That is my experience too Jim, Of course, as teachers, all of us have different expectations from our institutions and goals for our students. As a teacher for future veterinarians, as you might expect, competency in the subject is my main goal. In the case of my course, Clinical Pathology, it is the ability to interpret clinical laboratory data competently. If their competency is high, I am delighted to reward the students with high grades. They never disappoint. TBL is key to making it an enjoyable and profitable experience for all. Best wishes, Holly On May 22, 2010, at 12:49 PM, Sibley, Jim wrote: Hi One of my original TBL pioneers came to me with the problem of grade creep....grades keeping getting higher each year, he gave his first 100% on the capstone project (In his own words....."I am not sure I could do work that good")....he has decide not to worry about it (he is a tenured full professor....probably has this kind of latitude....all of us don't have similar latitude) I guess the trouble with TBL.....is that students might learn too much ;-0 Jim Sibley Director Centre for Instructional Support Faculty of Applied Science University of British Columbia 604-822-9241 -----Original Message----- From: Team-Based Learning on behalf of Sweet, Michael S Sent: Sat 05/22/2010 8:25 AM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Grade Inflation Dean's concern may be related to his student population. The teachers I work with only use tRAT scores to add a few extra credit "bonus" points to individual, iRAT scrores . The teams still tear into the material as furiously as you'd like. -M ________________________________________ From: Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dean Parmelee [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 7:41 PM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Grade Inflation I disagree with reducing the group grade component- this will diminish the power of the learning which is the ultimate goal. Dean Nothing like iPhone?? On May 21, 2010, at 6:09 PM, "Seltzer, Joseph" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: One can always set the ranges on the various items. If you are concerned that the grades are too high (which is usually because the group part is very high - such as the 93.5% below), just allow less of the grade to be group. Joe Seltzer ________________________________________ From: Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Herb Coleman [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 1:17 PM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Grade Inflation There must be something in the air this semester. For the first time in a while I was a little concerned about the appearance of grade inflation because it looked like everyone was going to get an A. For a little bit of context, this was a Human Growth and Development course. Over 90% of the students were pre-nursing or allied health majors. More than 60% of the class was over 30 years old. There were only 20 students and until the last two weeks only 3 students had an absence. So you had dedicated, older than average, motivated students. In a small class (even by community college standards). Still I decided to look at how the grade weights washed out. The iRAT's had the lowest average (73%) and accounted for 5% of their grade. The T-RAT's had 94% average and accounted for 19% of their grade. The rest of the items spread out accounting for between 5 and 14% of the final grade. When I looked at the grouping I felt ok about the the final results. Homework accounted for 24% of the grade (with a 95% average). Teamwork accounted for 50% of their grade with a a 93.5% average and, individual assessment accounted for 19% of their grade with an 81 % average. There is also a professor rating representing 7% of their grade with an 83% average. Incidentally, the top half would have had A's without the professor rating (which is based on attendance, homework, iRATs, mid-term grade and class contribution). The lower half would have had B's. As it is 10% got B's. Edward Bell wrote: --> TBL Users: We (Drake U. Pharmacy) began using TBL last year in one of our major courses (Therapeutics, a 3-semester course, 110 students) - this year is our 2nd year. Grades this Spring semester were quite high - 91% average (85 A final course grades). This spring semester included 4 exams (70% of course grade), 9 IRATs (10% of course grade), 9 GRATs (15% of course grade), and 2 peer evaluations (5% of course grade). Many students received an A or B that actually had exam and IRAT averages each less than the final grade (ie, exam and IRAT av. 75% but B grade or even 77% each av. and A final grade) - the high GRAT and peer evals pushed up final averages, perhaps too much. * My questions: how much should group work/peer evals factor into final grades, and have others had a similar experience (ie, where individual, group, and final course grades do not seem to correlate)?* Many Thanks Ed Bell -- Edward A. Bell, PharmD, BCPS Professor of Clinical Sciences Drake University College of Pharmacy Des Moines, IA 515-271-1841 -- Herb Coleman,Ph.D Dir. Instructional Computing and Technology Adjunct Professor of Psychology Austin Community College Highland Business Center 5930 Middle Fiskville Rd. Austin, TX 78752 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 512-223-7746 ************************************************* "I, and every other professor on this campus, are here to help you to find, take back, and keep your righteous mind." ---Professor Melvin Tolson from the motion picture "The Great Debaters" ************************************************* Holly Bender, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVP Room 2254 Veterinary Medicine Professor, Department of Veterinary Pathology College of Veterinary Medicine Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011-1250 ph. 515-294-7947 [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]> http://vetmed.iastate.edu/users/hbender<http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/faculty_staff/profiles/hbender.asp>