Higher grades = higher evaluations: impression management of students

Abstract

This study investigates the effects on end‐of‐the semester evaluations of the instructor resulting from grade inflation by the administration of a different number of mid‐semester tests to four different classes of the first course of accounting. Students in two classes received six mid‐semester examinations, while the other two classes received three. All classes were given a cumulative final examination. Giving six examinations rather than three allows a student to memorize less of the course material before each examination, resulting in higher overall grades. Analysis of the data revealed that students receiving six mid‐semester examinations scored higher than those receiving three. These differences were statistically significant at the 0.1 level. Students’ end‐of‐the semester evaluations of the fairness of grading, quality of the instructor and the quality of the course were consistently more positive in the class that received six mid‐semester examinations. Higher grades did result in higher evaluations. Two of these comparisons were statistically significant at the 0.01 level; the third was significant at the 0.5 level. The benefits of administering six mid‐semester examinations exceeded the additional effort required.

Citation

Olds, P.R. and Larry Crumbley, D. (2003), "Higher grades = higher evaluations: impression management of students", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 172-177. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880310495924