A question: Calling all educators!

I assume you mean at the class level. Generally, no. If, for example, the minimum requirement to get a B in a class is 80%, and your total grade so far is a 79.9%, your grade will be a C, not a B.

OIW, the reality is, if 90 and above as an "A," then a B is actually 80 to 89.999...

Now, if a teacher is being generous, that teacher might give a person an A instead of a B, but that's completely up to the teacher, and the teacher is certainly not required to do so.

By no means is a student who gets an 89.5 entitled to an A.

 

I use a points system in my classes. Out of a 1000 points for the semester 1000-930 is an A, 929-859 is a B, 858-788 is a C, and 787-717 is a D, anything below 679 and you have a very bad day.

I you don't make the cut points wise from one letter grade to the next...you don't make the cut. I provide plenty of resources and review tools for the two tests I give and the other components all have a say in the final arrangement.

You are awarded the grade you earn. Grace is a wonderful thing and is available at the Cross...but not equally shared in my classes.

 

Permissible to ask, certainly. Required that they give it, no.

 

It is permissibl, some professors are beneficent people. I am, however, not when it comes to students asking for extra extra credit.

I make one extra credit assignment available and it is usually detailed in the syllabus. Extra credit is a hard get and might be worth it for some. I am of the mindset that a student earns their grades through consistent work. If I slant the playing field for one student and not the other students I am robbing the others of an opportunity.

 

I should probably preface my input with the fact that I teach music, but the grading system is the same.

 

Both at the college, HS, and JR HIGH level, my scale was what it was, and the assignments were what they were. Extra credit is assumed that if it's done, you get the points. I've had people take initiative, do EC, and it would've lowered their score. I might give some benefit of the doubt if they displayed some practical and solid knowledge, but I tried to weave that into the course. I think it's unethical to give EC work to just one or two students trying to go from a B to an A (what about the D to C people?). I try to be fair throughout and thus you get all the opportunities you can.

I always try to give a floating EC. For example, I taught HS algebra years ago. I would grant extra points if you could name five practical uses for Algebra in the real world. I gave them to the entire class at the beginning of the course, and anything they stuck them on, they got the points.

 

Round first, then determine the letter. It's only fair.

I thought music teachers were supposed to use the chromatic grading scale, you know, A# to Fb ? If so, in the cas of an earned C flat, I would just give the student a B to avoid confusion

 

We don't turn in numbers, we turn in letters (A, B, C, D, F). In my personal gradebook any decimals get rounded up or down. This just makes my life a bit easier. Teaching 6 classes with 30 (or so) students in each class, I just don't have time to worry with decimals. Having said that, I don't give students anything. They get what they earn and, as I tell them, they need to be proud of their grade. After all, they earned it.

 

It never hurts to ask. After all, the worse thing they can do is say no. If they say no you have lost nothing. If they say yes, you have gained.

I offer students two extra-credit options each semester. Our history department does various activities and field trips (etc) throughout the semester. Students who are actively involved in those activities can earn extra points. In my experience though, the students who get actively involved are not the students who need the extra points. Other than that I don't offer extra credit. If a student does not care enough to take the extra points I do offer then they must not want them that bad.

 

Nope. 89.59% is not 90.00%. If 90% is the minimum needed for an A, then 89.99999% is a B.

If a teacher wants to be generous and do so, great. But it's certainly not required, and students are not entitled to it. It's not unfair at all if a teacher does not round up.

 

Not at all. If it's 89 or greater, but less than 94, then it's a B. If it's 94 or higher, it's an A. Therefore, if it's 93.9, it's still a B. That's likewise fair, and it's also more accurate.

Of course, if you as an educator wish to round to the nearest full grade (a 93.4 would be a B, and a 93.5 would be an A) then that's in your privilege to do so and it's perfectly acceptible. But it's by no means any more or less fair than not rounding.

 

The way the rule is written, whether the educator rounds or not is fair, so long as the educator applies it to everyone in the class consistently. So, yes, imo, it would be permissible and fair to round to the nearest integer for all students.

 

It is just common sense that the grading scale that you have presented is understood to mean 94 = A, 93.9 = B.

That is why students ask me if they can do extra credit to raise a 93.9 to a 94. They know that anything less than a 94 is a B.

I think you are being too concrete. 86-93 is a B, and that includes the decimal point right up to 94, then it is an A.

Why does it matter so much? If you usually receive A's, why does one B matter? Certainly you are not basing your self-esteem or worth on a grade in a class, are you?