Running head: UNDERGRADAUTES ’ VIEWS ON GRADING Students ’ Perspectives on the Grading System in an Undergraduate Introductory Technology Course

Undergraduates ’ views on grading 2 This study examines students ’ perspectives on Pass / Fail grading system in an undergraduate introductory technology course in a Mid-western university. Seven students were interviewed. The Pass / Fail system was found to scare some students since there is a risk of having an “F” grade on the transcript, and some felt uncomfortable when there was no middle ground to fall back on. Pass / No record system is preferred. Allowing to retake assessments was reported to be a desirable policy because it induced mastery learning. Mastery grading increased students’ confidence with technology and reduced anxiety. Some felt having mastery grading system for all the courses will be a problem because GPA will be useless and they may not be able to use it to compete with others. They had disagreement on grading on a curve. Learning for learning’s sake was a novel concept to them because they had been raised to be asked to get ahead. They felt it OK for schools to sort students rather than foster learning. Implications of these themes such as educational accountability and change were discussed. Systems theory was used as a framework to analyze the problem and findings