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the grading scale
By Carolyn Kiarecki
TOP 10 GRADERS
Easiest Hardest
Elliot Solowa c Tomu k Oheewe
Professor, EEC GSI, Math
John Pasquale rhristopher Burn
Lecturer, Marching Band GSI, Accounting
Scott Boe r L re n Loude
Professor, Marching Ban GSI, Math
Captian Phillip Welch ames i thews
Lecturer, Aerospace Science GSI, Math
Brian Perrso Jillien ls Acs-See
Professor, Social Work, GSI, Accounting
Marion Perlmutter Shew n He nry
Professor, Psychology GSI, Math
John Knoedler Samuel Altechul
GSI, Music Theo GSI, Math
Robert Megginson Peu! hearer
Professor, Math Professor, Math
Ellen Qua Jordei n Wetkin
Professor, Psycholog t GSI, Math
Sue Ann Savas rry Aimen
Lecturer, Social Work GS1, Math
check out your professors' teaching evaluations.
Visit www.maizeandbluereview.com.
Bwilding the perfect class schedule is an
art. The moment the course guide goes
live, the eight-page paper due tomor-
row takes second priority as students
attempt to craft a four-day weekend with no
classes before 11 a.m.
Within each department, students spread the
word as to what courses to avoid and which to
fit in before graduation. If you must take that
painful pre-requisite, most have an idea who the
best professor is to tough it out with. Students
pick apart and analyze their professors for their
peers - he talks too fast, she makes good jokes,
his readings are interesting - but perhaps the
most vital piece of information for schedule
builders is how their potential professor grades.
The University holds its students to a high
standard. However, according to data obtained
by The Michigan Daily from a Freedom of
Information Act request, there are large dis-
parities in grades across professors and depart-
ments. The data includes the grade distribution
and end-of-the-semester course evaluations of
2,329 professors, lecturers and Graduate Stu-
dent Instructors for the fall 2009 and winter
2010 semesters. In analyzing the information to
determine the easiest and hardest classes, the
Daily excluded courses with less than 15 stu-
dents and omitted courses in which the major-
ity of students received incomplete grades. The
FOIA data excludes information about certain
schools.
If you're longing to graduate with a 4.0 GPA,
the math department is one to avoid. Compared
to the other departments listed in the FOIA data,
in the 2009-2010 academic year, math instruc-
tors gave the lowest combined average grade
to students: a B-. While the math department
appears to be the most difficult at the Univer-
sity, the easiest is LSA's small Aerospace Sci-
ence department, which consists of four courses
where professors give an average grade of an A.
Obsession over grades has been a large fea-
ture of most students' academic lives ever since
high school. Parents, teachers and guidance
counselors alike let us know that if we wanted
to get into top-ranked schools, we were going to
have to prove we deserved admission. Now that
we've made it, it's hard to shake that itch for an A. Maybe
graduate school is on the horizon or you need a presti-
gious internship to make your resume more competitive.
Either way, for most students, the drive to secure a high
GPA continues unceasingly into the college years.
But before you switch your major to Violin Perfor-
mance - another program with an average grade of an
A - it's important to understand why there are these
discrepancies in grades. We all go to the same Univer-
sity: Shouldn't we all be held to the same academic stan-
dards? When an instructor gives an average grade of a C
and another one awards nothing lower than an A+, there
is likely to be an explanation beyond, "my GSI is so evil."
THE 'EASY' COURSES
Jennifer Yim, lecturer and director of the Global Schol-
ars program, could be considered an "easy grader." In the
2009-2010 academic year, she gave an average grade of
an A for her Global Understanding course, which had 28
students total in the fall and winter semesters. Seven stu-
dents received an A+ and 21 received an A. However, she
maintains that her course isn't an easy A.
The course she taught is a highly specialized class
restricted to students in the Global Scholars living-learn-
ing community, which students are eligible to apply for
at the end of their freshman year. Yim said students' pas-
sion for the subject material is reflected in the grades her
students receive.
She addedthat manyGlobal Scholarscourses arehighly
cooperative, with students depending on one another for
their success in the classroom: this class style pressures
students to put in more effort. Furthermore, Yim makes
sure that the requirements for an A are clearly defined.
"The more clear you make your grading expectations
in the class, the better the students tend to do," she said.
Similarly, School of Social Work Assistant Prof. Brian
Perron, who gave 17 A+s, four As and one A-, echoed Yim,
saying that clearly-defined expectations and grading
guidelines that are established and communicated to stu-
dents at the beginning of a course leads to higher student
achievement.
"It is my role and passion to create an atmosphere that
will help students learn the course material and go above
and beyond the course expectations," he said.
He said when grading, he remains as faithful as pos-
sible to the grading criteria he set at the beginning of the
term and works to make sure his system of evaluation is
fair and accurate.
Professor Nilton Renno teaches Geophysical Electro-
magnetics which had 16 students during the last academ-
ic year. Seven earned an A+, seven earned an A and two
received an A-. He said he tries to find problems early in
his students' work and help them overcome those issues
by the end of the semester.
His teacher evaluations show that his efforts are appre-
ciated. All students who filled out evaluations "strongly
agreed" that he was an "excellent teacher." Renno said
students have told him that his class is the best they've
taken while at the University. He added that students
honestly want to do well and are interested in the subject
material in his course, which is why they are so success-
ful.
"Some people think if the professor grades the course
easy, there's a negative connotation," Renno said. "But if
the student meets the requirements, there's no reason to
give them a bad grade."
PE R FOERM A N M AJO RS: EA R F ROM E ASY
Many departments that give the highest average
grades are within the School of Music, Theatre & Dance
School. Included on the list are percussion, opera, piano,
music performance and violin.
