This paper considers whether student motivation might be impacted by the replacement of a straight (A, B, C, D, F) grading system with a plus/minus system (A, A-, B+ . . . D-, F). The data that are examined are from several undergraduate economics classes at a mid-sized Midwestern university in the United States. The data includes student characteristics, student performance, and students' choices of either a plus/minus or a straight grading system. In this admittedly small scale study students, who chose plus/minus grading, were not significantly more motivated than students who opted for straight grading.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Ball State University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number
200401.
Length: 12 pages Date of creation: Jan 2004 Date of revision:
Jan 2005 Publication status: Published in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 30 no. 6 (2005): 571-579. Handle: RePEc:bsu:wpaper:200401
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