A Longitudinal Study to Investigate the Persistence of Grading Leniency at Public Universities (2011 to 2016)

Abstract

Recent researches in the educational system have exposed a widespread phenomenon grading leniency that puts a direct strain on the credibility and accountability of academia’s standards of excellence and their graduates in the universities of Pakistan. Grading leniency is the giving of higher grades to the undeserving students. Higher grades or grade-point averages (GPA) over the time is not linked with the high performance and quality of the university students’ work. In this situation major objective of this analytical study was, thus, to determine the persistence of grading leniency through a quantitative and longitudinal research analysis of the trends in university students’ final CGPAs record from three public sector universities of Punjab. In order to achieve the study objectives, descriptive research design was employed. To quantify the persistence of grading leniency, data was majorly collected from the students of BS program (4 years). Students CGPAs and corresponding grades were collected from the finals of last six academic sessions (2011 & 2016). Major data was collected from approximately 37 departments of the three public universities of Punjab, Pakistan i.e., UOP, Lahore, BZU, Multan and UOS, Sargodha. Students of BS program securing passing grades (A, B, and C) were collected from the university Controller office of Examination. The collected data was thus examined through calculated frequencies and mean values with the help of SPPS version 22.

Key Wards: Grading Leniency, persistence, longitudinal analysis, Trends, CGPAs