Transcript Grading System at AUB

American Credit
System
Moueen Salameh
Registrar
Professor of Engineering Management
American University of Beirut
1
This presentation will cover
 Definition of the American Credit System
 American Grading Scale
 History of the Grading Scale at AUB
 Generation of a conversion scale to and from the
ECTS scale.
2
The American Credit System
The American credit system is based on contact
hours and is more oriented towards the faculty
(the time a faculty member requested to teach).
General rule for US credit system is for every
hour in class students need to spend
approximately two outside of class.
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Course Credit
A course credit in the American system (or credit
hour) is a unit that gives weighting to the value, or
time requirements of an academic course taken at
an educational institution.
In a normal 15-16 week semester, one credit is
equal to approximately one hour of lecture per
week.
A typical lecture class is 3 credits, or 3 hours per
week of lecture. This does not include studying, or
homework.
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Course Credit
Labs, studio arts, practicums, and such do not
follow this rule so they can have much longer
hours required per week for less credit. For
example, 1 credit chemistry lab can be a 2-3 hour
session per week.
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Course Credit
In reality, credits per semester determine the
attendance status.
Usually 12 credits undergrad / 9 credits grad are
full time status.
Credits accrue in a student academic record and
are part of determining where he/she stands in the
academic program. Normally a bachelor's degree
requires 120-130 credit hours.
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Difference between the ECTS
and the American credit system
The major difference between the ECTS and the
American credit system is that
the first is based on student load, and is more
oriented towards the students (the time required
for them to meet the intended outcomes)
the second is based on contact hours and is
more oriented towards the faculty (the time a
faculty member requested to teach).
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American Grading Scale
The most common grading system is the
assignment of a numerical or alphabetical
letter score to the results of examinations or
submitted reports, projects, and papers.
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American Grading Scale
Numerical grading systems usually are arrayed on a scale
running from 0 to 4, with 4 representing outstanding work.
Letter systems generally run from A to F, with A
representing outstanding work and F representing failure.
Sometimes these systems are fractional, so that indices
such as "2.5" or "A+" or "A-" appear on records
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American Grading Scale
Academic work, such as studio, thesis and
dissertations, or practicum are frequently graded
on a pass-fail (P-F) basis, which can sometimes
be augmented by appending terms like "honors"
or "outstanding"
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History of Grading Scale at AUB
Before 2000
Range
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
Below 60
Performance
Designation
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Fail
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
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2001-2005
Performance
Designation
90-100
Outstanding
85-89
Excellent
80-84
Very Good
75-79
Good
70-74
Fair
60-69
Weak
Below 60
Fail
Range
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2006-2010
Performance Letter Grade
Range
Designation Grade Points
90-100 Outstanding
85-89
Excellent
80-84
Very Good
75-79
Good
70-74
Fair
60-69
Weak
Below 60
Fail
A
B+
B
C+
C
D
F
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1
0
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2010-Present
The step function in the grade conversion
chart was revised to be replaced by the
following continuous quadratic fit that
generates the equivalent GPA from the
cumulative average (CAV).
