What is a fair way to curve an Exam grade?

Dumplins, MSN, RN, APN · Feb 3, 2012

i agree. i think if you're going to give points away, it should be even for everyone's test. despite which questions werent counted and so on.

but then again, i'm against the whole curving thing in general. there should be no reason to curve a test. if some people got 90's and some got 40's...the 40's got what they deserve. should've studied.

if everyone did poorly, it was either a poorly written test, or the professor just didnt teach the material well enough.

all tests should be fair

orientbeachgirl · Feb 3, 2012

In both of these cases I believe that the Professors thought that the questions on the test were either poorly written or they were not fair questions because the content was not gone over.

RNCEN · Feb 3, 2012

Why should they curve at all? If questions are poorly written, they should be omitted. If you got them wrong, you got them wrong. I would not want to get credit for something I didn't earn.

Just my $.02

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2012

there are actually statistics for item analysis that will tell the faculty exactly that; they can indicate that getting an item (question) wrong is predictive of failure of the whole exam, or getting it right is predictive of overall success on the exam, or be completely unpredictive of anything, or be, as my professor daughter says, "murky." a "completely unpredictive" question, one that people who got most questions right but got this one wrong, is the kind that is usually thrown out or rewritten for next year's exam. it's a bad question.

that said, when they throw out items the proper way to grade (not scale) an exam is to take the number of correct answers and divide by the # of items left. so if you got 19/25 = 76 originally, they changed it to 17/23 = 74.

you might not like it, but they throw out the bad questions, and they throw them out for everyone. what if you had got it wrong and they didn't throw it out and it counted against you? bummer.

(now you get to go concentrate on getting more right. please do not waste one more minute of your time or an ounce of your energy on this. it's over.)

orientbeachgirl · Feb 4, 2012

GRN TEA,

I know, I know! I need to let it go and I am....I was just venting....and for future reference I am curious as to how other professors handle this. I am the type of person that will study even more for the next exam so that I can get a better grade. This was the first low exam grade that I have gotten in my nursing program. I am a B+ student and I work very hard on my studies. This is my second career....so its not my first time around the block...LOL. But sometimes the ways things are done can frustrate a girl...But onward and upward!! And you are right...next time I will do better so a curve won't even matter to me....

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · Feb 4, 2012

Please share your thoughts and ideas with me.....Thanks everyone!

When questions are thrown off of an exam, NO ONE loses or gains any points. Those questions never existed.

NICUmiiki, DNP, NP · Feb 4, 2012

These were not nursing classes, but I've had a couple of professors that would find the difference between the class average and middle C (75% for 10 point scale) and then raise everyone's score by that difference. The professor's logic was that if the class average was below a C (They aim for the bell-shaped curve.), then the test was too hard. Sometimes a few people would end up with a grade higher than 100.

llg, PhD, RN · Feb 4, 2012

Great post, GrnTea. That's the standard (and fair) way to do it. Simply throw out the "bad question" and regrade the test as if it doesn't exist.

Sometimes, though, I do it a little differently. If I see that a question had 2 answers that could have reasonably chosen, I will re-score that question so that either of those 2 answers is counted as correct. Anyone who chose a different answer (one that is not reasonable) still gets no credit for it. So, some people get points added to their score and others do not. I explain my reasoning to the class and so far -- no one has complained. I think they see that as fair. And sometimes, I'll just be generous and give everyone credit for the bad question -- as a "gift" to make up for the fact that I screwed up when writing it.

I usually try to err on the side of generosity in such matters as a way of showing the students that I don't intend to be mean. And yes, some of my questions are difficult and only a few people will get them correct -- and I make no apology for that fact. If, after reviewing the statistics, I still think it was a fair question ... I let it stand.

abiklags · Feb 5, 2012

in our school, when they drop questions, the students who got the questions wrong get the points back. those who got them right don't get points back because they never lost them. the way I understand it is such. instead of every one starting at the 0 grade and each correct answer is worth 2 points, each person starts with a +2, + 4 etc how ever many points were given back and you work your way up from there.

if a second answer was granted as right, all tests are remarked so the students who chose that answer will have a mark reflecting the corrected grade.

if i got question 20 correct and then it was thrown out, if the teacher gives ALL students plus 2 points, thats akin to me getting double points for 1 question which to me does not seem fair

I think that makes sense.

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2012

I believe(and as a future hopeful nursing instructor) if most of the class missed a poorly written question, then everyone gets that point back. Doesn't matter if you got it right or not. everyone should get it or nobody. but, you shouldn't be worried about everyone else. worry about your score.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Feb 5, 2012

A 76 is an F? Tough crowd.

Anyway, in my research Nursing class, bad questions are thrown out. In Fundamentals, questions aren't thrown out either.

At my school, what grade you earn is the grade you receive.