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23

Student and Faculty Perceptionsof the Impact of Plus/Minus Grading:

A Management Department Perspective

H. Eugene Baker III & Homer L. BatesUniversity of North Florida

The authors examined the overall effect of a plus/minus grad-ing system on management students and faculty at a mid-sizedpublic university. The effect of the grading system on studentswas examined mathematically by determining the grade dis-tribution of students under both the old grading system andthe new system. The attitude of students and faculty towardthe new system was examined through responses to a ques-tionnaire. The results of the study showed that both studentsand faculty had negative perceptions of the plus/minus systemthe university adopted when it was introduced and that thenew system had virtually no effect on the aggregate GPA of thestudents.

Introduction

The relationship between the use of plus/minus grading and its actu-al and perceived impact on grades has received considerable attentionon all educational levels (Educational Policies Committee, 1996; Ekstrom& Villegas, 1994; Farland & Cepeda, 1989; Milton, Pollio, & Eison, 1986;Olson, 1999; Singer, 1993). Our interest in the subject intensified when,after years of discussion, our university recently adopted a plus/minusgrading system that uses two plus grades (B+, C+) and two minus grades(A-, B-). A variety of plus/minus grading systems had previously beenbrought before the Faculty Association of the University of North Flori-da without success. The primary reason for proposing the implementationof plus/minus grading at our university was the desire expressed by

Baker, H. E., III, & Bates, H. L. (1999). Student andfaculty perceptions of the impact of plus/minus

grading: A management department perspective.Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 10 (1), 23-33.

Journal on Excellence in College Teaching24

faculty to be better able to differentiate levels of student performance.Faculty members argued that the grading system in use did not allowfor providing detailed feedback to students. Because adoption of the sys-tem by individual faculty is voluntary, we decided to explore the issuefurther before making the decision to implement it in our classes.

Literature Review

In spite of the considerable attention that has been given to the sub-ject, the empirical literature regarding the effects of plus/minus gradingsystems is somewhat limited. A comprehensive study of college grades(Ekstrom & Villegas, 1994) summarized a number of institutional poli-cies related to grading policies. The study found that there had been ashift in the use of differentiated grading approaches, including the useof plus/minus grading, by a large number of institutions included in thestudy from 1980 to 1990.

Singer (1993) found that colleges and universities were increasing theuse of plus and/or minus grades. Shannon (1979) had previously re-ported that “The use of plus and minus suffixes attached to letter gradesis a common practice in many high schools today . . .” (p. 153). The dis-cussion surrounding the impact of plus/minus grading continues, andhas contributed toward the hesitancy of institutions to adopt this grad-ing approach. For example, the Academic Senate for CaliforniaCommunity Colleges pursued the implementation of plus/minus grad-ing through the California Board of Governors for over a decade beforefinally adopting it (The Educational Policies Committee, 1996). The ef-fect of plus/minus grading on grade point averages (GPAs) also is indispute. Shannon (1979) reported that a plus/minus grading system hadthe effect of significantly decreasing student average GPAs. Farland andCepeda (1989) examined data from two colleges that converted to theplus/minus system and found that GPAs dropped slightly. They believedthis was because some A grades under the old system became A- gradesunder the plus/minus system. Singleton and Smith (1978) found, how-ever, that average GPAs increased after plus/minus grades wereimplemented. Other implementations of plus/minus grading have hadlittle, if any, effect. For example, the University of Missouri reported that,although after implementing the plus/minus system the number of plus-es and minuses given increased over a three-year period, student GPAswere not dramatically affected (Wilson, 1999). The same results were re-ported by the University of Minnesota following the implementation ofplus/minus grading in 1997 (Olsen, 1999).

The Impact of Plus/Minus Grading 25

Research Questions

As a result of our review of the available information, and because wewere concerned about the impact of plus/minus grading on our specificcourses, we decided to conduct our own survey. We sought to answerthe following question: Is a plus/minus grading system perceived to be ad-vantageous by students, faculty, or both, or is it perceived to have a detrimentaleffect?

The purpose of our study was twofold: to examine the mathematicaleffect of implementing the plus/minus grading scheme recently adopt-ed at our university on aggregate student GPAs, and to examine facultyand student perceptions of the positive or negative effects of the newsystem.

