Measuring Meaning 2
Measuring the Meaning of Grades: An Initial Investigation Into the Reliability and
Validity of the Meaning of Grades Scale
While instructors may use grades to communicate messages about their students’
performances, students may interpret those grades as signifying their effort in the class,
their intelligence, or even their self-worth (Stancato & Eisler, 1983). Grades serve as a
form of communication that is often misinterpreted; in fact, research has demonstrated
that instructors and students rarely share precisely the same meanings for grades
(Goulden & Griffin, 1997). Yet, while grades may carry the potential for
misinterpretation and other inaccuracies, they are a standard form of communication that
most instructors in higher education utilize throughout the term of a course and as a final
evaluation.
Understanding the meanings that students hold for grades is important on a
number of levels. First, grades, as a symbol, communicate in a way that directly affects
their target. Students who receive poor grades may find themselves feeling lower self-
esteem (Stancato & Eisler, 1983), experiencing learned helplessness (Dweck, 2000), or
even involving themselves in grade conflicts (Sabee, 2002). Second, if there is confusion
concerning the meaning of evaluations of students' work, students may miss out on
valuable learning experiences. And finally, when instructors give grades that are
misinterpreted, the instructor may not be perceived as a competent communicator. As
such, this study investigates a method of measuring the meaning of grades by introducing
items from extant literature, testing the reliability of the Meaning of Grades scale
(Goulden & Griffin, 1997), and attempting to establish construct validity for the scale.
The Meaning of Grades
Convention