The minute grades are posted "hardworking" students seem to come out of the woodwork. I always give them the same basic "Here's what the syllabus says ..." email indicating how course grades are computed. But usually I get an email back indicating how the student worked so hard and doesn't deserve an [insert course grade here].
I then go back and look at the grades for the submitted work and the student always has piss poor exam scores, homework scores, and didn't do any of the review problems. But I find this data only moderately reassuring.
But this year a little different. This has been the year of bitch to the chair student(s)/parent(s). Obviously all these complaints must be taken seriously for the first nanosecond. I mean Ted Kaczynski used to teach at Berkley maybe some lives could have been saved. But when the chair gets involved I start to feel rather defensive and I'm not sure why. The students exam scores and homework scores do the talking for me. Plus my chair is very pro-faculty in the grand scheme of things.
I find myself obsessing over every detail of the student's record. Today I actually looked at the log info on the online homework submission system for one of these whiners. It was just as I suspected. The student wouldn't start his homework until more than 60% of the assignment time had elapsed. This is the nail in the coffin of his "but I worked really hard" argument. Yet I still feel like I have something I must prove.
Question: Am I just crazy or do you all feel this way, too?
Answer: Answer in the comments below.
It completely depends on the student. The average layabout just wanting to get a requirement out of the way? No dice, kiddo. You only care about results (i.e. passing the class and getting on with your life), so let's talk results--them numbers don' lie.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a student who shows a genuine enthusiasm for what we're doing, comes to office hours, and seems like a good egg all around might tickle the withered black raisin of my heart with that argument. But, in my experience, these are seldom the students that try that tactic because, y'know, they're the *good* students.
And then there are the even rarer exceptions, when students seem to be genuinely trying and engaged, but also incurably dense. I had one of those in one of my classes this semester. Always wanting to discuss the reading, always raising her hand in class, but also dull as dishwater and couldn't write her way out of a tired cliche. Not sure what I'd do in that situation.
Don't worry. Drink some eggnog. Or just straight whiskey. If people see you worrying, they'll assume you genuinely have something to worry about, as if you aren't confident that you evaluated the students' performance correctly. Grade carefully and fairly then let the chips fall when they may.
ReplyDeleteI'll second BB's suggestion: go have a drink, and stop worrying.
ReplyDeleteYou'll burn yourself out on a bunch of people who don't deserve the angst you're generating.
ReplyDeleteMy life became much easier when I (not just for marking) assumed the attitude(s) of: (1) if they don't care, why should I? (2) I'll put into marking the assignment what they put into writing the assignment.
I don't usually worry about this because I don't usually get much blowback at the end of the semester.
ReplyDeleteI think there are reasons for this. There's a whole section on the syllabus about preparing for the final grade, and on the first day of class I basically say that the grade they get is all about math. Whatever number gets spit out, translates to a grade, and I can't change their grade unless they can change math.
Also, all my grades are up on blackboard, all the time. In the past this was not the case, so students often felt blindsided by their final grade. Now, they don't.
The only way they can change their grade is if I made a mistake; otherwise they know it's pretty useless to ask. I had one student ask this semester, and she was very courteous about it. Of course the answer is still "no".
While I was teaching, I eventually got to the point that I'd calculate the student grades and then submit them. After that, I didn't care what happened.
ReplyDeleteUsually, there was someone who would whine that I'd made a mistake or had singled them out for one reason or another and they didn't deserve what they got. Unfortunately, they often didn't talk to me first and the department head would get involved. Guess who'd win?
I'm sure that if I'd stayed in that teaching job for a year longer, I'd have become an alcoholic.
I love our Blackboard-like course management system that lets them see what grade they have all through the quarter and assigns letter grades according to percentages. Only once have I made a genuine mistake and corrected it, and so I invite them to review their grades and make sure everything is posted correctly at midterms and right before the final. Then, the end, and no complaints thereafter.
ReplyDeleteMy policy is that I will only discuss grades in an appointment, never over e-mail. If students e-mail me about their grades, I ignore it. Once they ask me about it before class, then I tell them to make an appointment. It's remarkable at how much complaining this cuts down on. This would perhaps not work so well at the end of the semster for final grades though.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it sounds like you keep detailed records. Remember the old adage: a coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but one. You are not a coward. You don't need to die a thousand deaths over this.
ReplyDeleteI send them one e-mail telling them to check the syllabus, where their grades are fully explained. Then I tell them that I have careful records regarding every grade they were assigned in the class. I tell them if they want to challenge their grade, they can do that. I will bring my careful records, and they can bring theirs, and we can both see what the Chair decides.
I have never had a student take it farther than that. But if I did, we'd go at it, and I would win. Full stop.
And I put my auto response message up on e-mail just as soon as I am allowed. And I never answer e-mails after that---not ones about grades anyway.
I also have a section in my syllabus entitled: Grades: Negotiation procedures. Under that heading, I have a single sentence. "I do not negotiate."
ReplyDeleteWell, the worry here is that a meme is going around the classroom: "Professor CMP sucks! He grades all of us too hard and doesn't appreciate the work we do! No point going to him - let's all tell the chair how we feel."
ReplyDeleteIf it were a single student, or if you're sure that the cases are unrelated.. no worries, as Ben says. On the other hand, if you have a disgruntled contingent, then diffusion might be important. (One way I have of doing this is to bravo loudly the excellent marks achieved in exams where a lot of students did badly - this keeps the under-performers thinking each of them is an isolated case, rather than colluding to see a pattern.)
HA Dr. Nathaniel---I have done that too----when a lot of people in the class sucked, I reference the fact that there were a number of 100s, 95s (if there really were----there usually are, though) so they won't go into that lynch mob mode.
ReplyDeleteStill, I put so much work into my exams (the place for me where such a thing is most likely to happen)--making sure they are fair, making sure they are the proper length, comparing them to other exams, test running them on the short side and working my way up. I just don't have a lot of sympathy---even if 2/3 of the class did fail. Hey, sometimes 2/3 of the class just need to fail.
Having been in a similar situation all too often, the angst is not about the student grades themselves, or even the students generally. For me, it was always about the involvement of others....like the chair. I have had excellent chairs who supported me and my grading method, etc. And then I have had complete assholes (as chairs and colleagues) who disregarded my pedagogy, my grading scale, demeaned me in meetings, etc. THAT's the fear. THAT is where the anxiety lies. Once that happens to you, you're always afraid it will happen again. And it's crippling.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, try not to anticipate any problems and just get on with it. You've done your job properly, the students have feedback, they know their grades. If they failed, YOU did not fail them; they most likely failed themselves and are just projecting their disappointment back on you. If you have supportive colleagues, you don't have to worry about these students any more. At least until they re-take the class with you next term. D'oh!