Although the particular case which aroused so much comment would seem to be
settled, I think perhaps there are three general issues still to be faced.
One is the differences among colleges in grading scales, in the present example
between those that use plus and minus grades and those that don't. In the C
range case discussed, it would seem advantageous to take courses at a school
which did not use the +/- system. On the other hand, for students whose grades
are often in the upper ranges of a grade interval, the +/- system would carry an
advantage for some.
Opening another can of worms, in theory using grades "objectively" assumes that
an A, is an A, is an A. Anyone who has ever been a student or has ever worked in
Academe knows this not to be true. There is no such animal as a national,
uniform, completely objective scale of grading, invariable from college to
college, department to department, course to course, instructor to instructor.
Even within single departments, one instructor's criterion for A may differ from
another's. Thus, grades too are judgment calls. I won't belabor the point
further.
The third issue is that of having rigid cutoffs, i.e., C-, although passing, as
not acceptable. Being someone who looked at everything in a student's academic
record such as pattern of course choices each semester, other demands on a
student's time,
responsibilities, unexpected contingencies, etc., and recognizing that high
grades alone are not necessarily the best measure of intellectual competence nor
of suitability for becoming a health professional, my evaluation and support
level was never based on rigid categories. C- is not a good grade, but it is
passing, and a single C-, maybe even two, in an otherwise good record should not
necessarily be ground for non-support. And all the more so if there are
otherwise very positive aspects of a student's candidacy for a professional
education. Belief that context is important in evaluation, I always tried to
look at and present a whole picture.
Although it is expensive, time consuming, a drain on human resources and not
always effective, I believe that the US system (especially requiring letters and
the interviewing of applicants) for selecting students for admission to medical
school is appropriate. We
hear often enough that we want to turn out more than technically competent
physicians. In my opinion, for that goal to be achieved we must begin with more
than technically (read academically) competent medical students.
Judgment calls everywhere. The downside: 'Tis with our judgments as our watches,
none go just alike, yet each believes his own. Alexander
Pope: Essay on Criticism
Education - the entire pipeline