Procedure and Participants

Our study took place within the Management Department of the Col-lege of Business Administration. We used the responses of 12 managementfaculty and the actual grades earned by 944 students enrolled in the coursePrinciples of Management between the spring 1993 and summer 1995terms to examine the above issues. Principles of Management is a junior-level course required of all College of Business Administration students.Class sizes ranged from 150 to 200 students. All 944 students were taughtby the same faculty member using the same grading scale. Students’ per-ceptions of the plus/minus grading system were examined by aquestionnaire survey (see Appendix A) administered to all 255 studentsenrolled in the course during the fall 1995 term. We also administeredthe questionnaire to all 12 management faculty members during the samesemester (see Appendix B).

The Mathematical Effect of Plus/Minus Grading

The grading system in effect prior to the fall 1995 term included thegrades of A, B, C, D, and F. The faculty member assigned grades to thestudents using the scale shown in Table l.

This grading scale resulted in the grade distribution for the 944 stu-dents as shown in Table l. The aggregated mean GPA for the 944 studentswas 2.201.

The new system adopted effective beginning in the fall 1995 term add-ed the grades of A-, B+, B-, and C+. After the plus/minus grading systemwas adopted, the grading scale shown in Table 2 was used. The system


Table 1Previous Grading System

Grading ScaleNumber of Students

Receiving GradePercentage of Students

Receiving Grade

A 90 - 100% 78 8.3%B 80 - 89.9% 312 33.1%C 70 - 79.9% 355 37.6%D 60 - 69.9% 120 12.7%F 0 - 59.9% 79 8.4%Aggregate = 2.201

Table 2Plus/Minus Grading System

Grading ScaleNumber of Students

Receiving GradePercentage of Students

Receiving Grade

A 92 -100% 42 4.4%A- 90 - 91.9% 36 3.8%B+ 88 - 89.9% 37 3.9%B 82 - 87.9% 196 20.8%B- 80 - 81.9% 79 8.4%C+ 78 - 79.9% 92 9.7%C 70 - 77.9% 263 27.9%D 60 - 69.9% 120 12.7%F 0 - 59.9% 79 8.4%


maintained a 4.0-based GPA, with the following quality points in effect:

A = 4.0A- = 3.7B+ = 3.3B = 3.0B- = 2.7C+ = 2.3C = 2.0D = 1.0F = 0.0

If the plus/minus grading scale had been used for the 944 studentsreceiving grades in the eight sections between spring 1993 and summer1995, the grade distribution would have been as shown in Table 2. Theaggregate mean GPA for the 944 students would have been 2.205, com-pared to the 2.201 under the prior grading system. This particular plus/minus system, using two pluses (B+ and C+) and two minuses (A- andB-), had a negligible effect on the overall average GPA of the 944 regis-tered students in the Principles of Management course.

The new grading system did, however, have some effect on individu-al students’ grades. Of the 944 grades given, 129 (13.7%) of the gradesincreased, with 37 going from a B to a B+ and 92 going from a C to a C+.One hundred and fifteen (12.2 %) of the grades decreased, with 36 goingfrom an A to an A- and 79 going from a B to a B-.

Perceived Effect of Plus/Minus Grading by Students

We examined the perceived value of the plus/minus grading systemby students using a questionnaire survey administered to all 255 stu-dents enrolled in the Principles of Management course taught by thesame faculty member during the fall 1995 term (See Appendix A). Fourof the questionnaires were incomplete, resulting in 251 usable question-naires. The instructor explained the new grading scale to students, whothen were asked to assess its value and effect through a questionnaire.The questionnaire asked two questions:

• Question one: What is your opinion of the overallvalue of the plus/minus grading system?

• Question two: What do you believe will be the effect ofthe plus/minus grading system on students’ gradepoint averages?


Question one. The value question used a seven-point Likert scale rang-ing from 1 (very positive) to 7 (very negative), with the midpoint at 4(indifferent). The term value was not defined in the questionnaire. Stu-dents were allowed to define the term themselves in order to avoidinstructor biasing. Of the 251 students who responded, the majority, 150(59.7%), viewed the plus/minus system negatively (they assigned ques-tion one a 5, 6, or 7). The mean of responses to question one was 4.75.

