Over at the Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter, there is a new GALASSO MAGNET tier! At 3"x5", this is the biggest magnet I’ve ever produced! (Galasso is a big guy.) He will put all those other puny magnets in their place!
There’s also a new PICK THREE MAGNETS tier where you can, surprise, pick any three magnets unlocked by this Kickstarter campaign! You’ll be able to tell me which three magnets you want in your address survey, given out some time after the Kickstarter funds. So if you’re pledged for, like, a LESLIE/ROBIN magnet set, but also want Galasso, you can edit your pledge accordingly!
When the Kickstarter hits $45k (which it might have done already by the time this publishes), I will publish a sneak preview of a strip from JUNE for y'all. It won't be, like, a spoilery one, but something more self-contained. But you have a choice between three strips, for which there's a poll on the right hand side of the website under the comic strip. You can choose which future strip you want based on which characters appear in it. When I figure the poll has given me a clear answer, I'll post the strip over on the Kickstarter and you can choose to go look at it if you want! Again, they're not spoilery, so no one's gonna be able to read them, come back over here, and post OMFG JOYCE IS DEAD or whatever. Bullshit
Over at the Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter, there is a new GALASSO MAGNET tier! At 3"x5", this is the biggest magnet I’ve ever produced! (Galasso is a big guy.) He will put all those other puny magnets in their place!
There’s also a new PICK THREE MAGNETS tier where you can, surprise, pick any three magnets unlocked by this Kickstarter campaign! You’ll be able to tell me which three magnets you want in your address survey, given out some time after the Kickstarter funds. So if you’re pledged for, like, a LESLIE/ROBIN magnet set, but also want Galasso, you can edit your pledge accordingly!
When the Kickstarter hits $45k (which it might have done already by the time this publishes), I will publish a sneak preview of a strip from JUNE for y'all. It won't be, like, a spoilery one, but something more self-contained. But you have a choice between three strips, for which there's a poll on the right hand side of the website under the comic strip. You can choose which future strip you want based on which characters appear in it. When I figure the poll has given me a clear answer, I'll post the strip over on the Kickstarter and you can choose to go look at it if you want! Again, they're not spoilery, so no one's gonna be able to read them, come back over here, and post OMFG JOYCE IS DEAD or whatever.
403 thoughts on “Bullshit”
Ana Chronistic
WHAT NO WAY, THAT’S NOT A REAL GRADE
*head a splode*
PinocchioFaceDownInWater.gif
Ana Chronistic
huh, I thought you’d used that title before
Clif
I did not see that coming.
CleverTrousers
I did not see that cliff coming.
Airyu
It’s okay because that one was in sign language
BrokenEye, True False Prophet
I know, right? 76% What real professor would go out of their way to give a grade that unnecessarily precise?
Badeyes
WHOA!
Kris
A B-! How horrible!
Maveric1984
Actually, it’s a C
Siddlaw
In America, that’s a D
Doctor_Who
In Canada, that’s an Eh.
DarkoNeko
Your north americans really have weird-arse grading systems
phildog
So which one of them got the “bad” grade? Is it her, or did she discover her boyfriend is struggling?
Andy
He told her already. That’s gotta be her.
Crash
Lots of letters all based on a numeric system. The question stays, why are you using these letters(that you can’t even agree on a standard for) if you are basing them on numbers? Stick to numbers and everything is clear and universal o_o
Arquinsiel
You’d think that, but a friend of mine taught over in the US for a while and got into trouble because here in Ireland we don’t grade on a curve at all and 40% is a pass.
So his entire class “failed” by American standards.
Bagge
*slowclap*
Doom Shepherd
Even if you’re using a 95 cutoff for an A, the cutoff for a C would be 75.
And almost nobody does that anyway.
GJT
Not in any class i’ve ever been in. High school that’s a low C(75-79), and college it’s either a middle C (70-79), or a low B. I’ve never seen anything that considers that a D.
Ardin
Wut. You have stricter grading in high school? Here we have 5 grades, from 51% is passing (2 or “E”/”D”), then from 61% it’s a 3, from 71% a 4 and from 81% a 5. In high school you usually pass above 25%.
Woobie
51% is passing?
May I ask, where are you?
ozzi
The UK College system or as we call it university. Over that would still be a first.
70+ 1st Class (A-B)
60+ Upper 2nd Class (C)
50+ Lower 2rd Class (D)
40+ Third (E-F)
39- Fail
Delavan
Assuming those are the UK letter grades and not the US equivalents. For study abroad grade transfers back to the US, it’s usually a pretty strict 70+ = A- or A.