Music, Theatre & Dance School is made up of about
1,050 students and 150 faculty members. Many of the
departments require an audition and interview before
acceptance. Unlike LSA students, students who choose
Music, Theatre & Dance School aren't undecided. And
unlike LSA departments, the classes often require more
pre-requisites, are restricted to majors and sometimes
require further auditions, which significantly reduces
the number of non-majors in the courses.
Despite the emphasis on talent and performance,
Music, Theatre & Dance School Registrar Deedee Ulintz
said the importance of grades for students in the school
is "just the same as a student pursuing an academic con-
centration."
"I would say a ton of these studentsare going on to
grad school," she said. "And even though things are
audition-based, you still need a minimum GPA for any
school to even show up."
Music;Theatre & Dance School sophomore Roberto
Arundale hopes one day to have an orchestra or teaching
job. He agrees that getting good grades is important, but
says it ultimately comes down to talent.
"I have a 3.5. I'll be happy and that'll be just fine," he
said. "It's more important how well you play."
Even though students who take percussion classes
get higher grades on average than University students
taking other courses-100 percent of students who took
percussion classes received at least an A- compared to
31 percent of students taking math classes - it is by no
means easy to major in a performing art.
"I try to do three to four hours a day of solo practice,"
Arundale said. "Others do more and others do less."
THE HARD COURSES
Courses in the math department are anathema to stu-
dents who wish to graduate with a 4.0. On a list of the
10 University instructors who gave the lowest average
grades during the 2009-2010 school year, eight instruc-
tors from the math department are featured. The math
department's aggregate average grade is a B-.
The difficultly of math classes is one reason LSA
freshman Salvatore Aiello recently dropped his Calcu-
lus II class. He was taking the course as a pre-requisite
for his biology major and said he isn't surprised that the
math department gives out the lowest average grades.
After talking with his adviser, Aiello decided that a bet-
ter path would be to finish the course at a college near
his hometown over the summer.
"It was extremely difficult," Aiello said. "Combined
with my first exam score and how I felt in the class, I
didn't think I could raise my score, and it just wasn't
working out."
Stephen DeBacker, math professor and director of
undergraduate studies, says "it's because there has been
no grade inflation" that math department grades tend to
be low.
"I can't speak for the whole department, but my
thinking is grades should mean something," he said. "If
you're giving 50, 60, 40 percent of the people As, then
the A loses its meaning. The A is supposed to stand for
excellence. I also think you honestly have to evaluate the
students so they understand how they stand in life."
Despite the low grades, many of the instructors have
positive teacher evaluations GSI Tomoki Ohsawa gave
an average grade of a C during the 2009-2010 academ-
ic year, yet in 35 evaluations, on average, his students
"strongly:agreed" that he was an "excellent teacher."
The same trend was found with other math GSIs and
lecturers.
"Overall, mathematics work really, really, really hard
to make sure its Grad Student Instructors are good
teachers," DeBacker said. "They have to go through all
the training, and then they get followed up during their
first semester of teaching, and if there are any prob-
lems with that they get followed for another semes-
ter. There's constant evaluation during their initial
teaching periods."
Though it's not best for GPAs, the math
department's techniques seem to be working.
"There are studies that show that kids who
learn calculus at the University of Michi-
gan learn it better than at other college
that has been similarly tested," DeBacker
said.
Even Aiello said, "the way Michigan
teaches its calc is very different than
any way I've ever experienced it."
DO GRADES MATTER?
For Aiello, grades are an impor-
tant indicator of his academic
success and will play a large role
in his future.
"Grades are very impor-
tant," Aiello said. "I'm hope-
fully going to med school, and
grades have a huge influence in MUSEU
that."
Perron said the importance
of grades fluctuates between
disciplines and years in col-
lege. He understands how they
can be important to an under- PROS
graduate's future plans, but
in graduate programs like the
School of Social Work, grades
have a different meaning. He
said it's his duty to motivate
his students "to look beyond
the grading system so they learn
information and skills to support
their success."
"As educators we need to be
responsive to what students need to
excel in their careers, namely a high-
quality education," he said.
To DeBacker, grades are a measure
of how well students learn the material.
When grades are reduced to
only A's, he wonders, "why
have grades?" TOP 10 HA
In regard to a universal
University standard, Perron by average Grad
believes the University "should I Moth 2 Mole(
be providing the highest qual- 6 Accounting 71
ity education as possible."
"Grades are a part of the
process, but a distribution of THE BREAKS
grades is not necessarily an
indicator of educational qual- Department of M
ity," he said.
WHAT THE DATA SAYSCr
It's hard to determine what
constitutes a universally j
"easy" or "hard" class. Thef
diverse strengths of University
students ensure that a broad
range of academic talents is
represented. While one stu-
dent may struggle in English
See GRADES, Page 8B 'Does not include 29%
TOP 10 EASIEST DEPARTMENTS
by average Grade Point Average
AEROSPACE SCIENCE
3.87
PERCUSSION
3.75
ENSEMBLE
3.74
OPERA
3.67
M STUDIES
3.66
HEDONTICS
3.66
*U
PIANO"_
3.65
MUSIC PE RFOR MANCE
3.64
VIOLIN
3.64
ENERGY SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
3.63
RDEST DEPARTMENTS
e Point Average
cular, Cellular and Dev. Biology 3 Biology 4 Chemistry S Physiology
Dental Hygiene 7 Economics 9 Statistics 10 Materials Science
DOWN
athematics
443% 35%
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incompletes. All informotion bused on doto from the University in the 2009-2070 ocodemic year.