On Wednesday, The Assembly gathered a group of reporters and readers at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill for the second installment of its Article Club event series, in which participants dissect an Assembly story and the questions it raises about North Carolina’s higher education landscape.
This discussion revolved around Matt Hartman’s recent reporting on grade inflation. Colleges and universities are awarding higher grades than ever. But does that mean students are improving, or that professors are grading more leniently? And if easier grading is the cause, is it a problem? Policy experts and academics haven’t reached a consensus on either question, Matt found.
At the Article Club, participants debated possible causes of grade inflation, from institutional incentives to award good grades to the possibility that teaching is simply getting better. They brought up pandemic-era learning loss and how artificial intelligence has changed teaching, learning, and assessments. Current and recent students shared their outlook on GPAs and the investment return they expect from their degrees. Faculty members talked about the pressure they face to award good grades. The group also discussed potential solutions, from capping the number of As awarded in a class to dispensing with grades altogether.
The Assembly plans to make Article Club a regular event series across the state. If there is a story from our network that you’d like to discuss at a future event, please let us know at highered@theassemblync.com.