Upper 2nd usually transfers to the US as a B/B+, lower 2nd as a C to B-. If I remember right from my semester in Edinburgh (admittedly 10 years ago now), classes I got 70-72ish in transferred as A-.
Hrovitnir
I think it may basically be all other “developed” countries? I know NZ, Australia, UK and Sweden. I assumed Canada would be in line with the rest of the world and Wikipedia tells me this is the case. 50% as a pass is *normal*.
I only found out about the US’ horrendous grading system last year and that… explains a lot. :/
NelC
As an old UKian I still need it explaining to me. A ‘C’ is bad in American? Not a pass? And not passing one test is a bad thing? Or is this just an over-achiever thing?
thejeff
It’s a pass, but not a good one. Low enough that it’s not going to be good for someone looking to transfer out to an elite school.
One such probably isn’t a big deal, but if it’s the start of a trend …
Delavan
Yeah, 2.1 grades transfer as a B/B+ in the US, if you do a study abroad, for example. A “C” in the US is a low 2.2 in UK terms.
Ana Chronistic
It feels as though if you’re retaining only half the material, that’s not really acceptable…?
Whirlwitch
I’m Canadian, in Quebec you need 60% to pass. School systems vary by province, though, and Quebec was the only one I went to school in.
All-Purpose Guru
In the US typically you need at least 60% to pass in high school (most public high schools D’s are passing) and 70% is passing in University (where a D is not considered passing, especially for fulfillment of prerequisites)
Shmid
weird, here in Texas anything below a 70 is failing, once you hit 75 that’s c territory, 80-89 is b and 90 and above is a’s.
for highschool anyways
Positron
Remember that test difficulty is calibrated so that most competent people will pass, so in theory someone who would score a 70 in Texas should only get 60 in highschools in other states that use 60 (because the tests there should be proportionately harder).
Knayt
It depends on the major*. The increments of 10 are a baseline, and C requirements are pretty common (although B and D requirements show up, with D requirements cropping up a lot in classes that aren’t prerequisites for other classes). That increment of 10 can get really stretched though – I’ve taken classes where the C line was in the 40s somewhere, because the professor preferred scaling the class that way to writing tests that weren’t supposed to average in the low 50s.
*As just one example, Physics is pretty infamous in a lot of universities for being designed around incredibly brutal tests where 40% is a pretty decent score.
thejeff
That was my experience as a physics major. The argument being, as it was explained to me, that with more spread at the top end, it’s easier distinguish between the better students than when the entire class is crammed into ~40% of the scale.
autogatos
And to make it even more confusing…art school (at least mine, dunno if they’re all the same) is totally different!
Since you’re being graded on a somewhat subjective type of work (art) percentages aren’t typically used and each teacher kinda has their own “system” for how they assign grades. Doing the bare minimum, i.e. the student completed the project on time and followed instructions, would usually earn a D or C, and then anything higher was awarded somewhat subjectively based on the teacher’s view on how successful the project was at demonstrating the artist’s understanding of the skills being taught or their ability to express what the project is intended to convey (i.e. how effectively did they use color, is the message of the piece clear, is the anatomy accurate, is it well-rendered, etc?)
If I recall, at LCAD we also had this system where a C- (or maybe a D+?) was generally passing, but you had to get a C+ or higher in any courses that were core components of your major. So basically, if you were an illustration major and got a C- in Fundamentals of Animation, that was okay, but if you got a C- in Rendering (a core class for the Illustration majors) you had to repeat the class.
autogatos
(It’s funny how often people unfamiliar with it portray art school as this lackadaisical easy thing when in most art students’ experience is it pretty brutal) XD
autogatos
Also it may have been a B- to pass core classes actually. I don’t remember…college was too long ago.
Dragon_Nataku
At my uni for the most part it’s like 10 pts per anything above an F (so F is under 60, then D is 60-69, C is 70-79, etc). D is considering “passing, but good luck getting into any sort of grad/law/med school lololol.” Also, each professor can change the scale at their leisure (so 75 could very well be a B- if the professor says so).
Dragon_Nataku
Oh, and don’t even get me started on profs who curve. Uuuuggghhhh. Then anything can be anything. A D could be an A, and an A could be a C, fuck curves.
N0083rP00F
As someone who did some night-school Instruction, plotting the curve does help you gauge your communication skills. What is disheartening is when you see a double bell curve.
ff6shadow
51% would be passing? Wow standards have dropped since I was in school.
A was 93-100
B was 86-92
C was 78-85
D was 70-77
Anything below was a lovely fail.
