[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
My English class syllabus said "All asignments are graded on a curve. When I got my first paper back, the grade was B++. WTF, there is no such grade.
“How many people got As?”, I asked. “None”, the TA said (out of 300 people in this big survey class). WTF, doesn’t a curve mean there will be an A? A least one?
I complained to the professor. Total wase of time. It turned out they wanted to provide an “incentive” for students to put more thought into the class. It was my incentive to drop it. At least I got an early warning; sucks that you got jerked around too late to do anything about it.
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Reminds me of the TA last quarter that gave an “objective” and “subjective” grade and that the subjective was the one that really counted (he didn’t even average them). I got a paper back that said 93/89 ob/sub. Meaning I got an A objectively, but he gave me a B just because he wanted to. Fucking twerp. When I asked him about it, he said “Oh, you deserve an A, but not everyone can have one - your paper is really brilliant though!” Gee thanks. Take a shower, you greasy mod nerd. (Also a 200+ survey class.)
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin]
Reminds me of the TA last quarter that gave an “objective” and “subjective” grade and that the subjective was the one that really counted (he didn’t even average them). I got a paper back that said 93/89 ob/sub. Meaning I got an A objectively, but he gave me a B just because he wanted to. Fucking twerp. When I asked him about it, he said “Oh, you deserve an A, but not everyone can have one - your paper is really brilliant though!” Gee thanks. Take a shower, you greasy mod nerd. (Also a 200+ survey class.)
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Well, if it was a 200+ level survey class, chances are that this TA answers to a professor, right?
In which case, the TA is probably not the person who decides that not everyone can have an A. The grade allocation and distribution in survey classes with TAs are generally determined in direct consultation with the professor, and the professor has the final say. Not only that, but some departments, and even some institutions, have rules about grading on a curve. In such cases, the professors and/or TAs are often not allowed to give out more than a certain percentage of A’s, even if they want to.
Personally, i hate this policy. If everyone deserves an A, everyone should get one; if everyone deserves a D, everyone should get one. But i doubt that your TA was the person making policy in this case. If he was told that only 10% of the class can get an A, you were at the 12% level, he might have had no choice.
Oh, and to the OP: i’d still complain to someone higher up, if i were you. This is the sort of thing that professors should get right, and if they get it wrong then students shouldn’t be penalized for it.
Personally, i hate this policy. If everyone deserves an A, everyone should get one; if everyone deserves a D, everyone should get one. But i doubt that your TA was the person making policy in this case. If he was told that only 10% of the class can get an A, you were at the 12% level, he might have had no choice.
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I dislike it as well. No idea what the prof had in mind - the syllabus didn’t note a grading scheme like this and I had never seen this grading scheme elsewhere in my department (this was a class for my major, even UD classes don’t grade on a curve). The prof. seemed disengaged with the class as a whole - the guy just didn’t give a shit, probably close to retirement.
The way the TA explained it seemed to communicate it was his personal grading style for the students in his section. ISTM that TAs have at least a little bit of autonomy in grading their sections.
Ah well. Should have taken it to the prof. - didn’t - tough noogies for me.
[QUOTE=mhendo]
Oh, and to the OP: i’d still complain to someone higher up, if i were you. This is the sort of thing that professors should get right, and if they get it wrong then students shouldn’t be penalized for it.
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This morning, after waiting 5 days to hear back from him about scheduling a time to take the second CBE, I was fed up and contacted the chair of the department by e-mail. One of the main points of the letter was that the professor’s e-mail to me was the equivalent of a syllabus, and was essentially a written contract regarding the CBEs, of which the professor was not keeping his end.
This evening I received an annoyed and defensive e-mail from the professor saying that he didn’t think it was necessary to make this a departmental matter and searching for every possible way to blame me for the situation…
…and then he told me he had re-graded the exam at the request of the chair, disregarding the information from the final 3 chapters.
Congradulations, little brother!! I am happy to hear that you are official! You handled the situation in a mannor that was respectful but not just laying down and taking it. Way to give 'em hell!
Yeah, and what are the odds he’d have budged off his ass if you hadn’t made it a “departmental matter”. :rolleyes: Kudos to you for keeping up the pressure on the Prof and getting him to make good on the exam.
Hey, so you get to graduate - many congratulations to you.
[QUOTE=phungi]
Taking a (possibly less popular) different slant on this:
Why are you asking the prof to e-mail you what chapters to study on a final cumulative exam?
Doesn’t the syllabus cover this?
Doesn’t the course content cover this?
Why would poor performance on only 3 out of 38 cumulative chapters cause you to fail, as this is only about 8% of the content.
Me thinks there might be more to this story…
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None of my courses in the US had syllabi or anything. Being used to having them at the very least in the freaking BOE (the same government publication which prints new laws), I really missed them. I say at the very least because they get published there only if there is a revamp big enough to need Ministry of Education approval; in my case I entered college in 1986 and studied under the 1954 “plan” - the updated plan was published by the school every year.
Any time I tried to find out what was included in a given course, I had to find the professor and talk to him. With one glorious exception (thanks, Dr. Engelhardt), I then had to explain very slowly that I was not interested in the course unless it was new material. That’s right, I’d rather not take courses that I already passed. Thank you!
