The ability of college students to predict their grades

To what extent can college students evaluate the quality of work which they are doing? One way to secure an answer to this question is to have students predict their grades. The purpose of this report is to give a brief summary of the results of a study which was conducted in the Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College to determine the ability of college students to predict their grades. The procedure was briefly as follows: One week before the close of the first semester of the school year 1932-33, all of the students of the institution were requested to list on a prepared form the courses for which they were enrolled, the names of their instructors, and the grades which they expected to make on the semester's work. The students were assured that these data would not be made available to instructors. Of the 771 students who were enrolled in the institution, 701 or 90.9 per cent furnished complete data. These students predicted 3,875 grades, representing a total of 10,970 semester hotirs of credit. There are many factors that may influence the ability of students to correctly predict their grades. Among these are: the number of examinations given during the term, familiarity with the instructor's method of grading, the method of instruction in the course, the number of students enrolled in the class, the department of instruction, the level of college achievement, and the credit value of the course. It would be impossible in a limited study to determine accurately the influence of each of these factors. In this investigation an attempt was made to answer the following questions: (1) What is the relation between predicted grades and assigned grades for each department of instruction and for the institution as a whole? (2) What is the relation between predicted grades and assigned grades for students at the various levels of college achievement? (3) What is the relation between predicted grades and assigned grades for courses of different credit value? (4) To what extent do predicted grades vary from assigned grades? (5) Is the quality of achievement, as indicated by the mark which is finally assigned, a factor in the prediction of grades? (6) What is the relation between class size and ability to predict grades

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