Making the Grade
As this fall semester wraps up, you are now assigning final grades and thinking about the upcoming break. It may be that you do not see grades as a dilemma because you are an engineer and a problem solver. This newsletter does not suggest that you are not doing an adequate job of grading but instead it is intended to keep the ball rolling from a discussion held earlier this month.
On December 6th, the FIC hosted the last Faculty Innovation Seminar of this fall entitled Engineering Grade Inflation Facts and Perceptions (http://www.engr.utexas.edu/faculty/faculty%5Finnovation%5Fseminars/).
Dr. Phil Schmidt of ME and Dr. Wally Fowler of ASE, both members of the University’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers, considered the issue of grade inflation and what it means here in our College. The intent of this seminar was to begin a discussion of these topics:
• Are engineering grades inflated at UT Austin?
• Should we have common grading standards in engineering?
• If so, what should these standards be?
• Do grades and student evaluations create a dilemma for non-tenured faculty?
Given that the seminar was only an hour and faculty representation was good but certainly not all inclusive (25 attended the seminar), these questions are still ripe for discussion. Look for in the future some data gathering to occur. The FIC is going to assist Dr. David Dolling in the Academic Affairs Office build a database to look at grades across departments.