Grade Inflation: An Inquiry into the Cause

The aim of the study is to identify a moderation method to effectively control and eliminate grade inflation. This retrospective study was undertaken to investigate the end semester outcomes of three consensus moderation processes namely, Group, Peer and Panel moderations implemented over three consecutive semesters. In Group moderation, group of faculty members of the college irrespective of their specialty were involved in moderating the question papers; whereas in Peer to peer moderation the choice of moderator, a subject expert, was by individual faculty members. A three member Panel constituted by the college implemented Panel moderation. Care was taken to ensure security of assessment instruments. A total of 64 courses' results were considered for the purpose of analysis; (19 courses from Spring 2014-15 semester; 20 courses from Fall 2015-16 semester and 25 courses from Spring 2015-16 semester). Mann-Whitney U test was utilized to compare between two groups. The result of Group moderation vs Panel moderation is significant at p = 0.02382. Similarly, the result of Peer to peer moderation vs Panel moderation showed the result is significant at p = 0.56192. Thus, it was shown that Group Moderation results were significantly inflated compared to the other two (p = 0.02382). Panel moderation process appears to give a better distribution of grades compared to the peer and group moderation processes. However, the Panel moderation has not yielded a satisfactory distribution of grades. Additional measures are required to bring in desired outcome of end semester examination results. Janitha Plackal Ayyappan | Kalyani Mohan Raj | J.F. Thomas"Grade Inflation: An Inquiry into the Cause" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-1 , December 2017, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd5844.pdf http://www.ijtsrd.com/medicine/nursing/5844/grade-inflation-an-inquiry-into-the-cause/janitha-plackal-ayyappan