Despite a substantial body of research that criticizes norm-referenced (i.e., "curved") grading for fostering a competitive climate, the practice remains a staple in STEM education and is unlikely to change. One reason educational critiques of the practice may not have hit home is that not all normreferenced grading is the same. There is likely a big difference between what we refer to as left-of-center grading, where exam means are in the 20 or 30 percentiles and a score of 40% can translate into an A, and exams where means are near 60% and a score of 80% translates into an A. This study tests the hypothesis that students will distinguish between different types of norm-referenced grading practices. One hundred and seventy seven engineering students at a private, research I university completed surveys asking about their perceptions of norm-referenced exams with means in the 20's vs. those with means in the 60's. The results overwhelmingly show that students found exams with means in the 20's - but not those with means in the 60's - discouraging and as evidence of bad and uncaring teaching. Students receiving an "A" for exam scores in the 30's were unlikely to feel proud of their accomplishment and were highly unlikely to feel that they had learned what the instructor expected. These same students, however, did feel proud when an "A" was based upon an exam score in the 80's. Students were also more likely to consider cheating and were less motivated to study when the median score was in the 20's. Over 90% of students indicated that a primary purpose of exams should be to measure mastery of concepts, and nearly 80% indicated that measuring what a student had learned should also be a primary purpose. By contrast, only 12% of students indicated that "distinguishing exceptional students from others" should be a primary purpose. These results are at odds with the assumptions of left-of-center grading, which prioritizes distinguishing among different groups of students and only indirectly seems to measure a student's mastery of course content or learning.
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