Demystifying the Dilemma of Marginal

Passing "D" Grade:

Quantitative Assessment and a Case Study
Wael M. ElDessouki, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Hossam A. Sallam, Ph.D.

Professor

Yasser A. Abdullah, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Muhammad A. Mubaraki, Ph.D

Associate Professor

Amr A. AbdulHady, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Civil Engineering Department,

College of Engineering, Jazan University

Contents:
Introduction & Background
Problem Statement- The Dilemma
Methodology
Results & Discussion
Conclusion

Introduction &
Background
Academic Courses:
Course Objective
Learning Outcomes
Contents
Learning Outcomes Assessment Tools
Passing Criteria

Introduction &
Background
Passing Criteria
Competency Based:
Usually used for tests
SAT, TOEFL, GRE, ..etc
Results usually follow
Statistical Distributions
Results depends mainly on
cohort

Outcome Based:
Used for academic courses
Results do not necessarily
follow a standard
distribution
Results are function of
cohort/subject/instructor

Introduction &
Background
Course Passing Criteria:
A student passing a course should have gained at least
an acceptable minimum of the intended learning
outcome that will enable him/her to proceed in
subsequent courses.
If the course assessment tools were well designed,
then, the minimum passing grade (60% a.k.a D) for
the course should reflect that minimum level of
intended learning outcomes.

Problem Statement (the Dilemma)

What to do with Marginal Students that need only 2-4
marks to pass the course?
Should we give them a push to PASS or
Let them FAIL and retake the course?
What if this course was fundamental and a prerequisite to
several courses!!!

Problem Justification
The predominance for the D grade in engineering courses

Problem Justification (cont.)

In some departments, it amounts to ~50% of all grades

Methodology (Part1)
The initial step was to identify a fundamental course for the Civil
Engineering Major, this course was: EngC 211: Engineering
Mechanics /Statics , then
Part1 : Sample Selection and Study Groups:
Group A: Students marginally passed the course with only 60%
over a 3 years period (64 students)
Group B: Students that Failed and then Passed with at least 70%
from the same cohort as Group A over the same period (26
students)

Methodology (Part2)
Part 2: Performance Course Identification:
7 Courses were identified

Methodology (Part3)
Part 3: Group Performance Metrics:
1. Average Grade in Performance Courses.
2. Average Grade and Central Tendency measures for both
groups.
3. Probability of Failing in the performance courses for each
group.

Results

Average Grades in Performance

Courses

Criteria

Group A

Mean (X)
Standard Deviation (S)
Sample Size (n)

59.72
10.42
64

Group
B
66.70
8.16
26

Group 95% Upper Limit

Group 50% Upper Limit
Group 50% Lower Limit
Group 95% Lower Limit

76.95
66.63
55.33
43.51

81.09
70.50
61.80
50.92

Average Grades in Performance

Courses:
Significance of Difference(t-test)

Then, the probability of t >= 3.0529 is (0.005 to 0.001)

which much lower than the nominal 0.05

Hence, the Difference between the two groups is
Statistically Significant

Probability of Failing in
Performance Courses Subset
Probability Estimation Method:

Where,
P(x) : is the probability of failing (x) courses,
Fg : Normalized failing rate for a group of (n) students.

fi : Number of failed courses for student (i).

n : Number of students in the group.

Probability of Failing in
Performance Courses Subset

Summary of Results:
The Average performance in subsequent courses

for students in Group B (the students that failed

and ten repeated the course) was significantly
better than Group A (the students that were
pushed to marginally pass)
The probability of failing in subsequent courses

was significantly less for Students in Group B than

those in Group A.

Conclusions &
Recommendations

Conclusion
The results of the study has proved that it is

not in the best interest of the students to

marginally pass fundamental courses.
It will heart him/her in subsequent courses.
Failing a course is not like failing over a cliff!
and the student will not inquire body injuries.

Recommendations
Minimum passing criteria should be revised for

fundamental courses and the option of raising the

minimum passing grade to D+ or C worth further
investigation.
New Faculty need to be oriented to the fact that

the course passing % is not a direct measure for

his/her performance assessment.
For terminal courses (leafs) with no subsequent

courses, a marginal passing will not heart and the

student might get some slack.

Thank You