There are a few things in this world that you are wrongly given. Some people tend to keep their mouths shut as to not lose their undeserving benefits. Others request and even vote themselves these benefits. Obviously the moral thing to do is to right the wrong but where do we draw the line? Some people willingly give you something that you don't deserve because they think that they did what is "fair". How about then?
Let me give you an example... This semester it has become really obvious that the average grade is a lot higher than it used to be. "The final grades will be based on a sliding scale such that the median grade in the class is no worse than a B regardless of the actual percentage value." That is from the course description of one of my classes. All of my classes now curve the final grade to be a solid B. Didn't the average grade use to be a C? I thought that was the definition of a C. Don't get me wrong, I kind of like this because it helps me out in my classes but still, it doesn't actually make sense. If I get below average in my class I should not end up with a B-. That's just not how it works. I can't wait for my kids to be in college when the average grade is an A-. They'll all be 4.0 students.
So, moral question, what do I do? This isn't just a per professor problem. The whole department, university, and probably other universities too are involved in this. Do I bring this up to the department? to my professor? just let it go? wait until I graduate until I say something so I get the benefits first? or does it not matter?
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2 comments:
It's not just your department it's the entire country. It's called grade inflation. It happens slowly over time. If they brought their scale back to C as the average, none of their students would get in to good grad schools, and BYU would lose much of the good reputation they've earned.
That being said, I don't think your professors would refuse if you told them you wanted a lower grade on principle.
And especially for a school like BYU, where nobody outside of Utah knows what it is.
Grades are more like all the stupid logos on a new stereo. They're just for marketing. While they actually do represent something, they do not tell you if the product is high quality or not.
Every school's job is to sell students to the job force, or other schools. So unless BYU wants to send their students to work at Burger King, they need to keep the grades high.
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