i really want to reach the 90-100’s range but right now i feel like im just in the mid 80s - 90s range.
for one exam worth around 8% of our final grade, i did well with a 97
for another exam worth around 14%, i unfortunately dropped down to an 87
as for the homeworks worth 20%, im positive that that i can get probably a 99 on that
for the remaining 58% (2 more exams and a final exam), we haven’t taken it yet
our professor told us that if the final class average is below 75%, he’ll curve it.
what exactly does this mean and how will he curve it? for the 2 exams we’ve taken so far he showed us the class average and it was around 65% for both
if that remains constant for the rest of the exams (class averages at 65% while i get around 85%) can i expect my score to go up to the 90s? sorry if i sound paranoid by the way. it’s not that im relying on this curve; i’ll still continue to work hard, but it will definitely lessen my anxiousness if i knew that my grade would somewhat go higher. thank you
Grading curves are often (but definitely not always) based on standard deviation - for example, a score equal to the class average might be a B, one standard deviation (SD) above might be an A, one standard deviation below might be a C, etc. - however it varies and this is just one example.
It really varies. You could ask your professor. However, I think your best bet is always to focus on learning the material as best as you possibly can rather than focusing on a numerical score. I have found that is the best way to do well!
Depends on teachers. They may add Extra credit by the end of semester, or use Standard deviation method. Or have different score range. However, don’t worry about the curve; just do your best.
Ironically enough, none of my professors for last 5 semesters used curve. They all used standard university system. You think it would be more lenient in a large staet school, but it’s not always the case
It really depends on your professor. In one of my classes, the professor curves in a way that more students get F’s than A’s! The average is typically 25%-30% of students failing his courses. In another class I took that had a curve, the grades are distributed so that 80% of the students get a B- or better. To get anything worse, you’d really have to not attend class/mess up on exams and to get an A, you’d basically would have had to be the perfect on everything. I’m not sure if I like a curve, to be honest. It’s not standardized and some professors can be too harsh.
At some level, your teacher is saying that if nobody ends up really mastering the material, the students who did the least badly will still get an A. I know that sounds cynical, but if that happens, there is either something wrong with the teaching, the students, or the assessments and regardless, the outcome should not be a grade that would suggest excellent mastery of the material.