Logical Grade Assessment

[Macadia]

No matter what anyone says, as an overachiever, 75% is the equivalent to death for me. Then again to me an 85-90% used to bring me dissatisfaction and disappointment with myself, as well as the suffering feeling of doing awful in something so easy.

[Thermodolia]

True. I have really no memory of what I learned in highschool nearly 10 years ago

The purpose of it, other than laying a basic groundwork, is to teach you how to learn.

Fair. I guess I figured that out

[Cannot think of a name]

My college didn't have grades, the professors just wrote a paragraph assessing your grasp of the subject.

[Infected Mushroom]

My college didn't have grades, the professors just wrote a paragraph assessing your grasp of the subject.

Oh? It sounds like there would be less pressure.

[Page]

In the real world, a person who only knows 75% of their shit can research or ask for help with the other 25%. So if we want to be logical about grades, then raise the passing percentage but make all tests open book and always let students work together.

[North Korea Choson]

I'm asian so anything less than 95% will get my ass whooped. So yeah, imo 75% is a terrible grade.

Yeah. I mean when I get 85% my dad is like get above 90%. For him 80% is terrible and 85% is acceptable.

[Biladu Al Rafidayn]

I'm asian so anything less than 95% will get my ass whooped. So yeah, imo 75% is a terrible grade.

Same
In Middle Eastern families, if you get 99% the response is “where did that one percent go”

[Santandera]

75% is good enough.

But then I’d guess that it also depends on the test.

[Saiwania]

It's in the range of- "you didn't try hard enough, but you did the work competently enough to where it wasn't terrible or a failure." The lowest tier of passing grade in some contexts.
B range is usually where you did a good job whilst an A range is a great job where you went above and beyond in exceeding all expectations.

[Frenequesta]

I thought that the point of a C grade, whatever it is, at least as originally conceived, was a relative one, that you had learned about as much as the average person taking the class. Depending on how rigorous the class is, 75% might actually be quite good.

Wouldn’t this logic extend to 51-74 percent too?

Knowing 51% of something is concerning for a lot of professions. Imagine if you had a surgeon, lawyer, pilot, civil engineer etc. who only knew slightly more than half of what they were doing. It really depends on whether you expect that knowledge to be used at all. You can make that argument for just passing school, but if it’s actually part of a job, that’s not enough.

This, though with some qualification. As a lawyer myself, roughly 50% of the reason legal practice licensing is to inflate our costs, and the other roughly 50% is to enforce professional responsibility. Anyone with a Westlaw subscription can make a brief as cogent as a seasoned lawyer. Some very basics and the art of identifying issues are essential and shouldn’t require research, of course, but sheer memory isn’t absolutely essential for most lawyering.

[Katganistan]

No matter what anyone says, as an overachiever, 75% is the equivalent to death for me. Then again to me an 85-90% used to bring me dissatisfaction and disappointment with myself, as well as the suffering feeling of doing awful in something so easy.

We're not saying that 75 is a fantastic grade -- it's a C. but it is adequate to pass.

[Katganistan]

In the real world, a person who only knows 75% of their shit can research or ask for help with the other 25%. So if we want to be logical about grades, then raise the passing percentage but make all tests open book and always let students work together.

Open book tests often result in high school students NOT doing well since they spend more time looking than writing, in my experience.

And group work usually ends with one or two people doing the work and the rest screwing around and riding their coattails.

[Cavirfi]

Well 75% of a grade being terrible or not largely depends on the curriculum of the school district or even the country that uses such grading system.

For example in my home country, the Philippines. The de facto lowest grade you can get is 65% and while 75% is the passing grade in most public schools, 80%+ is generally regarded as the "acceptable" passing grade.

Because

100 - 65 = 35

75 - 65 = 10

10/35 = 28.57%

If you get 75, that's the equivalent of only getting 28.57% in a free-for-all grading system. So in my country at least, 75% is a terrible grade because it is equivalent to a 28.57% in a more strict grading system.

However to be fair saying 80% is better than 75% is no better when you think about. In the Filipino grading system, getting 80% is equivalent to getting 42.86% in a stricter grading system. Albeit that's 14% better that still technically means that you didn't get majority of the subject right.

---

In a stricter grading system, where the lowest grade would be 0%. Then yes 75% truly is a good grade. Because that means you truly did 75% of the subject well. However, I'm assuming that most countries have at least a minimum lowest grade that may or may not be higher than 50% so in that case, 75% maybe a terrible grade in the most lenient of grading systems while it maybe a great or just plain average grade in a stricter system.

[Big Jim P]

I would like to discuss high school grades.

Specifically, we’ve somehow come to the conclusion that a 75 percent on a report card looks bad. Possibly because it won’t get you into a highly competitive school.

