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In opposition to plus and minus grading

Published: April 09, 2008

Oklahoma’s flagship schools do not have a plus and minus grading scheme, and we think it is probably for the best.

OU is considering the change in grading policy and has asked OSU to look at it as well.

According to an OU grading scale task force information report, one of the reasons in support of the change is that eight schools out of the Big 12 have the policy. Is this a problem for transfer students?

The report didn’t say.

The report did not cite any evidence of the benefit of “chromatic variant” or plus/minus grading. The report also said the change would bring Oklahoma universities in line with most other universities, but did not cite evidence to support that claim.

It also listed some reasons as to why the change could be rejected. The plus or minus change could create more work for a professor, for example.

The changes might also increase the number of students begging for a grade change at the end of the semester, much to the annoyance of professors who might otherwise never see the student in their office for help.

Furthermore, we don’t see how the change would be of much benefit to students who aren’t already in the technical A+ grade range.

In other words, the distinction that plus grades add is only relevant to people who’s academic progress is leaning them toward further academia or to a job that is requiring of all A’s in college.

The additional distinction of having a plus on your A may even drive some students to ultimate distraction with their grades and they will miss out on the other opportunities that college provides, such as exposure to other cultures, music and art forms as well as networking and club activity.

These are also important aspects of college life and the goal of college is to prepare people for good citizenship.

This story was published April 9th, 2008 under Opinion. Permalink.

One Comment »

  1. Apr092008 11:08 am

    whose. Not who’s.

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