Overturn decision to fire Professor Cross and abolish the bellcurve as a method of assigning grades
- Rebecca Zimmer
- Closed on
- Target:
- Students of Professor Cross
- Region:
- United States of America
This petition is now closed.
University of Tampa decided to let Professor Cross go on the basis of her grading system and length of time she kept her students in class. Professor Cross prepared her students thoroughly for examinations by quizzing her students every class on the chapter that we were supposed to have read for that class. Consequently, students were well prepared for the examinations therefore they're scores reflected this. Professor Cross was unaware of the grading policy, in which she was only allowed the give twenty to thirty percent A's.
This brings us to the next point concerning the bell curve. If twenty five out of thirty students receive an A on the examination, is it fair to only give the A to twenty to thirty percent of those students? The bell curve is designed to place all students within an acceptable range, increasing the grades of those students who fall short of the curve as well as decreasing the grades or minimizing the number of students who can peak the curve.
In other words, the bell curve only allows so many A's, even if those A's were rightfully earned. Professor Cross, who was informed of this method on Wednesday of last week was let go this past Friday, two days after learning about it. Even though Professor Cross disagrees with this method she was still willing to tweak her grading system, however she requested that it not be done until the beginning of next semester, seeing as it wasn't fair to change her system of grading half way through the semester. Sadly, she was denied the opportunity.
Professor Cross would give a lecture each and every day on the material that we read in preparation for that class and were quizzed on in the beginning of class. This did not usually take the entire class period, but sitting in a classroom is not the only way of learning the material. In our semester long project, we do countless hours of fieldwork and research. Let's just say that the amount of work we have does not fall short of the 4 credits that we will truly be earning.
We, the students of Professor Cross and University of Tampa as a whole, call on the Jim Beckman, Dean Cormly, and whomever else this may concern to overturn the decision to let Professor Cross go and to eliminate the use of the bell curve when assigning grades.