- Since 1960, colleges across America have seen significant grade inflation and UMW is not an exception. The purpose of this post is not to explain why or the impact this has had on graduates, that would require significantly more research. The purpose is to merely show that UMW is part of that national trend and highlight which departments have the most dedicated students.
- ASSUMPTION: The amount of “As” a department awards are a reflection on the dedication and commitment of their students.
- ASSUMPTION: Departments which award the highest number of “A” grades exemplify this inflation trend the most.
What I have inferred from the data:
- UMW exemplifies the national grade inflation trend. According to the UMW grade distribution report, from 2017 to 2023, UMW saw a 9 % increase in the number of “As” departments awarded.
- The three departments with the most dedicated undergraduate students in the Spring 2023 semester and those depratments which exemplify this inflation trend the most are:
- Classics, Philosophy and Religion
- Business
- Modern Language and Literature
- The graph bellow depicts the various UMW departments for Spring 2023. Along the “Y” axis are the departments with the percentage of grades awarded along the “X” axis. The bars are color coded and represent awarded grades: As blue, Bs red, Cs green, Ds purple and Fs light bue. The highest grade awarded are As represented by the blue bar.
- UMW Grade Distribution Summary
- The graph bellow depicts the nation wide letter grade distribution at US Colleges. The “Y” axis shows the percentage of letter grades awarded with the years, 1960-2020 shown along the “X” axis. The bars are color coded and represent awarded grades: As red, Bs golden yellow, Cs green, Ds light blue and Fs purple. The highest grade awarded are As represented by the red bar.
My process of working with data and creating my graphs
- The imitial process was straightforward if you paid attention in class! Working with EXCEL and manipulating the data and converting my data sheet to a graph was simple and just required listening to the professor in class with no additional assistance. It was however, somewhat complicated to take the various data:; all the grades awarded in a given semester, etc., and build the value graph. Wiith plenty of practise however, a basic working knowledge of the process is quickly achieveable.
- Posting my graph in my domain was more difficult than I imagined. I struggled with making the graph large enough so it could be read. It seems that there is no way to enlarge the graph in the admin posts section. I initally tried to paste my graph in powerpoint: no luck. I went through a number of procedures in order to save my graph as a larger image: saving the graph as a PDF, saving the graph in EXCEL with no success. I eventually “surrendered” and saved the graph as an image and posting it to my domain. Yet, I was still not satisfied with the work.
