What does 50% mean?
Donald Acton · 2011
In this paper, we describe the changes from a norm based assessment scheme to a criterion based one in a large second year programming course with a heterogeneous student population. The changes were prompted by two observations. One was that many students were reporting that the course and assignments were too easy while others were reporting the opposite. The second observation was that the results of some final exam BRACElet questions indicated that students weren't mastering some key areas of the course. This paper describes the modifications to the existing course grading scheme, the rationale for the changes, and the results of the changes in an attempt to address the concerns.