Yesterday, one of my students visited me in my office with a question about one of the problems we had done in class. The problem was this: If a machine can toss a coin 100,000 times per second and you want it to toss the coin 2.2x10^19 times, how many seconds do you have to wait? She didn’t understand why we divided 2.2x10^19 by 100,000 to get the answer. In such cases, I tell my students to replace the large numbers with small ones, because the power of ten may be too abstract for them. I asked her, “if you can toss a coin two times per second, how many seconds does it take you to toss it ten times?" She said, “two divided by ten?" ... Because of grade inflation - which is out of my control - she is getting a low B in my course! This is a general-education course at an American public university!
Has anybody else had a similar experience? Is there anything anybody can do about it? I, as a concerned teacher, feel helpless!
Hello Sam, I'm an educator as well with 36 years of experience in public education and twenty five in higher ed. I teach History (American and European) and social studies. My question is why is grade inflation out of your control? Most colleges have a standard grading system using letter grades (inaccurately reflecting a student's ability; percentage grades are a much better indicator) but are based on student performance. I teach required courses at a technical college and base the student's grade on the work they complete. No work, no grade. Substandard work including tests receive a low grade. And I have failed students for poor performance. Are you saying that you are pressured by the college to artificially inflate a student's grade?
Cap't Jack