But then just think about it for a second. 75 out of 100, in terms of the raw mathematics that means you are 3/4 competent. Imagine if someone understood 3/4 of all there is to know about fixing cars, 3/4 of all there is to know about planning a city… 3/4 of the sum of all human knowledge? That’s pretty decently good no????

Wouldn’t this logic extend to 51-74 percent too?

So I ask you NSG, is 75 (as a percentage) a good grade or not? Not by what we as a capitalistic society and as a result if market and competitive forces have decided… but objectively.

Options:

1. It’s a terrible grade.
2. It’s an acceptable/average grade.
3. It’s not bad because it means you understand 3/4 of the thing, few adults have 3/4 understanding for most things
4. It’s a good grade.

Please justify your reasoning.

We’ve been led into thinking it’s a bad grade and because of capitalistic competitive forces, it has turned into a bad grade. But in reality, it’s slightly above average because objectively it means you get more than half of what there is to learn.

I never scored less than mid-90s. To me, 75 was abysmal.

[Comfed]

75% would seem to be a solid B to me.

[Ethel mermania]

75% would seem to be a solid B to me.

Its a C in American grading systems.

[Loeje]

Personally, I always felt that anything less than 100% is bad. Needless to say I have been irrationally disappointed in myself most of the time, and I never let myself slip below 90% even when I was genuinely struggling. On the other hand, people who are incredibly intelligent and know everything they should know can get 75%. Grades don't really mean much.

[Dytarma]

I mean 75% is the amount you need to pass to get your temps where I live, so take that as you will.

[Eahland]

75% would seem to be a solid B to me.

Its a C in American grading systems.

It was a D at my high school.

IIRC, it was:
93–100 A
86–92 B
78–85 C
70–77 D
0–69 F

I may be slightly off on the C/D and D/F boundaries. I graduated more than 30 years ago. But a 75 was definitely a D. And Meatloaf says that two out of three ain't bad, but 67% was a failing grade.

[Infected Mushroom]

I would like to discuss high school grades.

Specifically, we’ve somehow come to the conclusion that a 75 percent on a report card looks bad. Possibly because it won’t get you into a highly competitive school.

But then just think about it for a second. 75 out of 100, in terms of the raw mathematics that means you are 3/4 competent. Imagine if someone understood 3/4 of all there is to know about fixing cars, 3/4 of all there is to know about planning a city… 3/4 of the sum of all human knowledge? That’s pretty decently good no????

Wouldn’t this logic extend to 51-74 percent too?

So I ask you NSG, is 75 (as a percentage) a good grade or not? Not by what we as a capitalistic society and as a result if market and competitive forces have decided… but objectively.

Options:


Please justify your reasoning.

We’ve been led into thinking it’s a bad grade and because of capitalistic competitive forces, it has turned into a bad grade. But in reality, it’s slightly above average because objectively it means you get more than half of what there is to learn.

I never scored less than mid-90s. To me, 75 was abysmal.

Wow. It sounds like you were a real academic god/grandmaster at your school then. That’s amazing. Good job!

[The Free Joy State]

Depending on the subject and the individual, 75% may be excellent or mediocre (when I was back in school, it would have been an excellent score for technology and an abysmal score for English).

As a general rule, it's decent -- approximately a C.

After school, the grades are meaningless (beyond what you need to get into a university). What you learn, how you learn, and how you can apply what you learn is what matters.

[Big Jim P]

I never scored less than mid-90s. To me, 75 was abysmal.

Wow. It sounds like you were a real academic god/grandmaster at your school then. That’s amazing. Good job!

No, just well above average.

[Saiwania]

And group work usually ends with one or two people doing the work and the rest screwing around and riding their coattails.

That just might be how the real world works in corporate or office settings as well, only the opposite. A whole team of people or a few over performers do all of the work and they go unnoticed or unappreciated until after they're gone or replaced, whilst whoever has the gift of Gab or is the most popular- takes all of the credit and gets most of all of the promotions and is the rising star generally speaking.

Only a few people in any business relatively speaking, really rapidly advance and overshadow the rest.

[Big Jim P]

In the real world, a person who only knows 75% of their shit can research or ask for help with the other 25%. So if we want to be logical about grades, then raise the passing percentage but make all tests open book and always let students work together.

Open book tests often result in high school students NOT doing well since they spend more time looking than writing, in my experience.

And group work usually ends with one or two people doing the work and the rest screwing around and riding their coattails.

The latter is very true. I hated group projects for that reason. It is also why everyone wanted me in their group. They knew I'd make sure the work was done, even if I had to do it myself. To this day (professionally) I have trouble delegating to my crew. I am constantly on my guard to NOT try and do it all myself.

Thankfully, I have a very good crew.

[Ifreann]

If you want to toot your own horn I think we'd all prefer that you do it in private.