Word: mansfields
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Strangely, Mansfield seemed to recognize the reasons against punishing students for the sins of their professors last year in his elective course, Government 1061, “Modern Political Thought From Machiavelli to Nietzche,” a course chosen by students rather than required of them. In that class, students were given two grades—one representing what Mansfield felt they deserved, and another re-centered on average grading data obtained from the Office of the Registrar. At that time, Mansfield said that his conscience had tired of punishing the students that chose to take his course. However...
...Mansfield is right to fear the consequences of unrestricted grade inflation. Inflated grades allow for no true comparison among students, and because the majority of inflated grades are A’s and high B’s, the importance of each third of a grade becomes distorted...
...collaborative environment will be shattered: instead of building from the knowledge of fellow classmates, students will instead compete for precious class time and participation points, and teaching fellows will be forced to invent distinctions between equally good papers that can’t both receive A’s. Mansfield could have chosen merely to toughen grading standards in the course; instead, his choice of a numeric quota upsets the principles of fairness on which his campaign against grade inflation is based...
Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 should not only be able to carry out his grading policy for the Government 97a tutorial, but he should be commended for his effort to curb rampant grade inflation at the College...
...considered an inconvenience. All the students in the class will be graded against the same scale and will have equal opportunities to impress their teaching fellows. The central aim of an education should be to facilitate learning; awarding high grades for mediocre performance does not meet this goal. Mansfield is using his class as an example that other professors would do well to follow, rather than to ignore...