The Course Letter Grade Calculator: A Supplement to Midsemester Grades

Abstract

Various universities require mid-semester grades to increase retention; however, this information doesn’t enable students to continuously assess their progress and doesn’t pass “ownership” of grades to the students.  The course letter grade calculator (Grade Calculator) is an Excel tool developed for students to enhance transparency and students’ sense of responsibility regarding final course letter grades. The Grade Calculator enables students to continuously assess what they must do to earn their desired course grades and serves as a reminder that they must work to earn their grades.  The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the Grade Calculator is utilized and discuss the results of an exploratory survey performed to elicit viewpoints of introductory accounting students regarding the usefulness of this tool. Results indicate that most of the accounting students surveyed viewed the Grade Calculator positively and perceived their instructors as having clear and fair grading policies.  Students also noted more grade transparency in their introductory accounting course as compared to the other courses they were taking, and that having a Grade Calculator in every class would reduce stress surrounding final grades. Anecdotal observations revealed that student complaints and inquiries about grades significantly decreased upon use of the Grade Calculator.