Converting cumulative grade point average to an equivalent percentage value based on a fuzzy logic

The graduates who have finished their study program will be given a merit award and their award certificates will be graded in accordance with the degree of their academic accomplishment. The awards are generally offered using two methods; one is by the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and the other is by the average percentage of all marks for the students. The problem is when assigning a course final grade; each student's final percentage is translated to a letter, allowing the discrepancy within the same letter grade range in the final ranking. If two students have the same final score, that means equal results. However, this equality can be false if one student hits a percentage of the highest grade, while the second student earns a percentage of the lowest grade of the same letter grade. This paper introduced a new equation that transforms between the awarded cumulative grade point average and the awarded percentage ranking based on fuzzy system. The proposed approach was tested using three actual benchmarks collected from three different colleges in Beni-Suef university. The obtained results reflects the effect of the fuzzy logic in helping converting form CGPA measures to percentage measure in educational systems.

Combined effect of different teaching strategies on student performance in a large-enrollment undergraduate health sciences course

Students’ course performance is fundamental for any institution to carry out its academic mission. Often, in-class disengagement and lack of after-class course support in large-enrollment classes trigger academic problems for students. This leads to poor exam performance and an increased rate of final letter grade of a D or F or student withdrawal (DFW), an indicator of students’ poor academic success. Changing teaching strategies by using interventions that incorporate student-student interaction and student-faculty interaction may offer the opportunity to improve course performance. In this retrospective study, we examined the effect of changing teaching strategies on student course performance of 5,553 students enrolled in an undergraduate health sciences course over a span of 20 semesters. Three different interventions namely 1) daily low-stake in-class quizzes, 2) team-based learning, and 3) after-class review sessions were incorporated as teaching strategies. To assess the combined effect of these strategies’ students’ performance in the intervention period (12 semesters) was compared with control period (8 semesters). Student performance in the course was measured by exam grades; overall score; percentage of students receiving letter grades and A, B, C; and DFW rates. The data indicated that in the intervention period, exam scores increased by 6.6%, overall course score increased by 6.2%, percentage of students receiving letter grade A/B increased by 21.3%, percentage of students receiving letter grade C decreased by 6.9%, and the DFW rates decreased by 14.5%. Overall, changing teaching strategies through incorporation of these interventions improved students’ performance in the course.

Developing accomplished writers: Lessons from recent research

When we examine the state of writing instruction in many schools and classrooms, we find that few teachers are actually teaching students to become better writers in large part because they are relying on process models that do not accurately reflect the complex task of creating good writing and that are out of step with current research. Merely providing prompts for writing, noting a few comments in the margins of first drafts, awarding a letter grade for the second draft, and then moving on to the next piece of writing does not create an environment wherein students will develop as confident and effective writers. Steven Benjamin and Michael Wagner explain that students will develop as better writers when teachers allocate sufficient time to the endeavor, emphasize the importance of multiple feedback-thinking-revision cycles applied to the current piece of writing, set high expectations for students, and provide opportunities for writing in multiple genres and disciplines.

Grade Expectations: When 100% Isn’t Good Enough

Embracing a positive-psychology approach to well-being, this study aimed at identifying how to maximize students’ pleasure when receiving grades. Results from two experiments showed that students gained greater pleasure when receiving feedback in letter-grade format than in percentage scores. The results are consistent with social–psychological and sociocognitive research wherein coarser (as opposed to more granular) feedback is easier to process, provides superior self-affirming feedback, and, subsequently, garners greater pleasure. As the management discipline wrestles with being “too scientific,” an impression aligned with precise percentage scores, use of a coarser feedback system may present a unique auxiliary benefit to the discipline. We invite future research on whether a system can be too coarse, on faculty’s amenability to coarse grading systems, and on the concurrent use of multiple grading systems varying in coarseness.

An overview of the use of placards and the potential benefits for British Columbians

Background: Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are responsible for assessing the risk that food establishments pose to the public through regular inspections. The results of these inspections are then posted online for the public to view in British Columbia (BC). However, cities such as Toronto and New York City, have adopted the use of placards that are visibly placed at each food establishment, as well as posting the results online. The purpose of the placards is to provide a quick method for the public to ascertain the safety of food establishments. The use of placards has been shown to increase the compliance of food operators, as well as play a role in reducing foodborne illnesses. The purpose of this study was to determine if British Columbians would like to have the results of health inspections displayed on a placard in food establishments, in addition to them being posted online. Methods: An online, self-administered survey was created on SurveyMonkey Canada and distributed to residents of BC through Facebook and Reddit. The survey took approximately five minutes to complete and responses were collected over a nine-day period. The data was then analyzed using NCSS software. Results: From the 176 respondents, it was determined that approximately 44% of people knew about health inspection reports being posted online in BC, however, only 33% of people have visited health authority websites to view the inspections. 93% of the respondents would like to see a placard system implemented in BC. Furthermore, 72% of respondents would like to see a letter grade ranking of placards as opposed to a more general “Pass”, Conditional Pass” or “Closed” system. Results indicated a statistically significant association between the desire for a placard system and selecting a restaurant to eat at (p=0.000). Whether or not one views an online inspection report had no bearing on whether a placard system was desired. (p = 0.231). There is no association between age of BC residents and the preference for placards in BC (p = 0.618). However, there was an association between the age of respondents and knowledge of online reports of health inspections (p = 0.008), indicating that younger people are less likely to know about online health inspections that older populations. Conclusion: The results of this research study indicated that residents of BC overwhelmingly support the use of placards. BC residents would also like to see a letter grade placard system implemented. Although BC residents would like to see placards in food establishments, further research is required to assess what food operators, as well as other EHOs, think about implementing a placard system in place in food establishments.

Evaluation of Student Work Using a Letter Grading Scheme in Design and Calculus

This paper presents methods, pros and consof using a letter grading system versus a percentagegrading system, in engineering course componentevaluations. In making evaluation criteria acrossdeliverables qualitatively similar, letter grading showsperformance equivalency across courses and subjectareas, as well as departments, faculties and universities.What is worth an ‘A’ is not always a trivial discussion.But it is an easier discussion than what is worth 83%versus 85%. How to letter grade various types ofdeliverables in a valid and equivalent fashion can still bechallenging. But with thoughtful marking rubrics, manydeliverables can be evaluated using letter grades. Thesecan be combined to produce valid final letter grades.Overall, there are advantages to taking such an approachto evaluation, and these are discussed in the paper.

Oral Reviews: Retaining STEM Majors

Oral reviews are 60-minute ungraded, voluntary small group sessions in which a facilitator asks scripted conceptual questions, which are the basis of the content to be covered on an upcoming written test. Students are asked to explain concepts and draw representations. The objective is to get students to negotiate meaning and make important connections. These sessions have been used in math, biology, engineering, and environmental science and have shown course grade improvements of about one letter grade for students participating in three orals over the course of the semester.