The instructor of a class offers his students a choice. Their final grade may be calculated in one of two ways, which they must decide on as a class...

The instructor of a class offers his students a choice. Their final grade may be calculated in one of two ways, which they must decide on as a class. The class has a total of 500 pts available. The 29 students in the class have a mean score of 407 pts, a standard deviation of 15 and a median score of 420.

Option 1 is to have the grades based solely on the percentage of total points possible in the class that a student receives. Grades would be based on typical divisions of deciles (So a student with 400 pts in the class would have an 80.0% average and receive a B- while a student with 399 pts in the class would have a 79.9% and receive a C+.)

Option 2 is to curve the final grades of the class based on the Standard Normal Curve, where all those whose grades fall within 1 Standard Deviation of the mean receive a C. Those who fall between 1 and 2 standard deviations from the mean would receive either a D or B (depending on whether you are above or below the mean), and all those who are more than 2 standard deviations from the mean receive either an A or F (again depending upon whether you are above or below the mean).

What choice should the class choose that would benefit the majority of students? Show all work and thought process used to get your answer.