When a student comes to me to assert that I've made an honest mistake in my grading, for example, misinterpreting an answer or missing something important that deserves more credit, etc, then I really do listen with an open mind and welcoming attitude. I know it is intimidating to go to a faculty office to argue about grades for some, and to be fair, I don't want to discourage anyone.
With that said, here's what pisses me off: A student emails or initiates a conversation about a grade with the direct or indirect statement that I have somehow been unfair or unethical or incompetent because I took off too many points. 90% of these conversations end with no change of grade because nothing is deserved, and the attitude seems to be just a bargaining chip to try to get some points.
I look at all grade revision situations the same way. I look at it fresh and see if I gave a reasonable score. If I took off too few points, I will never adjust a grade downward. If I took off too many, I will revise to the new grade as needed. Simple as that. And I tell students this after I hand back almost every exam, so much that I'm sure they're tired of hearing the script. And if I end up giving points back, I almost always apologize for making the mistake in the first place and inconveniencing the student.
My favorite is the student who can't be bothered to attend class to pick up an exam and so shows up at my office while I'm busy, asking me to dig up an exam from 3+ weeks ago that she just remembered she didn't get back. And then she wants a full explanation of all points taken off. I tell her that the full solutions are posted on the web, please look at those and then we can talk about your dispute. Nope, not good enough, this is unfair and you took off way too many points and you need to talk to me about this right now.
Ok, fine. Here. This part is incorrect, and that's about 1/3 of the entire solution. From there, you made another mistake and completely made up this equation, which doesn't represent any real situation and has never been a part of any homework. That's about another 1/3 of the solution. Here is a simple arithmetic error worth a few percentage points of the problem. And then your answer is about two orders of magnitude off from what you could have estimated from the beginning.
And I only took off 40% of the points.
If you are satisfied, I strongly recommend you now go download the solution, which I told you to do in the first place, and study it before the final exam.
Is there anything else I can help you with, given my "go to hell" facial expression? No? Thanks, see you later.
Posted by Observer at April 30, 2008 02:35 PMComments on entries can only be made in pop-up windows while those entries are still on the main index page. Sorry for the inconvenience this causes, but this blocks about 99.99% of the spam the blog receives.
Does it make me an insensitive person to laugh at that? Ugh. Arrogance is amazing. Too funny.
Does it give you a certain amount of pleasure though to sort of rub their face in their own misplaced self confidence about their grades?
Posted by: Liz on May 1, 2008 10:50 AMWhen a student has self-confidence about their grades, I'm totally cool with that, whether it is misplaced or not. It's amusing, that's for sure.
When a student comes in to my office with the assumption that I am unethical, dishonest, biased, incompetent or some combination of those things, I take pleasure in constructing a little cartoon hangman of them right in front of their eyes like magic using only objective facts.
I am totally fair and objective to all students about their grades (at least to the best of my ability ... nobody's perfect) because it is the right thing to do. The fact that this practice automatically gives me the high ground in any grade-based dispute is just an added bonus.
Posted by: Observer on May 1, 2008 11:23 AMAt least you teach a class that is largely measurable on paper. I hate giving grades for my high school chorus. It's basically very easy on my end because it's all based on participation and ensemble discipline, but kids don't see themselves with the same lens as their hard-assed director. Someday they'll thank me for it. (but not to my face, I bet. :P)
Here's my usual conversation with such students:
"Mrs. E, I don't like my grade."
"I see. Why do you think it's incorrect?"
"Because I'm a good singer."
"Ok, let me grab the syllabus.... Participation: 30%, and you did well in that area. Ensemble effort: Did you read that section?"
"Well yeah once, at the beginning of the year... But I'm a good singer!"
"I know you sing well. What did you learn at the beginning of the year about ensemble rehearsal technique?"
"yeah, I know. But I'm a good singer."
"And next year you'll be a good singer AND a good member of the ensemble and get the grade you think you deserve."
"Yeah. Ok."
Posted by: Perkusi on May 4, 2008 05:47 PM