Effects of Grading Standards Information, Assigned Grade, and Grade Discrepancies on Students' Evaluations

The present study investigated the influence of information on grading standards and assigned grades on expected grades and students' ratings of instruction. Introductory psychology students ( n = 117) first viewed a videotaped lecture and completed an examination over the content. Using a 3 × 3 factorial design, students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions of information on instructors' grading (hard, fair, easy) and, based on their examination scores, to one of three conditions of assigned grades (A, B, C). The students were then asked to indicate their expected grades and complete teacher-rating forms. Students who were assigned higher grades rated the instructor higher on three of the four factors than students who were assigned lower grades. Students in the easy grading information condition rated the instructor's grading standards as being more fair. Finally, students who received higher grades than expected rated the instructor more favorably than students who received lower grades than expected. No evidence of an interaction between information on grading standards and assigned grade was found.