Tiropat
Depends on who your teacher is. 30 years ago my dad got the second highest grade one one of his honors accounting assignments with the amazing score of 0% with the class average being something around -40%
Sam
It is likely just a different school system. I live in the UK and a pass for most individual things and exams is 50% (only a couple were 60%). In my current Uni, it is 40% average and above is a pass. However, that doesn’t mean it is easy or that the standards are low, it comes down to it being a very different system where they know how tough it is and mark accordingly and give a pass rate accordingly.
America’s marking system is still brutal and ridiculous in comparison though considering generally the max quantity of info you can absorb from a lesson is approximately 70% which my high school stressed a lot to encourage studying.
Positron
Theoretically US exams should be easier to compensate. I have no idea if this is the case.
strictly speaking
If the worst C students are able to finish three quarters of the questions in a math test within the allotted time, the exam isn’t difficult enough. Just saying.
95% for A is also ridiculous. Getting an A should certify that the student is capable of tackling the very difficult problems at the end of the test which require creative thinking, not that he can reliably solve piss-easy questions without making any blunders.
Hrovitnir
Yeah, basically once you’re expected to get around the 90s for a remotely decent grade you have shifted the method of learning to rote learning as far as I can see. It sounds actively counter-productive both directly in terms of learning outcomes and indirectly in terms of *crushing people’s spirits*.
thejeff
It does nothing of the sort. It reflects a difference in testing far more than anything else.
A good teacher can design a test to put the average where ever they want.
Orion Fury
Different systems indeed, for most of my non-college schooling it was:
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
and the rest was Fail, except for when they made a change in my last year of high school and added in
D: 60-69
with anything below 60 was now Fail. There also was +/- varients for all non-Fails, with anything over 100 getting a double plus. I don’t recall seeing anyone posting that, but there’s a lot of text going on here.
JetstreamGW
Round these parts
90-100 = A
80-89 = B
70-79 = C
60-69 = D, or F if your school doesn’t acknowledge the concept of D.
Liliet
In my uni it was 100-96 A, 95-90 B (on our national scale those are both ‘excellent’ aka ‘5”), 75-89 C (on our national scale ‘good’ aja ‘4’), and 60-75 D (on our national scale ‘satisfactory’ aka ‘3’ aka lowest passing grade). And everything below 60 was F (on our national scale ‘bad’ aka ‘2’ aka ‘go redo that test/project’)
In our schools there wasn’t a 100 point scale at all, we used just a 12 point one that mapped to the same 2-5 one.
(If you ask me where ‘1’ went… u\/(-_-)\/u to the same place as ‘E’ on y’all’s scale i imagine)
Silly Name
Yet all American schools refuse the concept of E. That always bothers me.
trlkly
E is excellent on a different grading system, and they don’t want to get them mixed up.
That grading system also includes S for satisfactory, N (or NI) for needs improvement, and U for unsatisfactory.
When I was in school, these grades were still in use for situations where you didn’t get a numerical score at all, like handwriting and citizenship (i.e., how well behaved you were).
No Name
At my elementary school, the “here, have a sticker” scale for the behavior grades had O for Outstanding at the top, while the standard “this grade means business” scale had “E for Effort” instead of F, to protect our fragile psyches.
BBCC
My elementary school used letter grades A, B, C, D, and F and then number grades at like 5th grade.
We also used things like citizenship, helpfulness, etc. using E, G (for good), S, and N for it. No U though, that’s a new one.
Needfuldoer
Here’s how it was broken up when I was in school (90s northeast US):
A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 0 – 59
Each block is broken up into thirds for the +/-, so a 67 is a D+ and a 92 is an A-.
Dorothy got a C+.
anonymsly
90s Northwest US I can report the same!
Orion Fury
Huh, apparently I only had to read a few more posts.
Benjamin
There used to be an E grade! It used to go A-B-C-D-E, and E was the failing grade. But they pretty soon just figured might as well call it F since it referred to failing anyway 🙂 A reference: http://mentalfloss.com/article/90971/why-there-no-e-grade
Kryss LaBryn
We used to have an E in Canada when I was in school in the Eighties as well. I don’t remember what points it corresponded with; but I do remember it was pretty bloody dire and basically meant “Pull your socks up or you’re gonna fail for sure.”
I only can confirm that we had that grade 100% for sure because I remember Mum once encouraging me to try harder with “Remember, A for effort!” and my brother and I told her (probably with a great deal of teenage sarcasm, poor Mum), “No; E for effort. For an A you actually have to pass!” And it made sense because there actually was an E grade.
I don’t remember precisely where the pass/fail mark was back in the day (I thiiink <65 and you failed?) but for the Canadian Ham Radio course, one needs at least a 70% to pass; and for the electronics tests my husband is currently in the middle of with the Canadian military, it's the same: 70% at the minimum to pass.
