t 07:40 PM 12/22/98 -0700, you wrote:
>For what it's worth:
>
>"Grading on the curve" is when the outcome variable, or standard, is
>adjusted to meet the lowest common denominator. There are a lot of
>assumptions underlying the sacrosanct curve but most of them are
>mathematical in nature and design--and far from being educational.
>
>The bell curve is a statistical mechanism whereby a large enough random
>sampling will shake out, so to speak, into a curve-like pattern.
>
>However, I never thought of education, or teaching as a random activity. I
>always thought of them as being purposeful and having some impact. So, if
>I'm as good a teacher as I think, my students should excel and show a
>skewed outcome, statistically speaking.
>
> In fact as long as I don't vary the standard set by the discipline experts
>or department but enhance the mediational aspects, the outcomes should also
>reflect the endeavor. If all the students receive A's based on the standard
>of excellence, then they and I have done well.
> "If no learning has taken place, then no teaching has occurred."
>
>As I tell my students who comment on how much they have learned: "When the
>student is ready the teacher will appear." They are the ones who are the
>real agents of their learning. And the grading curve only gets in the way
>of any collaborative, cooperative and even competitive learning.
>
>Michael
>
>
>
Judith Diamondstone (732) 932-7496 Ext. 352
Graduate School of Education
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
10 Seminary Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1183
Eternity is in love with the productions of time - Wm Blake