The book's title comes from the bell-shaped normal distribution of intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in a population. The Bell Curve, published in 1994, was written by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray to explain the variations in intelligence in American society, warn of some consequences of that variation, and propose social policies for mitigating the worst of the consequences. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. Many criticisms were collected in the book The Bell Curve Debate. A number of critical texts were written in response to it. Shortly after its publication, many people rallied both in criticism and in defense of the book. The book was and remains highly controversial, especially where the authors discussed purported connections between race and intelligence and suggested policy implications based on these purported connections. They also argue that those with high intelligence, the "cognitive elite", are becoming separated from those of average and below-average intelligence, and that this separation is a source of social division within the United States. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray, in which the authors argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by both inherited and environmental factors and that it is a better predictor of many personal outcomes, including financial income, job performance, birth out of wedlock, and involvement in crime than are an individual's parental socioeconomic status. Those who got 63%+ got an A, those who got 50%-63% got a B etc.The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life is a 1994 book by psychologist Richard J. So the university adjusted everyone's marks. People who are otherwise smart and knew their stuff shouldn't fail and have to take the class again because the lecturer made a mistake. To be able to properly judge people performance between different classes and in different years, the people who get the best exam marks in the class should all get an 'A' or equivalent. Normally 70% would only get you a 'B', and less than 50% you would fail. When we did the final test, no one got more than 70% because he didn't accurately judge how long it would take to work out the answers. Grading on a curve lets you set the assessment without worrying to much if it's to hard or too easy, because you just adjust the marks at the end.įor example I took an economics class by a lecturer who had never been in charge of a class before. Make it to easy and everyone will get high marks, make it to low and on one will get good marks. It takes a lot of work to design an assessment that accurately differentiates between people. But still, it seems better than just letting teachers assign grades how they see fit.Īs for the bell curve, not sure you know this but any set of random data large enough forms a bell curve (also known as a normal distribution: ), so it is only normal to use that distribution to assign the actual numerical values of the grades. One obvious downside to me to this, though, is that this would still create problems when comparing one class or school to the other, as the grades are based on the distribution of students. This allows the school and the students to assess performance independent of differences between teachers, teaching methods, uneven performance, etc. So, your grades are an indication of your general level of performance in comparison to the competition rather than the assessment of a particular teacher. My view on this is that it's a very good idea! Rather than getting an absolute number of say 8 for a class, which is a highly subjective assessment of your performance by that teacher, your grade is directly linked to your performance as compared to your classmates. Regardless of any difference in the level of difficulty, real or perceived, the grading curve ensures a balanced distribution of academic results. This also circumvents problems associated with utilizing multiple versions of a particular examination, a method often employed where test administration dates vary between class sections. The ultimate objective of grading curves is to minimize or eliminate the influence of variation between different instructors of the same course, ensuring that the students in any given class are assessed relative to their peers. As your source quite eloquently explains:
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