This article: http://chronicle.com/article/To-Give-Clearer-Picture-of/127204/
talks about, in a snippet (from a newsletter I got):
"reported on UNC Chapel Hill's adoption of "contextualized transcripts," which will provide additional data about the courses students take beginning next year. Transcripts "will include information about the median grade in each course a student takes, along with students' rankings by percentile against their peers in every class." The transcripts will also contain a "Schedule Point Average" that shows students' GPAs in the context of other similar students, along with other data. "Graduate and professional schools at Chapel Hill gave their input about what statistics would be useful on transcripts." Andrew J. Perrin, an associate sociology professor and chair of the committee behind the new transcript system, "said he's not sure how -or if-employers will use the data, but he expects that the new system will show them that the university is 'serious about maintaining and increasing educational quality.'"
If you go to the webpage, you should be able to see an example of a transcript with some clear explanations of what will be added to it. I think this will fit nicely for classes that grade on Bell curves, but what about those classes that don't? For those classes that grade on Bell curve, as the article indicates, the new transcript systems might serve as a motivation to excel in the class.
What are your thoughts?
This only sounds like a good idea...
ReplyDeleteHowever, adding contextual details make for a long transcript, will people take the time to review such details? Also, I question how helpful these contextual details will be, particularly since employers (in the working world) care more about the bottom line (overall GPA/courses) and no so much about the nuances and context of a student’s performance... In other words, would an employer higher a person with lower grades or weaker looking transcript because the contextual details provide information that make the student look better over someone else who simply has a stronger GPA/transcript without contextual details?
Also ,this raises issues around fairness. If some applicants have contextual details in their transcripts while students from other schools do not, are they evaluated the same? Its like applying for a job and some applicants are asked to submit apples and the other applicants asked to submit oranges, how can an employer fairly compare the data on the different applicants if the type of data differs?
Transcripts should be readible and comprehensible, which they are already. I think adding more unnecessary information to an already long format would complicate the process. Also, the idea behind UNC "mainting and incresing educational equality" is a sorry excuse. If its true that white students outperform minorities in the classroom then these changes will show a decrease in equality or how a students' secondary education impacts their performance in a postsecondary institution. Also, talking to employers about the changes would be helpful, I'm sure they could provide some insight.
ReplyDeleteOnce again this would not be a good idea. Showing how students perform compare to their peers promotes competition and the whole kindergarten thing of " I am smarter than you" according to how students perform compare to their peers. This school should just leave the transcript the way it is because no one is going to care what courses are taken and no employer is going to read a transcript class by class. If a student is applying to graduate school, its like the committee won't look at everything because they do not have time. It all comes down to grade point average.Then committees would wonder how to compare other students to UNC students at Chapel Hill which would just create conflict. UNC should just keep their transcript the same way.
ReplyDeleteA transcript is only good as in how it it (or can be) used. I agree with John about whether this will add any value, even at a relative sense, across institutions and in the workplace. Which other institutions will adopt the practice? It will also most likely impact any collaborative learning that occurs in the classroom.
ReplyDelete