tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post2696133335069547855..comments2024-03-27T14:20:05.905-04:00Comments on Montclair SocioBlog: PrerequisitesJay Livingstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-78332306838464784482013-01-12T22:37:17.551-05:002013-01-12T22:37:17.551-05:00Grade inflation may be one of those fashions that ...Grade inflation may be one of those fashions that filters down from the elite. Even at Montclair, we've been drifting higher, though we've got a long way to go to catch up with the elite schools. The mean GPA is about a B for females, B- for males.Jay Livingstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06652075579940313964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35248477.post-65728395565007932622013-01-12T16:22:13.381-05:002013-01-12T16:22:13.381-05:00I've got no data.
But my two cents: prerequi...I've got no data. <br /><br />But my two cents: prerequisites are yet another bad attempt to legitimize social science by playing by the rules of hard science. I also blame the concept of "scaffolding," which seems to be the latest pedagogical fad. <br /><br />Prerequisites and scaffolding might look good on paper (and they might very well be beneficial for math, hard science, and language classes). But mostly, from my perspective, they provide material to fill meetings and countless hours of paperwork with which administrators can justify their workday. They're also largely irrelevant to the realities of how social science classes are taught and how students learn. <br /><br />What I find most interesting, though, is (by my rough calculations for the picture) the average grade for SOCI 220 was just 2.80! Boy, whatever happened to grade inflation!? At Columbia University any grade below a B+ is discouraged and needs a written justification from the TA.PCMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13647097472236933108noreply@blogger.com