Only getting 50% of the test correct would be pretty dire and mean you did not fully understand fully half the course material (or simply were not able to complete the test in the time provided), which shouldn't mean a pass, to me. One ought to have a decent grasp of the bulk of the subject, whatever it is, in order to pass.
thejeff
There is not necessarily such a simple correlation between percentage score on test and percent of material understood. It’s all in the design of the test.
Given a system where 50% was a passing grade (or a good one, for that matter), I would expect very challenging tests that pushed the edges of what a student could be expected to learn in the course.
BBCC
It can also mean one doesn’t understand the harder parts, while still having a decent enough grasp on the basics to get by. Which, in most classes, is fine. In classes you need to retain more information for safety or specialty reasons (like in electronics or the radio or even some prerequisites), needing higher is fine.
Whirlwitch
In the 3 Canadian grade schools* I attended, “E” was Excellent, “VG” was Very Good, “S” was Satisfactory, “NS” was Non-Satisfactory, and there was also the dreaded “VNS” – Very Non-Satisfactory.
*Quebec, not speaking for other provinces
Christopher Camacho
Middle schools in Tacoma used ‘E’ instead of ‘F’ when I attended. Of course, that was coming up on 30 years ago…
Lin
Not all! Ohio State University has an E (for what would be an f at other schools). Do an En (failing because you stopped attending class).
JetstreamGW
More schools had “E,” but kids kept convincing their parents it meant “Excellent.” So they axed it.
Jim
In UK universities, 76 would be one of the best scores.
40 is 3rd,
50 is 2:2,
60 is 2:1,
70 is 1st.
There’s a rumour that the reason you never see more than a 79% score for a paper is that universities are obliged to publish if they give 80% or more. That’s probably an urban legend though.
Maggie
I don’t think its true. My wife had a few essays that were marked 80% or higher.
00A86B
I mean that rumour is definitely false given that several of my friends have gotten over 90% on major pieces of work, and nary a publication in sight. Still, yeah 76% is a very good score and America is messed up.
DavidMcG
OK, I grew up in Texas and went to college in New York and this is what I was always taught:
90-100 = A
80-89 = B
75-79 = C
70-74 = D
0-69 = F
Godfather
Damn, that’s really strict! It’s a good way to motivate kids but sounds incredibly harsh.
Eyebrow
Wow that is strict.
My Canadian university called 70s a B and 60s a C.
Just finished a grad degree at Edinburgh where you really have to work for a 70, (A3) and anything over 80 (A2) is considered publishable. Anything over 90 (A1) is not only publishable but likely influential. 60-69 (B) is considered good.
truk2
Here in Australia its
HD > 85
D > 75
C > 65
P > 50
and of course less than 50% is a the dreaded F
and if you americans are confused by that the letters stand for Fail, Pass, Credit, Distinction, and High Distinction.
Mr Man
It’s worth noting that different countries have different attitudes towards grades – an 80 in the US wouldn’t be an 80 in the UK; that’s why on my UK master’s 76+ was Dean’s List, and a 40 was still a pass. Marks above 80 would be almost impossible to achieve in the arts, for example, but at that point you’re already at what is called a ‘first.’ Basically, it keeps you humble and reminds you there’s always room to be better.
Victor Riley
In my school (I’m a teacher) that’s a C… what’s the scale that calls that a D?
Ferron
Some parts of the mid-Atlantic use an odd grading scale, where:
100 – A+
99-94 – A
93-86 – B
85-78 – C
77-70 – D
69-0 – Failing/F/E
This is one of the reasons why GPA doesn’t really matter to universities, and they want the full transcript and school info. Some universities also have notes on specific districts, cities and even schools that grape more or less harshly than expected.
note- Went to high school and university in that area, and previously volunteered at registrar for a university.
Victor Riley
Huh… that’s an odd scale. For the most part, I’ve seen the “A+” and “D-” eliminated completely (though, I still don’t know why… I think it was part of the “No Child Left Behind” joke from the Bush years.) But the scale I currently know is:
93-100 – A
90-92 – A-
87-89 – B+
83-86 – B
80-82 – B-
77-79 – C+
73-76 – C
70-72 – C-
67-69 – D+
60-66 – D
0-59 – F
Delavan
Yes, this is the standard US scale. I’m a current PhD candidate and former adjunct prof in the US. But there are definitely places that tweak it or do weird things.
Kingmabel
My little sister is in the 5th grade in a charter school in Tennessee. She just got her progress report this week and to them a 76 is a C-, and anything below a 75 is a failing grade. Her 84, which is supposed to be a solid B, counts as C+,