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Surveys to be placed online, grade distributions removed

By on February 17, 2010 7:00 am in University / 6 comments

 
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Interim Provost Gary Shapiro said at the Academic Senate meeting Tuesday that student grade distributions have been removed from the Central Michigan University Portal.

However, he approved the posting of results from completed Student Opinion Surveys in their place and aims to have them online by fall 2010.

“The big question I asked myself was, ‘What would be the impact on student learning?’” Shapiro said.

In a statement distributed at the meeting, Shapiro stated, concerning the grade distributions, he “can find no compelling argument that such posting would enhance learning.”

Shapiro said his main concern is students would use that information to shop for “easy A’s.”

Spring 2009’s grade distributions, which allowed students to view the grades professors issued in past semesters, were posted on the Portal with the approval of then-provost Julia Wallace in response to a request made by the Student Government Association.

A group of department chairs voted Oct. 21 to approve a resolution to remove the data, however.

SOS forms

The Academic Senate voted 26-19 on Feb. 2 to support publishing the SOS forms on the Portal, then received Shapiro’s approval Tuesday.

The SOS data, filled out by students at semester’s end for each class, was previously available only on CD through the reference desk at Charles V. Park Library.

“We did want both (to be posted online), but the SOS was a lot more important,” said Muskegon senior Dave Breed, SGA representative in the Academic Senate. “If we had to pick one, it would be the SOS.”

Jason Nichol, SGA president and Mount Pleasant senior, said he was happy with the decision.

“Losing the grade distribution is unfortunate, but we’d rather have the SOS,” Nichol said.

He said the SOS data tells students more about the quality of a professor’s teaching than the grade distribution.

“We truly appreciate the provost taking time to hear all sides. I know it was a tough decision,” Nichol said.

Shapiro will form an ad-hoc committee composed of two faculty members, two SGA members, the director of Institutional Research and the vice provost for Administrative Affairs.

The committee will present suggestions on how the data should be presented online no later than April 19.

 

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  • Dawson

    Professors who are worried about students shopping for A’s make me laugh. Compare a class like Dr. Phelps’ physics class to Dr. Finck’s same physics class. (People do very well in Finck’s class, have fun, never complain). Are you honestly going to argue that because Dr. Phelps has a much lower average, that students are learning more?

  • Jim O’Bryan

    Shopping for “easy A’s”… I’ve tried paying off all my teachers for the last 3 years and ended up with an empty cart. Oh well… I guess either the economy isn’t that bad, or our teachers here actually have more integrity than what you give them. For your information, there is such thing as a good teacher, both in respects to how well they connect to students through their teaching style (which usually consists of more than just readin power point slides from the prefabricated book guides they are given), and how honest they are as people.
    AND
    What do you call RateMyProfessors.com? It gives you easiness, clarity, helpfulness, quality and even hotness. Now granted, it doesn’t give grades, but you can get a really good idea of how that class is going to go by seeing the teachers profile. As for shopping for A’s, I won’t even go into those who buy into their positions of power…

  • mossdale

    A much lower average of what? Grade point average?

    There could be many reasons why one teacher’s GPA is lower than someone else’s (even if they are teaching the same course). I guess for you, “having fun” is the reason Finck’s GPA is higher than Phelps’? Your post is confusing.

    The point is that class GPA’s tell students little about that class. A teacher’s SOS scores don’t say much either, especially our SOS instrument here at CMU which has 7 or 8 very general questions about class organization and such. Studies done concerning the usefulness of something like an SOS have shown they do little to really shed light on a teacher’s ability and quality.

  • E

    Jim O’Bryan, that’s not what they mean by the phrase “shopping for A’s”…there’s not really an exchange of money going on…

  • Jim O’Bryan

    I know what they meant by shopping for A’s, it’s a satire. Just like how I don’t actually go to all of my teachers, asking them to take financial bribes. I was commenting on the fact that if they post the grades of the classes, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an easy teacher or class. It just means that the material was presented well to the students or there was plenty of opportunities.

  • Lindsey

    I’m really disappointed that the grade distribution is no longer available. It was simply a helpful deciding factor when trying to pick between professors. Each professor has different teaching styles, and different groups of students that either embrace the material and learn, or are just there because it’s required and are just looking for a passing grade. The SOS forms are practically useless in my opinion…more than half the class just quickly fills it out so they can leave. At RateMyProfessor.com, people actually give opinions because they WANT to. I don’t see how this helps anyone.