There is no exact answer to your question. I would doubt that anyone in my department does the same thing (and I'm sure we'd do it differently than other departments as well). So it would really depend on who's teaching the course.
A true curve means that the students are lined up in ascending order according to course grade. The students in the center are the Cs. The idea is that most students get Cs, fewer students get Bs (and there are the same number of Ds), and very few get As (and there are the same number of Fs). So if I had a 30 student class I might decide that I want 2 As, 5 Bs, 16 Cs, 5 Ds, and 2 Fs. That would be a true curve.
Most profs don't use a true curve. So they "curve" the class. There are as many interpretations of "curve" as there are courses offered. The common denominator of this kind of "curve" is that the professor is giving higher marks for substandard work.
Some profs initially set lower numerical values for each letter (i.e. 85-100 is an A, etc). Some profs set the average class grade as the middle C and then decide what A, B, D, and F should be. Some set goals (like the A student should be able to do 7 of 7 tasks, a B student should be able to do 5 of 7 tasks, etc). Some give the highest scoring student an A and work down from there (if the top scorer has a 92% and there is a gap from 82-85 then the Bs start at 82%). Some give the lowest scoring student an F and work up from there. Some give the top student an A and all the rest Fs. Some give the worst student an F and all the rest Bs. Some drop each students lowest grade. Some do a combination of things. Many professors don't curve at all even if the average is 49%.
What is also important to remember is most people (at the University level) don't curve individual assignments. That is a waste of time and it makes computing the final grades much more difficult. I never understood why high school teachers do this. My guess is that they are just feeding the students a line to shut them up. Most profs will only curve the final course grade.
Curve means that your uncooked rankings do no longer count. that's what a curve is. occasion: 10 teenagers take a very long, perplexing attempt. they get a ninety 9, ninety 8, ninety seven, ninety six and a ninety 5 p.c.. the instructor grades on a curve, so the ninety 9 is an A, ninety 8 is a B, ninety seven is C, ninety six is a D and ninety 5 is a D too. maximum faculties grade on a curve so that's extra honest than intense college. In intense college, in case you get carry of a C, whether all human beings else failed the class, shouldn't your C be properly worth extra? Like an A? college professors think of that in case you do extra advantageous than maximum folk of your classmates, that would improve your grade up. to boot, if a instructor would not instruct properly, all human beings's grades would be larger because of the fact they do no longer all could be stricken by the undesirable coaching. on your case, your grade replaced into so low in view which you probably did no longer beat out extra of your classmates for an stronger grade.
I don't know the exact equation, I think it varies based on the number of students who took the exam. My understanding is that the students with the highest scores are given A's and the lowest scores given F's and everyone else is given a grade appropriately adjusted. So the average students who got 49's would get C's most likely, assuming by average you really mean the score most students got. (The word average is deceiving because it could mean half the students got 100% and half the students got zeros, making the average about 50%...)
Lets say the grades are as such 80, 75, 49, 35, 10
Comments
Universities don't curve grades. Professors curve grades.
There is no exact answer to your question. I would doubt that anyone in my department does the same thing (and I'm sure we'd do it differently than other departments as well). So it would really depend on who's teaching the course.
A true curve means that the students are lined up in ascending order according to course grade. The students in the center are the Cs. The idea is that most students get Cs, fewer students get Bs (and there are the same number of Ds), and very few get As (and there are the same number of Fs). So if I had a 30 student class I might decide that I want 2 As, 5 Bs, 16 Cs, 5 Ds, and 2 Fs. That would be a true curve.
Most profs don't use a true curve. So they "curve" the class. There are as many interpretations of "curve" as there are courses offered. The common denominator of this kind of "curve" is that the professor is giving higher marks for substandard work.
Some profs initially set lower numerical values for each letter (i.e. 85-100 is an A, etc). Some profs set the average class grade as the middle C and then decide what A, B, D, and F should be. Some set goals (like the A student should be able to do 7 of 7 tasks, a B student should be able to do 5 of 7 tasks, etc). Some give the highest scoring student an A and work down from there (if the top scorer has a 92% and there is a gap from 82-85 then the Bs start at 82%). Some give the lowest scoring student an F and work up from there. Some give the top student an A and all the rest Fs. Some give the worst student an F and all the rest Bs. Some drop each students lowest grade. Some do a combination of things. Many professors don't curve at all even if the average is 49%.
What is also important to remember is most people (at the University level) don't curve individual assignments. That is a waste of time and it makes computing the final grades much more difficult. I never understood why high school teachers do this. My guess is that they are just feeding the students a line to shut them up. Most profs will only curve the final course grade.
Curve means that your uncooked rankings do no longer count. that's what a curve is. occasion: 10 teenagers take a very long, perplexing attempt. they get a ninety 9, ninety 8, ninety seven, ninety six and a ninety 5 p.c.. the instructor grades on a curve, so the ninety 9 is an A, ninety 8 is a B, ninety seven is C, ninety six is a D and ninety 5 is a D too. maximum faculties grade on a curve so that's extra honest than intense college. In intense college, in case you get carry of a C, whether all human beings else failed the class, shouldn't your C be properly worth extra? Like an A? college professors think of that in case you do extra advantageous than maximum folk of your classmates, that would improve your grade up. to boot, if a instructor would not instruct properly, all human beings's grades would be larger because of the fact they do no longer all could be stricken by the undesirable coaching. on your case, your grade replaced into so low in view which you probably did no longer beat out extra of your classmates for an stronger grade.
I don't know the exact equation, I think it varies based on the number of students who took the exam. My understanding is that the students with the highest scores are given A's and the lowest scores given F's and everyone else is given a grade appropriately adjusted. So the average students who got 49's would get C's most likely, assuming by average you really mean the score most students got. (The word average is deceiving because it could mean half the students got 100% and half the students got zeros, making the average about 50%...)
Lets say the grades are as such 80, 75, 49, 35, 10
80=A
75=B
49=C
35=D
10=F
if graded on a curve