Question two. The effect question also used a seven-point Likert scaleranging from 1 (significantly increase) to 7 (significantly decrease), with themidpoint at 4 (no change). Again, the majority, 147 (58.6%), of studentsbelieved that the plus/minus system would decrease GPAs (they assignedquestion two a 5, 6, or 7). The mean response to question two was 4.71.

There was a significant correlation between students’ response to thevalue question and their response to the effect question. The Pearsoncorrelation coefficient was .79, which is statistically significant at the .0001level.

Students also were asked to self-report their present overall GPA withinone of four ranges: below 2.5, 2.5-3.0, 3.0-3.5, or 3.5-4.0. The studentsbelieved that those most negatively affected by the change in the grad-ing system would be the very good students, who could have a gradechange, for example, from an A to an A-. The students believed that thosemost positively affected by the change would be the poorer students,who could have a grade improve from, say, a C to a C+. The mean re-sponse to the two questions and the Pearson correlation coefficientcategorized by self-reported student GPA are shown in Table 3.

Perceived Effect of Plus/Minus Grading by Faculty

The 12 faculty members teaching in the Department of Managementwere asked to respond to the same two questions as the students (seeAppendix B):

Question one. The faculty members were even more negative thanstudents in their views of the value of the plus/minus system, with 10 ofthe 12 responding with a 5, 6, or 7. The mean response was 5.42.

Question two. The majority of faculty members also believed thatplus/minus grading would decrease student GPAs. Six faculty mem-bers believed GPAs would decline, four believed they would increase,and two believed there would be no change. The mean response was4.33.

Overall, the responses to the two questions by the students and facul-ty members were consistent.


Table 3Grade Point Averages and Responses to Questions

GPA N Q1 Mean** Q2 Mean*** r

3.5-4.0 60 5.02 5.02 0.66*

3.0-3.5 75 4.44 4.51 0.83*

2.5-3.0 105 4.72 4.66 0.85*

Below 2.5 11 4.82 4.64 0.92*

Overall 251 4.75 4.71 0.79*

*p < .0001 (Pearson’s product-moment)

**Q1: What is your opinion of the overall value of the plus/minusgrading system? (1 = very positive to 7 = very negative)

***Q2: What do you believe will be the effect of the plus/minus gradingsystem on students’ grade point averages? (1 = significantlyincrease to 7 = significantly decrease)

Conclusions and Limitations

The purpose of this study was to examine the mathematical effect of aplus/minus grading system on the grades given to 944 students enrolledin eight different sections of a Principles of Management course. Theresult, measured by mean GPA of the students with and without a plus/minus grading system, was that the new system had no significant ef-fect. Individual students’ GPAs were affected, but the mean overall GPAremained the same. We also examined the perceived effect of plus/mi-nus grading by students and faculty. The results showed that bothstudents and faculty viewed plus/minus grading negatively and thatboth individual students and faculty believed that plus/minus gradingwould decrease individual GPAs. The aggregate GPA of the 944 studentsenrolled in the course was not significantly affected by the new plus/minus grading system.

In interpreting the results, we believe that students’ behavior is likelyto be influenced by their negative perception of the impact of plus/mi-nus grading. For example, the students may believe that small differencesin test, project, or homework scores now can result in movement fromone grade level to another. This expectation may cause them to be moreargumentative about grading on individual assignments. Faculty mem-


bers’ negative views of plus/minus grading may reflect their belief thatthe system reduces flexibility in assigning grades. Because plus/minusgrading separates grade levels so finely, it leaves little room for addi-tional minor adjustments in individual student grades. Some facultymembers may view the new grading system negatively because theybelieve that additional time and effort will be required for increased ne-gotiations with students over grades.

This study examined one course at one university taught by one fac-ulty member using one plus/minus grading scheme. A major limitationof the study is that it may not be generalized to other disciplines, otheruniversities, other plus/minus systems, or other faculty members. It alsoshould be noted that this study examined attitudes of students and fac-ulty upon the implementation of the new grading system. Their attitudesmay change over time as both become more familiar with the system.The individual students’ overall GPAs as shown in Table 3 were self-reported and were not confirmed. Of considerable interest for a futurestudy would be the effect on a student’s total college GPA. Does a plus/minus grading scale lead to grade inflation, or is the effect insignificant?

