to calculate the average grade in all of Harvard's humanities and science
courses. He will then use that figure to adjust the grades in his course to fit the Harvard distribution.
"The more or less official grades I give to the registrar will be
based on the system of Harvard's inflated grades," Mansfield said. "At first I thought of giving everyone an A, but I thought that would disrupt the learning environment."
Grade inflation is not particular to Harvard, Mansfield said. He traces the beginning roots of the phenomenon to as early as the late 1960s.
"[Educators] seem to believe that the main purpose of education is to give students self-esteem, to make them feel good about themselves and give
students the same grades they got in high school," said Mansfield.
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