<p>Greeat De Anza College will be officially adopting +/- grading this fall. Good game. I guess that is the system UC's use, but only a handful of CCC use +/- grading..which grading system do you guys think is better?</p>
<p>i vote no on +/- grading. hurts higher-gpa students as an A- is no longer a 4.0 and there no such thing as a A+...</p>
<p>I agree. Thumbs down on the +/- System.</p>
<p>Some courses I have taken make it impossible to get an A+ because no one in the class can possibly get all the answers right on the tests every single time. The professors I know always make tests knowing that no one will get 100% despite how hard you study.</p>
<p>Last quarter, Foothill did a pilot study where the professors turned in grades as +/- to whatever board that handles these things to see how it affects GPA. As a result, Foothill is switching to it as well, but I thought it started this quarter. We'll soon find out I guess.</p>
<p>foothill and de anza are in the same district so they do everything together. YUP it's official..this fall</p>
<p>oh my god dude i am going to seriously crap my pants but thank god its NEXT quarter and not this year because im taking all my hard classes this quarter. WOOP WOOP SMART ME</p>
<p>hah zenmook are you goin to be here next quarter? wuts ur major and waht are u taking?</p>
<p>yeah deanza and foothill. biz major..ummm math1b/ewrt1c/elit01/acct1c/probably a stats or compsci class. </p>
<p>pending on what happens this quarter with my 1a class oh my god. im taking it at foothill (which is supposedly easier then de anza) and im still getting slaughtered</p>
<p>my bad i meant next year? will u be around?</p>
<p>"Last quarter, Foothill did a pilot study where the professors turned in grades as +/- to whatever board that handles these things to see how it affects GPA. As a result, Foothill is switching to it as well, but I thought it started this quarter. We'll soon find out I guess."</p>
<p>Do you know the results of the study?</p>
<p>yeah..well the board of trustees said they would implement +/- unless there was "substantial" evidence that it would affect the gpas...apparently only 18% of the teachers used this pilot study and the gpa only fell .01.....yeaaah doesn't sound too believable to me but what can ya do.</p>
<p>Quoted from an e-mail I got from my professor last quarter when I asked about it:</p>
<p>Dated Dec 9, 2005:</p>
<p>"Just got an email from the school. Looks like I will be giving "+" and "- " grades, which will include A+, but not C-. A "C" and "C-" will be the same.</p>
<p>The grading scale will be:</p>
<p>99 - 100 % = A+
93 - 98 = A
90 - 92 = A-</p>
<p>87 - 89% = B+
83 - 86 = B
80 - 82 = B-</p>
<p>77 - 79% = C+
70 - 76 = C</p>
<p>67 - 69% = D+
63 - 66 = D
60 - 62 = D-</p>
<p>The California Education code does not allow the reporting of C-."</p>
<hr>
<p>My reply:</p>
<p>"That's a bit scary to hear. I've seen another syllabus that says it's a pilot study, and that the +/- grades will not be reflected on the transcripts for this quarter. So, they're really going with the +/- deal? Also, this is not your fault or anything if it is true, it's a bit misleading if in the beginning of the quarter students think they'll get particular grades based on their point value, and now the school, at the last minute says, "+/- for everyone!". Kind of a downer, really."</p>
<hr>
<p>Professor reply:</p>
<p>"I inquired about this at the beginng of the quarter with the Department Chair. He and his admin assistant told me "it's in the handbook." I read through the handbook, and it clearly stated that full grades were only to be given. The news of the +/- grade surprised me. Yes, it's a pilot program they implemented this year, however, they only sent the initial memo to Full-Time faculty.</p>
<p>A direct quote:</p>
<p>"All faculty are to use plus and minus symbols to record the final grades for their students this quarter..."</p>
<p>"Unless the board determines (based on this study) that plus/minus grading substantially harms students, plus/minus grading will be implemented district-wide in the fall of 2006."</p>
<ul>
<li>This IS a pilot study to determine the effects of +/- grades on a student's GPA.</li>
</ul>
<p>** An important note, although I will be giving the +/- grade, you will only see a full A, B, C, D, or F grade on you permanent transcript.</p>
<p>*** The + or - WILL NOT be used for your current GPA calculation.</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing up your concern, as I wasn't clear earlier. Btw, I'm forward my response to all the students. I hope you don't mind me leaving your response. I think it's important."</p>
<hr>
<p>Hope that explains all.</p>
<p>no wonder why all of ur CC ppl have 4.0s</p>
<p>at most private schools, they give us +/-, and it is really hard to get an A, A- are manageable</p>
<p>
[quote]
at most private schools, they give us +/-, and it is really hard to get an A, A- are manageable
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree. A-s are almost guaranteed if you work hard; an A is always an unknown no matter how much work you put into it - this goes only for the humanities.</p>
<p>For my theology class, I went as high as an A-/A. Now who does that to a student?</p>
<p>i'd hate it cause i am usually borderline. but competition is good according economists.</p>
<p>especially for english, teachers here have no problems giving out A-s, but to get an A--u have to be like a master writer</p>
<p>According to my professor, what earned me the A/A- was a line (literally a line) that did not connect to my thesis - this was a five page paper.</p>
<p>"Better to keep it focused," he said.</p>
<p>is this community college thing w. grades, the same at community colleges in the northeast, summer school seems appealing now</p>
<p>Although it probably won't work to my advantage, I think to use +/- would make the whole grading system closer to perfect. Although it makes a 94 which would originally be an A a A-, what if you had a 89 and a really stubborn professor? </p>
<p>I think during my junior year, I had like 10 classes (IB+Turkish Ministry of Edu. requirements) and my final grade for over half of them was from 87-89, and my school only gave out full letter grades...+/-'s would have really helped me out then and made things fair. Why should my 89 be counted the same as anothers 80? </p>
<p>I think it would be best if all colleges did this, but also had A+'s. Oh well.</p>
<p>Brown has only A, B, and C, and they do not calculate GPAs.</p>