We’ve all heard the phrase “an A for effort,” but what exactly does that mean? What effect do effort-based grades such as participation and pass/fail homework have on students’ final grades? I argue that many instructors inadvertently inflate students’ final grades through the grading scale set forth in the course syllabus. The higher the ratio of effort-based grades with respect to performance-based grades, the more inflated students’ final grades become. Furthermore, effort-based grades have the biggest impact on students with the lowest performance-based grades