In conclusion, educational institutions and faculty members maychoose to adopt a plus/minus grading system for a variety of reasons.The results of this study show that caution is necessary when makingsuch a change. The plus/minus grading system at our university hashad no effect on students’ mean aggregate GPAs. In addition, both stu-dents and faculty have a negative impression of plus/minus grading.The question that those considering adopting plus/minus grading needto ask is whether it is worthwhile to adopt a system that, in the aggre-gate, has no effect, but is viewed negatively by both students and faculty.

References

The Educational Policies Committee. (1996). Plus and minus grading op-tions: Toward accurate student performance evaluations. Sacramento: TheAcademic Senate for California Community Colleges.

Ekstrom, R. B., & Villegas, A. M. (1994). College grades: An exploratorystudy of policies and practices (College Board Report No. 94-1, ETS RRNo. 94-23). New York: College Entrance Examination Board.

Farland, R., & Cepeda, R. (1989). Plus and minus grading (Report No. ED309 802). Sacramento: Prepared as Agenda Item Number 9 at a meet-ing of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges,September 14-15. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. JC 890370)


Milton, O., Pollio, H. R., & Eison, J. A. (1986). Making sense of college grades.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Olson, A. (1999). Committee evaluates plus-minus grading at U. Minne-sota. Minnesota Daily via U-Wire [On-line]. Available: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/univ...1b06447f9778d3dfad 057dc2018323f.

Shannon, J. L. (1979). High school grades: How fair are plus and minussuffixes? Education, 100 (2), 153-157.

Singer, T. S. (1993). Changes in undergraduate grading practices in re-sponse to grade inflation in higher education (Doctoral dissertation,University of Louisville, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts International, 54-07, A 2420.

Singleton, R., Jr., & Smith, E. R. (1978). Does grade inflation decrease thereliability of grades? Journal of Educational Measurement, 15 (1), 37-41.

Wilson, P. (1999). Plus/minus has little effect on GPAs at U. Missouri.The Maneater via U-Wire [On-line]. Available: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/univers...5=a4f39dc45eeea4614 f2370fc5cab99d3.

H. Eugene Baker III is an associate professor of management at the University ofNorth Florida. He received his Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University ofFlorida and is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR). His primary teach-ing areas are organizational behavior and theory, and his research interests are in employeesocialization and career development. Homer L. Bates is a professor of accounting atthe University of North Florida. He received his Ph.D. in accountancy from the Univer-sity of Illinois. His primary teaching areas are managerial and financial accounting,and his current research interests are financial accounting and accounting education.


Appendix A

Student Questionnaire on Plus/Minus Grading

A new plus/minus grading system is available at the University ofNorth Florida beginning this fall term (see below).

Prior System Presently Available System

ABCDF

=====

4.03.02.01.00.0

AA-B+BB-C+CDF

=========

4.03.73.33.02.72.32.01.00.0

We are examining the desirability and effect of this new grading systemon students in management. Would you please answer the followingquestions:

1. What is your opinion of the overall value of the plus/minus gradingsystem? (Circle one number)

Very Positive Indifferent Very Negative

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. What do you believe will be the effect of the plus/minus gradingsystem on students’ grade point averages? (Circle one number)

Significantly Increase No Change Significantly Decrease

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. What is your present overall grade point average? (Mark one)

3.5-4.0 2.5-3.0

3.0-3.5 Below 2.5


Appendix B

Faculty Questionnaire on Plus/Minus Grading

DATE: September 15, 1995

TO: Management Faculty

FROM: Gene Baker and Homer Bates

SUBJECT: Plus/Minus Grading System

A new plus/minus grading system is available beginning this fall term(see below).

New Grading System

AA-B+BB-C+CDF

=========

4.03.73.33.02.72.32.01.00.0

We are examining the desirability and effect of this new grading systemon both faculty and students in management. Would you please answerthe following questions:

1. What is your opinion of the overall value of the plus/minus gradingsystem? (Circle one number)

Very Positive Indifferent Very Negative

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. What do you believe will be the effect of the plus/minus gradingsystem on students’ grade point averages? (Circle one number)

Significantly Increase No Change Significantly Decrease

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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