| Abstract: | The correlation between grades of instruction and student satisfaction has been interpreted as providing support for a grading leniency bias model; that is, easy graders receive better evaluations than hard graders because they are easy graders. Two alternative models that explain the correlation of grades with satisfaction are delineated. A student characteristics model (student motivation) is contrasted with the grading leniency bias model in 2 studies. Study 1 considered between-class relationships among grades, satisfaction, performance, and student motivation for the IDEA (Instructional Development and Effectiveness Assessment System) data from several thousand college and university classes across the US. Study 2 considered within-class relationships among grades, satisfaction, performance, and motivation for 19 large university classes. Both studies demonstrate that the relationship between grades and student satisfaction might be viewed as a welcome result of important causal relationships among other variables rather than simply as evidence of contamination due to grading leniency. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
