What does it say about me that half of students got under 40% for the final essay while the other half got over 90%?
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Opinions, art, debate
Opinions, art, debate
What does it say about me that half of students got under 40% for the final essay while the other half got over 90%?
Clarissa's Blog 
It’s not just you, I have increasingly been noticing that the grade distributions in my classes are bimodal — you have the high-scorers at one end, and the kids who really are struggling due to underpreparation, not wanting to be there, or perhaps being stretched too thin as they try to juggle too much…
Whatever it is, it’s a real effect. Perhaps you will forgive the shameless link dropping (there are interesting comments you might want to check out too)
http://xykademiqz.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/bimodal/
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You are always welcome to self-promote here!
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I’m at a community college in St. Louis. I get this all the time. I think it’s fine. It indicates student preparation or lack thereof. It shows that your exams are tough but fair. Don’t listen to students who complain. They always take all the credit for doing well and they never accept blame for failing (it’s your fault — “the professor asked unfair questions,” “I was unsure what to focus on from lecture notes or the books,” etc.).
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I often get this effect when I deviate from the “read this then write a paper on it” model (assigning instead lots of informal writing or group projects or a multi-stage research assignment). About half the class gets interested and does great with the unfamiliar format, the other half of the class flounders.
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“I often get this effect when I deviate from the “read this then write a paper on it” model (assigning instead lots of informal writing or group projects or a multi-stage research assignment).”
– That’s exactly what I did and here is the result. I’m glad this is a general trend and not just my problem.
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