Assessment Grading system

Agent-based model There are many choices in higher education for educators and students alike, each with its own focus and advantages. Consider two-year colleges, undergraduate 4-year teaching colleges, undergraduate-graduate universities, quarter vs. semester system, online, hybrid, and classroom-based instruction, to name a few. This study was developed to understand the impact of the choice between a conventional A/B/C/D/F, or straight A-F grading system, and a plus-minus grading system on students ’ grade point averages (GPAs). To do this, an agent-based model was developed for a student body represented by GPAs, transcripts, and class averages. The GPAs were based on those of actual graduating students, with transcripts and class averages randomly generated for over 22,000 student agents. The model showed that there would be little change in the overall students ’ cumulative GPAs, but a decrease in the number of students with a perfect 4.0 GPA could be expected. The decreased number of students with a perfect 4.0 GPA depends on a number of known but unpredictable circumstances. Further modeling efforts studied the impact of a plus-minus grading system on the graduation rate of masters-level students and retention rate of freshmen. It was demonstrated that the number of graduating MS students was expected to decrease by 1.2 % to 2.9 % and the number of non-returning freshman was expected to increase by 1 % to 8%. Again, these values depend on a number of defined, but unpredictable variables.. 1