The transition of the United States Medical License Exam Step 1 examination to pass/fail was implemented in January 2022 with the intent to reduce medical student stress levels while ensuring that students maintained a sufficient degree of medical knowledge in order to continue in their educational journey. While this is an admirable goal,…

This SoTL project explored sources of student anxiety and motivation across student assessment conditions of traditional numerical grading and pass/fail grading and sought to determine if pass/fail grading was helpful in lowering student anxiety while increasing student motivation to learn. Results indicated that students scored equally well on a…

With the Malaysian government's aim to increase the number of Bumiputera professional accountants, it is important for institutions to search for efficient ways in delivering professional accounting education in order to improve the performance of students. Despite the suggestion from prior literature to adopt student-centered pedagogy, the issue…

My dissertation "Choice and Inequality in Higher Education" describes the way seemingly benign choices predict course and campus experiences and can perpetuate inequality. I draw on literatures of capital, habitus, identity development, and gender status beliefs and contribute to literature on stratification and sociology of education. I…

Many Open Educational Resource (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) studies explore cost savings, impact on learning outcomes, and student perceptions of the materials. While OER/ZTC research reports positive student perceptions (Brandle et al., 2019), textbook research reports negative student perceptions of digital textbooks (Behnke, 2018). This…

Public administration scholarship has documented the effectiveness of rubrics in assessing student competencies within classrooms and across MPA programs. Rubrics are one of many innovative techniques, however. As we advance pedagogy in public administration, scholars should consider additional grading techniques and evaluate a grading system…

College students' categorical perceptions of numeric and alphabetic grades were examined by assigning participants to one of four conditions: numeric grades alphabetic grades, numeric non-grades and alphabetic non-grades. They were then asked to give ratings for each possible grade or non-grade, using a 10-point scale. Factor analysis revealed…

The Honors-Pass-Fail (H-P-F) grading system was introduced experimentally in the fall 1971 semester to replace the traditional A-B-C-F grading system in graduate courses in education at Herbert H. Lehman College. The purpose was to determine if H-P-F discriminated more sharply between exceptional and average student achievement than the…

Students prefer a pass-fail system to letter grading. (IR)

This report presents the results of a study that was undertaken to identify student attitudes toward the Pass-Fail (P-F) option at the University of Washington. A questionnaire designed to assess student opinions toward and possible behavioral changes resulting from P-F courses was sent to a random sample of sophomores, juniors and seniors…

The Office of Institutional Research conducted an evaluation of the Pass-No Pass (P-N) grading system at the University of Wisconsin-Stephens Point. The second semester, 1971-72, was chosen for the basis of evaluation. Sources of information include student records, a brief questionnaire sent to students who chose at least one P-N course, and a…

Briefly reviews research on student attitudes toward pass-fail grading and describes a study of 471 undergraduates to determine the factors which affect a student's choice between the traditional A-F grading system and the pass-fail alternative in a non-major college science course. (PR)

Findings appear to bear out the contention that students tend to support a more widespred use of pass-fail grading. (Editor/PG)

DATA ON ENROLLMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN COURSES TAKEN ON A PASS-FAIL BASIS WERE ANALYZED TO ASSESS THE EFFORT OF CHANGES IN GRADE ACCOUNTING ON COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATIONS. FINDINGS INDICATED THAT (1) ENROLLMENT IN PASS-FAIL COURSES FOR 1966-67 INCREASED 55.5 PERCENT OVER 1965-66, (2) A STUDENT'S GRADE INDEX WAS LIKELY TO INCREASE DIRECTLY WITH THE…

The purposes of this study were: to determine if the pass-fail option was primarily exercised in courses outside the academic majors of university students; and to examine the reasons for electing and the influence of pass-fail on learning, motivation, anxiety, and grade aspiration. (Authors)