Psylutions -- Dr. Snyder's Blog
Grading Scheme
Please note that this course is NOT graded on a curve. Assignment and exam marks will be tallied at the end of the course and converted to the 4-point University grade scale using the grading scheme shown in the table below.
There are several reasons that this course is not graded on a curve:
- Statistically there are issues with fitting a normal distribution curve to a course of this type.
- If this course was curved some students would have to be failed, regardless of how well they performed; this strikes me as unfair and somewhat arbitrary.
- Related to this, curved courses can produce unpleasant consequences with respect to competition to the restricted number of high grades that can be handed out. By not being curved, the only person you are competing with for your grade is yourself.
- By not being graded on a curve students can calculate exactly where they stand going into the final exam and use this information for more effective time management with respect to studying.
Two final points. First, note that the University recommended grade distribution for 200-level courses is just that: a recommendation. Individual course grade distributions do not have to conform to the recommended guide. Second, you should be aware that the grade of A+, by official University policy, is meant to indicate students performing well above the course level (so, for a 200-level course, this would mean students were performing at the level of, say, an advanced 300-level or a 400-level course). As such, you should recognize that receiving a grade of A+ is an exceptional event.
| 94-100% | 4.0 | A+ | Excellent |
| 88-93.9 | 4.0 | A | Excellent |
| 83-87.9 | 3.7 | A- | Excellent |
| 78-82.9 | 3.3 | B+ | Good |
| 73-77.9 | 3.0 | B | Good |
| 68-72.9 | 2,7 | B- | Good |
| 63-67.9 | 2.3 | C+ | Satisfactory |
| 58-62.9 | 2.0 | C | Satisfactory |
| 55-57.9 | 1.7 | C- | Satisfactory |
| 52-54.9 | 1.3 | D+ | Poor |
| 50-51.9 | 1.0 | D | Minimal Pass |
| 0-49.9 | 0.0 | F or F(R) | Failure |