an exam and when everyone was finished we got into groups of 4 or 5 and re took it together. If the group got 100% he added 5pts to each of our individual grades. 90% 3 pts...etc. But no one LOST points on their own exam for any reason... strange!

The way you describe how your professor did it is the way its really supposed to be done, except it was supposed to be if the group made an A, then everyone got 2 points; a B got 1 point, and a C got a half point. Instead, they decided to average the grades together.

To That Guy: The group tests were averaged with ours, it brought some people's grades up and if we did better on our individual test than the average, then some of us had the potential to lose points. Like me. In the end, it didn't have a bearing on my final grade really, but it could have.

You might wonder how the group grade could have been lower. For both tests, I was in a group with someone who would not budge on an answer so we missed the ones they insisted were right.

Some people did talk to the instructor and were told that that is what they decided to do. I think its crap, myself.