Anon studies Organic Chemistry
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No, you don't. That's not how a curve works, the curve merely improves scores. If a curve would lower scores, it's not used.
Not what they did for us.
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i think multiple-choice-exams* are even better because they're corrected by a machine by scanning the checkboxes and saying either "yes" or "no". it's 100% fair and also really effective.
* where applicable
Our exam system supports multiple choice and, indeed, collecting that part automatically. (We can still go through the boxes recognized as tick or blank en-masse to check for recognition mistakes.) However, they're only allowed to make up 20% of an exam according to university-wide rules.
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Each college does it differently. Some allow professors to choose research vs teaching, some require a fixed balance.
Never heard of being able to choose
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Never heard of being able to choose
Yup. Some have research-only professors, and some expect all professors to teach classes. It really depends on the university.
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Not what they did for us.
Do you have more details? Because I've never heard of a curve being used to hurt students in a class, only to help make up for a bad exam.
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Yup. Some have research-only professors, and some expect all professors to teach classes. It really depends on the university.
Ah, I misunderstood. Yeah, that’s common, but not a choice, they are different types of positions, with different fundings usually. You can’t switch between them
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They do in conservatives' anti-intellectual fantasies
Bullshit. I am one.
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Yup, they have their TAs grade exams and grade on a curve so only a fixed percent passes.
Exactly. OP described a very different process.
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I've never seen or heard of that being a case.
The closest is test scores for admissions where the score is irrelevant and only the top X get in. But that's made apparent at the outset, whereas a curve is done after the fact if people do poorly.
It's basically just modern eugenics with extra steps.
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"gay potential" sounds like the cutest physics term.
Gay potential is measured in homos
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Yup, they have their TAs grade exams and grade on a curve so only a fixed percent passes.
With the amount of tests I had where I was the highest grade at ~60% and still got the equivalent of a D, I would have loved some of this curve you guys keep talking about.
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Gay potential is measured in homos
Please tell me it uses SI prefixes.
"They measure 1.63 x 10² megahomos!"
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My first introduction to this bullshit was calculus. Teacher bragged about only passing halve his students. Like my man... that ain't the brag you think it's is 1, 2 this is a fucking prereq for the vast vast majority of us!
Yeah, when a prof or teacher says "my course is so hard, only a few people pass" then I immediately translate that to "I am a shit teacher".
So long as you do the work and aren't a lazy ass student, you should have a decent pass.
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How does it harm students? A curve is only used if the grade distribution is below expectations. All it does is cover for a bad test or something.
Because if the next cohort is simply performing better you force some students to be graded below their performance, which is unfair punishment, and if they're worse then some will be graded higher. It's especially unfair when the composition of students changes rapidly or when used over very mixed groups of students.
Grading should be decided based on achieved learning targets, not group rank. It's not a fucking sport.