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2010-Present
CAV
<60
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
GPA
0
1
1.13
1.26
1.38
1.5
1.63
1.74
CAV
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
GPA
1.86
1.98
2.09
2.2
2.31
2.42
2.52
2.62
CAV
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
GPA
2.73
2.82
2.92
3.02
3.11
3.2
3.29
3.38
CAV
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
>=90
GPA
3.46
3.54
3.63
3.7
3.78
3.86
3.93
4
15
Letter Grades
I Incomplete
P
Pass
PR In Progress
W Withdraw
F
Fail
16
Grade Distribution Compared with US
Universities
17
Term Average Distribution
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GRADE DISTRIBUTION 2007-2011
AUB
Range
Less than 60
60 or more but less than 65
65 or more but less than 70
70 or more but less than 75
75 or more but less than 80
80 or more but less than 85
85 or more but less than 90
90 or more
2007
5.05%
6.59%
6.47%
14.06%
15.88%
22.13%
16.09%
13.73%
2008
5.16%
7.02%
6.54%
14.73%
16.33%
21.76%
15.23%
13.24%
2009
5.17%
6.75%
6.50%
14.89%
16.88%
22.13%
15.27%
12.41%
2010
5.26%
6.42%
6.48%
13.93%
16.34%
22.07%
15.83%
13.66%
2011
4.98%
6.10%
5.99%
13.67%
16.48%
22.80%
16.51%
13.46%
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GRADE DISTRIBUTION 2007-2011
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
2007
2008
2009
2010
10.00%
2011
5.00%
0.00%
Less than 60 60 or more but 65 or more but 70 or more but 75 or more but 80 or more but 85 or more but
less than 65
less than 70
less than 75
less than 80
less than 85
less than 90
90 or more
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21
ECTS GRADING SCALE
Generating a conversion scale to and
from the ECTS scale.
22
ECTS GRADING SCALE
The ECTS conversion chart benefits our
students.
 Employers and other educational institutions in
Europe receiving AUB students will find it easier
to understand and standardize.

23
ECTS GRADING SCALE
Our study is based on the fact that The ECTS
system initially divides students between pass
and fail groups, and then assesses the
performance of these two groups separately.
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ECTS GRADING SCALE
Those obtaining passing grades are divided into
five subgroups:
 The best 10% are awarded an A-grade,
 The next 25% a B-grade,
 The following 30% a C-grade,
 The following 25% a D-grade, and
 The final 10% an E-grade
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ECTS GRADING SCALE
Those who have not achieved a
performance sufficient to allow a passing
grade are divided into two subgroups: FX
(Fail – some more work required before
credit can be awarded) and F (Fail –
considerable further work is required).
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Fitting AUB Grade Distribution within ECTS Scale
Fall Term 2005-06
Count
Those Obtaining
Passing Grades
Failing Grades
Fall Term 2006-07
Range
Count
Range
Best 10%
519
87.80
100
523
87.67
100
Next 25%
1300
81.33
87.79
1310
81.47
87.66
The following 30%
1559
75.24
81.32
1571
75.63
81.46
The following 25%
1300
68.00
75.23
1310
68.31
75.62
The Final 10%
520
60.00
67.99
524
60.00
68.30
All
168
40.00
59.99
174
40.00
59.99
5366
5412
27
Fall Term 2007-2008
Count
Those
Obtaining
Passing
Grades
Failing
Grades
Range
Best 10%
561
87.53
Next 25%
1404
80.87
The following 30%
1684
The following 25%
The Final 10%
All
Fall Term 2008-09
Count
572
87.00
100
87.52
1430
80.80
86.99
75.06
80.86
1717
75.00
80.79
1404
67.80
75.05
1430
68.07
74.99
562
60.00
67.79
573
60.00
68.06
191
40.00
59.99
207
40.00
59.99
5806
100
Range
5929
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Average Range
Those
Obtaining
Passing
Grades
Failing
Grades
Best 10%
87.50
100.00
Next 25%
81.12
87.49
The following 30%
75.23
81.11
The following 25%
68.05
75.22
The Final 10%
60.00
68.04
40.00
59.99
All
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Average Range
Those
Obtaining
Passing
Grades
Failing
Grades
Interval
ECTS
Best 10%
87.50
100.00
[87.5-100 ]
A
Next 25%
81.12
87.49
[81 -87.5[
B
The following 30%
75.23
81.11
[75 -81[
C
The following 25%
68.05
75.22
[68-75[
D
The Final 10%
60.00
68.04
[60-68[
E
40.00
59.99
[40-60[
F
All
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ECTS EQUIVALENCE
AUB GRADE
ECTS
87.5 or more
A
81 or more, but less than 87.5
B
75 or more, but less than 81
C
68 or more, but less than 75
D
60 or more, but less than 68
E
Less than 60
F
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Thank You
Moueen Salameh
[email protected]
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