Debated in Parliament on 21 Jan 2014.
Mr Baey Yam Keng asked the Minister for Education regarding the normalisation of grading standards at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University (a) what were the reasons for having different grading standards from the rest of the university previously and for the change to normalised distribution now; (b) whether other Government-funded universities have courses with different grading standards and, if so, whether they will be normalised; and (c) how this move supports the Ministry's policy of encouraging different measures and peaks of excellence.
Madam, in our Universities, general grading guidelines are in place to minimise disparity in standards of marking among different lecturers. However, for courses that are of a unique nature, course coordinators retain the flexibility to deviate from these grading guidelines where necessary. For example, course coordinators are allowed to modify the grading guidelines for courses with small class sizes, unique class profile and pedagogy. This allows the course coordinators to customise the grading guidelines for each course with the aim of ensuring a comparable level of academic rigour across the courses.
Following a regular internal grade audit by NTU's College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) was reminded of the need for consistency in grading across different modules and to guard against grade inflation. However, course coordinators for selected modules in ADM still retain the flexibility to deviate from the university-wide grading policy, so long as they have compelling reasons for grading these modules differently.
To ensure a more holistic assessment of students, our Universities continue to pay close attention to, and tailor their grading criteria to the unique features of each course. For parity in grading amongst courses, independent committees at our Universities also monitor grade distribution and ensure that the grading standards applied are reasonable. The current grading principles at our universities remain aligned to the MOE's policy of encouraging different peaks
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of excellence.
Can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, in the case of the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) at NTU, is it a matter of a change in the grading system or is it about a reminder for the course coordinators to be more stringent or more systematic in the way they exercise their flexibility?
Madam, there is no change in the system. The school was reminded of the general policy and the need to ensure that there continues to be a standard form of assessment and grading and to ensure that there is no grade inflation. So, in general, well, they adhere to the general policy of the college and university. It is a reminder to the school of the importance of general adherence to the University policy while at the same time, allowing them to customise or to grade based on the characteristics of the students of the course of ADM.
Thank you, Mdm Speaker. The media reported that students of the school received emails informing them of a change in the scoring system. But based on the Senior Parliamentary Secretary's reply, that does not seem to be the case, because there is no change in the scoring system. If that is the case, perhaps NTU might want to assure the students because I believe that caused some concerns among students of the school.
Madam, I believe in the next few weeks, the school and the college will engage students. School has just reopened and I am sure they will engage students.
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