When handing back exams, what should we tell our students about the distribution of exam scores?

manpreet Best Answer 3 years ago

I've seen a variety of approaches to the day we hand back our exams.

1. Show every score listed in order, so every student knows exactly how they compare to others
2. Show an aggregated histogram, for example saying how many students got each grade
3. Give only descriptive statistics (mean, median)
4. Say almost nothing about the class's scores

How can we give information about the distribution of scores that can be productive and useful for students? I'd specifically like to hear about approaches you have tried, and critical discussion or anecdotes about how students gained or did not gain from the information.

Please assume that the class is not graded on a strict curve where a certain percentage of students will get an A; in that case it's obvious that we have to be open about the distribution.