DATA Extract: Xiao21

Abstract

The unique circumstances of spring semester of 2020 and the disruptions they caused to teaching and learning, have led to a unique grading option for students in classes taken that semester. Specifically, upon learning their standard letter grade for a course prior to its final submission to the Registrar, students were allowed to have it replaced with “S”, or “Satisfactory” grade. This situation creates a unique opportunity to (1) gain insights in student choices of preferred assessment of their performance and (2) to analyze the impact of the grading experiment and the underlying disruption to learning on subsequent academic performance. The questions we will investigate, in the context of Business and Economics in comparison to other disciplines, will include the following. First, how does a student’s ultimate choice of “S” grade in the spring of 2020 relate to this student’s academic and other characteristics and a regular letter grade the student would otherwise receive or was expected to receive? The roles that student gender and other socioeconomic characteristics play in grade option choices are of special interest in this regard. Second, what are the consequences of the “S” grade option in introductory level classes on student retention in the major in the short-run, and subsequent outcomes in higher level classes in the longer-term? The broader insights we wish to gain is to draw a distinction between the effect of disruption to student learning in spring 2020 intro classes vs. the consequences of effectively lowered grade bar to make students eligible for higher level classes in their discipline.