@OhSorryYo I am aware that upper division classes can be a different matter. This class, however, is just a lower division class.
@hebegebe I understand the mean score can vary because the professor intended it to be. However, shouldn’t the professors seek to make a test where the average matches us with a normal 0-100 scale? I would assume that most wouldn’t actively seek to create tests where grading requires some sort of curve, or aim to create a mean score far below what other professors who have taught the class usually achieve.
That might be my personal opinion.
@GMTplus7 The total class size is not small, but my random samplings for survey/questioning were small (15 person from each lecture). That is what I meant by small sample size (below 20% of total population for each class).
Luckily, the professors let us take the tests with us after the midterm. I compared the midterms for our class and theirs. For the most part, the questions that were of similar topic were the same difficulty, with one or the other test having certain questions be more difficult. There were, however, topics covered exclusively on one or the other test, which might account for the difference in mean score.
As for majors, both lectures are populated with the following majors: Engineering (all of them), Computer Science, Math, Actuarial Science, Statistics, Chemistry, Bio, and Physics (I might have missed some of them). As the list implies, no other majors other than math-focused majors take the class (in other words, no Humanities majors are interested in the class).
I also considered the difference in time of day. My lecture is during the morning (at 8am), while the other class is in the afternoon (1pm). This should mean that the afternoon class would perform better, due to being more awake, yes?
@ucbalumnus Like I stated above, the tests were of comparable difficulty, where they overlapped. Within the overlapped topics, the difficulty would be higher in one class, and sometimes in the other. The topics covered diverged towards the end of the exam, which might have created differences in difficulty, if the differing topics were of differing difficulty.
@WasatchWriter The second factor is one that confuses me. My lecture is the 8am lecture, while the other is at 1pm. However, the mean score is much higher for our lecture than for theirs, despite both classes being around the same size and pure STEM majors. This is what lead me to believe maybe the difference were in the professors.
As for the first point, there is a reported difference in average grades for both professors. Using ratemyprofessors.com, the first professor’s past students reported a B- average grade, while the second professor has a reported A- average grade.
I don’t believe test difficulties were the main divider of average grades, since the tests were both of similar difficulty. In fact, I might say that the 2nd professor’s test are more confusing, as they are mostly theorem/proof based, while the 1st professor’s test is more about solving with minimal proof based questions.