A STUDY OF GRADE INFLATION IN THE INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

This study was undertaken to investigate whether the mean overall grade point average of students in the Industrial Education Department in the years 1964, 1969, 1974 and 1979 has increased significantly compared to the mean overall grade point average of students in other departments in the same years at Iowa State University. The study was also designed to determine whether the mean grade point average in the subject areas and course levels has increased significantly in the same year periods for the same groups of students.;It was concluded that the increase of the mean overall grade point average obtained by students at Iowa State University was less when compared to the national findings in other universities. Students who majored in the Industrial Education Department and students who majored in other departments received a different grade point average. Graphs which reported grade point average by student class level and subject areas show the difference of grades received by different majors. Year of graduation, major, HSR, ACT, transfer status, and sex linearly related to grade point average.;The second section was to investigate possible causes of grade inflation at Iowa State University. A questionnaire which was designed to identify possible causes was constructed and administered to randomly-selected faculty members who were on campus in the spring of 1980. One hundred and twenty (120) members completed the questionnaire. Percentages were presented to summarize the findings.;It was concluded that the availability of more options for students to maintain a high grade point average was a possible cause of grade inflation Iowa State University.;This study was made up of two sections. The first section was to explore aspects of grade inflation in the Industrial Education Department in comparison to the other departments. One hundred and ninety-two (192) academic records of students who majored in the Industrial Education Department in the four years and one hundred and ninety-four (194) academic records of students who majored in other departments were gathered. Eight hypotheses related to the effects of year of graduation, major and student characteristics of sex, age, transfer status, aptitude (as measured by ACT) and prior high school achievement on grade point average were tested. Multiple regression analyses were selected in order to test for any contributions that these variables might have on grade point average.