Have you finished grading yet?Why are my participation points so low (even though you answered this question at midterm and showed me what I needed to do better for the second half)?
What do I need to do to pass this class (all of which is on my syllabus and was a question I needed to take up with you weeks ago)?
Will you give me extra credit to make up for the work I didn't do (even though the syllabus says there's no extra credit)?
Why didn't you make my teammate collaborate with us (although I know you sent out several class emails on the subject and also contacted that person privately)?
I really didn't understand the research assignment (that we've been working on all term). Why didn't you explain it to me better (aside from the detailed instructions on the sheet, the custom newsletters in the email, and office hours and the time set aside for conferences I didn't take advantage of, that is)?
Why did you assign so much more work than Dr. Easy A? (My friend who took this class said we did way more reading and writing than she did. She got to do all multiple choice tests except for one short paper.)
Why did you make me feel stupid when I asked you a question? (You told me to look on my syllabus on Page X for the answer, but I am very busy and don't have time to be looking for these things.)
Would you be able to meet with me before the final, since I think I found some points that you should give back to me that you marked wrong on the tests (that we go over the day returned and it has been weeks since the last exam)?
ReplyDeleteWhat's your office number again? My dad would like to stop by.
ReplyDelete"Why didn't you make my teammate...?"
ReplyDeleteI can kind of sympathize with this one. I hated group projects with a passion, and there was nothing I hated more than receiving a lower grade because some passive agressive/lazy douchebag wouldn't pull his fucking weight.
@ Joe,
ReplyDeleteCaptain Subtext would probably translate this as: "I changed my answers on my exams and you can't prove otherwise. Give me my points back or I will get you fired."
Hmm... I suddenly have an idea for an early thirsty.
Since I'm required to assign collaborative work to demonstrate student engagement, I tell the students about this up front (because I know some of my colleagues ignore the requirement), and I encourage them to seek out Professor Easy A if they have issues with this, I see it more as they had a choice and got what they signed up for. I can't make anyone do diddly (hence my disgust for the "instructor motivated me to learn" question on the student survey), but what I can do is set up the assignment so that it's not just the same grade for everyone, individual accountability makes up the majority of the grade, and students get to rate their teammates as part of the final grade.
ReplyDelete@EMH
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely correct.
How interesting that the grubber in question decided he needed those points now. I wonder if the exact amount of points he "deserved" would put his grade at EXACTLY passing going into the final?
Answer: yes.
Result: no soup for him
Oh yeah - he had "proof". Another student would vouch for him. That student is failing also. He also has point issues. He at least could have bribed a good student.
@Ruby from Richmond
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? I dream of having a student's parents indignantly demand that I give their snowflake a better grade. I would take great delight in calmly and courteously making clear that they were pissing into the wind, and that I had absolutely no intention of taking their arguments into consideration when making decisions about grades.
(actual email I just received)
ReplyDeleteGood Afternoon Ms XXXX
I hope this email finds you well. I have been checking for my grades as i approach graduation and i was wondering if you have posted the grade and i am missing it or when the grade would be posted. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best,
(no signature)
----
Okay, what she means is "Why haven't you posted the grade when I turned my paper in late AND 24 hours BEFORE the university deadline? I can do things at the last minute, you, professor XX, cannot."
I wonder if she is also worried about preparing her parents for the worst...
EnglishDoc, that's how I do group assignments too -- and extra credit goes to those who pull someone else's weight. It makes a world of difference.
ReplyDeleteI, too, allow students some input on their group members' grades: a ballot on which they can vote whether each member should get between 90 and 110% of the final group grade (the total percentages allotted have to add up to # of group members x 100). For end-of-the semester projects, I handed out the ballots on the second of two days of group presentations -- and warned everyone on the first day that I would do so, which produced a bit of eye-rolling and groaning, but also rueful head-shakes of agreement among those who had considered already completed their presentations and had planned to skip (they got why I was doing it, and agreed it was fair; what I didn't tell them was that this was also my way of guaranteeing a reasonable number of completed student evals).
ReplyDeleteSo what do I get today, a few hours after I posted the grades that make use of those multipliers? An email from a snowflake asking where the multiplier for this assignment came from, "since we didn't do the ballot this time." I explained, very neutrally, that we had, on the last day, and that I had announced my intention to do so on the 2nd-to-last day. I didn't tell him that the 2 members of his group who were there had savaged him on the ballots, and that I had actually adjusted his multiplier upward by several points, on the theory that failure to attend on a single day shouldn't carry quite so heavy a penalty.
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ReplyDeleteAs an English professor I deal with ALL of these things...however, my "favourite" grade-grubbing anecdote comes from when I was an undergraduate (I majored in Astrophysics). There was a fellow female student who, if she disliked a grade she received on an assignment (and she disliked everything under a 95), would go see the professor and argue *every single score point.* She literally would refuse to leave or shut up until she'd finagled a few more points from the professor. I know this because there was many the time when I sat outside a prof's office for more than an hour listening to her do this.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, and she'd wear her shortest skirt and highest heels for every one of these "meetings." *ugh*