A Preliminary Exploration of Student Attitudes about a Continuous Grade Point Average Scheme

This Work-in-Progress (WIP) paper explores attitudes about and impact of different Grade Point Average (GPA) schemes. Research about the impact of college GPA calculation systems has focused on comparing the traditional GPA (i.e. A, B, C, D, F) and plus/minus (i.e. A+, A, A-, etc.) systems on counteracting grade inflation, and increasing differentiation among students. However, few papers consider the correlation of GPA system to students’ enthusiasm, interest, or motivation with their coursework. This paper explores the relationship between interest in engineering and GPA, including the current +/- grading systems as well as a more continuous scaling of GPA. We consider a continuous scale where course performance, expressed as a final percentage (0-100%), maps directly onto a 0-4.0 scale, without divisions associated with other schemes (e.g. A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, etc.). This approach creates greater numerical grade differentiation, and in this paper we explore the hypothesis that it may also increase student interest in or motivation for studying engineering. In a traditional scheme, students in a specific grade band all get the same GPA (e.g., 73%-77% = C = 2.0 GPA), implying the possibility that students near the lower threshold (say, 73.1%) may perceive little opportunity to improve their letter grade and therefore not work to their full capacity. Under a continuous scale, students always have an opportunity to improve their GPA, and we suspect this may translate into a more consistent commitment to their coursework.

This research explored these areas using three distinct methods. Initially, primary analysis was conducted using simulated and actual gradebook data with the goal of observing the numerical differences between these systems. These results were then supplemented with surveys exploring the relationship between these systems and students’ attitudes about both coursework and overall college experience to understand how they affect motivation.

Our analysis suggests that a continuous grading scheme maintains the basic distribution of student grades in the course but reduces the sensitivity of an individual student’s GPA to actual course performance near grade boundaries (i.e., 76.8% = C = 2.0 GPA, while 77.2% = C+ = 2.3 GPA). Survey responses also suggest that students take great interest in the greater GPA resolution associated with the continuous scale. However, although faculty consider this a research area with great potential, current university policies offer little opportunity for such a system to be used. However, with these apparent positive relationships between the relationship of GPA and motivation in engineering students, this research shows potential for greater understanding, and the possible implementation of a continuous scheme should not be discounted.