Posting Final Exam Scores in Blackboard

[kerprof]

I am in the process of finalizing grades for the class I am teaching.

I am considering the option of sharing the final exam scores for the student or not sharing it + just post the final grades for the course....

Please advise if it is a good idea to post the final exam scores in the course blackboard site before I post the letter grades in the University web page.
This is a graduate course and the majority of them are international students... So I am worried about flooding of emails requesting for the
change of points.

Please advise..

[clean]

Deal with it now, or deal with it later.  IF they are going to challenge the scores, it may be better to let them see the scores so that you can correct any errors before entering the scores in the university site, and have to do the grade change paperwork.

In Blackboard you have some options.  First, you can create the column and enter the grades, but hide that column from the students' view.  Then later, you can unhide it.

I suggest that you enter the grades in Blackboard.  Hide the column. Then when you are ready, unhide them, but put an Out of Office Reply in your email.  When they flood you with emails, they will get an immediate reply that you are unavailable until say 6/1 or 9/1.

Of course you can answer any emails you want to in the mean time, but you can ignore them at your leisure.

[Hegemony]

You should definitely post them at some point.

[Caracal]

Deal with it now, or deal with it later.  IF they are going to challenge the scores, it may be better to let them see the scores so that you can correct any errors before entering the scores in the university site, and have to do the grade change paperwork.

Yeah, I used to hide them because I hated getting the emails about whether I was going to round up. But then I just got emails about how they couldn't see the grade. It sort of doesn't matter.

[Aster]

Releasing major assessment scores (e.g. exams, projects) is standard practice in U.S. Higher Education.

You do not have to release the assessments themselves, or even the raw scores. But for at least major assessments, there is minimum expectation that  college students have access to the finalized scores.

[Parasaurolophus]

I think they have a right to see how they did. And, as mentioned, showing them will likely decrease the volume of emails you get asking for their scores, arguing you made a mistake in calculating the final grade, etc.

[RatGuy]

I post scores on exams and the final exam in the course. Indeed, they always have access to their grade at any given moment, and they've got the tools to calculate the effect the final exam will have on their course grades.

I make sure to have them graded a few days before grades are due to the Registrar's Office, and I email the class when everything is complete. I tell them: "Check my math. If I made an error in calculations, please email me to confirm. Do not email me for bonus / a round up / to reconsider a grade, as class is in fact over and it's not possible no fair for me to alter grades for such reasons." That has dramatically cut down on the grade-grubbing emails, and it saves me when I do make an error in calculation or in grade submission.

[downer]

At the same time as you post the scores on BB, also refer students to your policies about final grades.

Will you change the grade so the student won't get deported?
Will you round up the grade?
Will you accept late work after final grades are submitted?
Will you explain how the grade is calculated?
etc.

[Caracal]

Releasing major assessment scores (e.g. exams, projects) is standard practice in U.S. Higher Education.

You do not have to release the assessments themselves, or even the raw scores. But for at least major assessments, there is minimum expectation that  college students have access to the finalized scores.

Oh yes, you have to post them at some point. I used to post them after the final grades went up to try to fend off requests for rounding up (I round up depending on the total grade distribution, not on pleas) but it was more trouble than it was worth. For some reason when I post final grades there's a lag until students get them. If I unmuted final exams before the lag, I still got the requests and if I did it too long after I got inundated with emails from students about why their grade dropped. Now I just post them when I grade them and deal with the emails as they come.

[kerprof]

Out of 50, 30 has same grades after the finals are graded.  The grades dropped for 10 students and for the remaining 10, the grades increased. So actually only 10 of them will be upset with the final grades...

[mamselle]

...unless they all believed, deep in each of their little heart of hearts, that they were really getting an "A"....

M.

[clean]

Out of 50, 30 has same grades after the finals are graded.  The grades dropped for 10 students and for the remaining 10, the grades increased. So actually only 10 of them will be upset with the final grades...

In my experience, the student's first test grade is a pretty good indicator of their subsequent grades.

(The exception is when, for some reason, your university moves all classes online and the online proctoring service is shut down for the same reason, and you have to give essentially a multiple choice (rather than problem type) exam.  THEN the grades will shoot up until the university develops an alternative proctor solution. 

[quasihumanist]

I don't post final exam scores because I frequently stop grading the final when the student's final grade is clear.