Grading Philosophy

Undergraduate Studies

In these days of grade inflation, some courses have very
high grades. Students accostumed to this may be surprised
to find that my course averages are still a "C". All of my
courses fall into this cathegory. I will briefly explain
my grading schedule, valid for all my courses.

According to the Catalog, A is "superior performance", B is
"good performance", C is "fair performance", D is "minimally
acceptable" performance and E is "Failure of a course".

Therefore, I look at the group grades and obtain the average
or the median and this is a C (in statistics "expected
value" or the center of the distribution). This is what
would be expected, according to group performance. It does
constitute the fairest measure of performance in the group.

If you do better than expected, you get a B. If you do less
than expected you get a D. If you really have a "superior
performance" you get an A. If you fail to obtain at least
a "minimally acceptable" performance you get an E.

As you read, it is not easy to get an A in my courses. But
you also have to work very hard to fail -unless you are
unwilling to learn and to make an effort. I will always
work with you -not for you. I hope this clears up any
confusion about my grading system.

Graduate Studies

Students pursuing Graduate School are, in general,
qualitatively different from undergraduate students.
First, they have matured both intellectually and
humanly, with the passing of the years. Then, they
have also acquired a larger experience and better
skills in the art of studying. Finally, a more
powerfull drive and motivation guides their efforts
at this stage.

For those reasons, Graduate students are also assessed
differently. Superior work is still an "A". Their 
average work (now of superior quality) is a "B". For
those who strived, worked hard but still remained
below the high expectations of Graduate School, there
is a "C". There is no "D" in Graduate Schools.