Ais for “Adjunct”: Examining Grade Inflation in Higher Education
- 1 September 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Education for Business
- Vol. 76 (1), 5-8
- https://doi.org/10.1080/08832320009599042
Abstract
Though grade inflation is hardly a new problem, it may be worsening as universities increase their reliance on temporary, part-time instructors. Adjunct instructors, hired on a term-by-term basis, are easily replaced; thus, most face serious pressure to earn good evaluations from students. Keeping students happy may mean giving higher, potentially inflated, grades. This study explicitly compared the average class grade given by adjunct instructors and full-time faculty over a 2-year period at a small public university. The results suggest that adjunct instructors do give higher grades than do full-time faculty.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Predictors of Grades Assigned by Graduate Teaching Assistants in Physical EducationPsychological Reports, 1987