Time for a story/question.

c0r version: Student unhappy with grades that aren't that important goes to head prof. to dispute them. She loses, but is cut slack for the clear effort she put in. Is this the kind of behavior that lowers academic standards and allows dumb kids (exactly like me) to get degrees?

I had a meeting today with two professors and a freshman student who felt her papers were being graded too harshly. These are basically 1-2 page writing assignments designed to make sure kids are doing the reading, nothing more, and in the grand scheme of things worth a combined total of about 15% of a students grade.

The way I look at grading such papers is as such: if you did the reading and literally just regurgitated the main points to me in almost the exact same words as the reading, you get a C. Rephrasing the points in your own words so that it's clear the concepts are understood will get a B, and showing a clear understanding of the material as well as adding some sort of personal support or criticism that is coherent will earn an A.

This girl has gotten a C on all of them and apparently didn't like any comments given to her, so it was definitely well within her right to express concern to the course professor and department chair. Once they saw her work and my comments/grades/etc., they both agreed with my assessment and we basically just had to have a meeting to clear the air. It was very polite and for the most part went well, but here's the thing - with exams she's borderline between a C and B no matter the score on the final, and so the two professors asked if I thought the effort she put in warranted bumping her to a B for sure. It's an intro course, so I obviously said yes.

Am I contributing to low academic standards?

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Originally posted by RJT Time for a story/question. c0r version: Student unhappy with grades that aren't that important goes to head prof. to dispute them. She loses, but is cut slack for the clear effort she put in. Is this the kind of behavior that lowers academic standards and allows dumb kids (exactly like me) to get degrees? I had a meeting today with two professors and a freshman student who felt her papers were being graded too harshly. These are basically 1-2 page writing assignments designed to make sure kids are doing the reading, nothing more, and in the grand scheme of things worth a combined total of about 15% of a students grade. The way I look at grading such papers is as such: if you did the reading and literally just regurgitated the main points to me in almost the exact same words as the reading, you get a C. Rephrasing the points in your own words so that it's clear the concepts are understood will get a B, and showing a clear understanding of the material as well as adding some sort of personal support or criticism that is coherent will earn an A. This girl has gotten a C on all of them and apparently didn't like any comments given to her, so it was definitely well within her right to express concern to the course professor and department chair. Once they saw her work and my comments/grades/etc., they both agreed with my assessment and we basically just had to have a meeting to clear the air. It was very polite and for the most part went well, but here's the thing - with exams she's borderline between a C and B no matter the score on the final, and so the two professors asked if I thought the effort she put in warranted bumping her to a B for sure. It's an intro course, so I obviously said yes. Am I contributing to low academic standards?

I wouldn't say your contributing per se, but I don't think that people should be given grades that they don't work for either. Although I do think that some profs are much to critical in some aspects of writing if they don't also give the help which that person needs to develop further and improve their skills. On that note, I don't think that you made a poor decision in agreeing with your professor to bump to a B, as she was borderline. Anything could have bumped her just barely enough to get that B.

edit//The only concern I would have, is where do you draw the line?

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Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

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Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.

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Originally posted by gehzumteufel I wouldn't say your contributing per se, but I don't think that people should be given grades that they don't work for either. Although I do think that some profs are much to critical in some aspects of writing if they don't also give the help which that person needs to develop further and improve their skills. On that note, I don't think that you made a poor decision in agreeing with your professor to bump to a B, as she was borderline. Anything could have bumped her just barely enough to get that B.

In the end it was the fact that she'd never missed a class, handed in everything by the deadlines, and genuinely worked harder than I think a C would reflect.

She isn't a major, just interested in philosophy and filling out first year credits. I figure the grades on the papers still stand, but as they aren't weighted much to begin with, it isn't that unreasonable that she'd wind up with a B instead of a C.

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Originally posted by RJT In the end it was the fact that she'd never missed a class, handed in everything by the deadlines, and genuinely worked harder than I think a C would reflect. She isn't a major, just interested in philosophy and filling out first year credits. I figure the grades on the papers still stand, but as they aren't weighted much to begin with, it isn't that unreasonable that she'd wind up with a B instead of a C.

Then really, I think you probably made a good decision. Neither is really better or worse for either side, but it seems she made more than a concerted effort to just pass the class for credit.

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Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

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Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.

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Originally posted by gehzumteufel Then really, I think you probably made a good decision. Neither is really better or worse for either side, but it seems she made more than a concerted effort to just pass the class for credit.

If it were someone who was even considering declaring phil as a major I might have swung the other way, but yeah - she's probably put more effort in than a lot of the people who will get A's.

Was just a weird decision, hadn't ever really considered it before this came up yesterday.

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Originally posted by RJT Am I contributing to low academic standards?

Who cares? Seriously... B or C makes pretty much no difference in the real world. Unless she's competing to get into a graduate program her marks really don't matter, as long as she gets a D- in everything she'll earn her degree... employers don't ask for transcripts.

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Originally posted by RickyM you're just a shit version of Moral Hazard. At least he knows what he's talking about.

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN lol, i love it when moral feels the need to lay the smack down

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Originally posted by RJT If it were someone who was even considering declaring phil as a major I might have swung the other way, but yeah - she's probably put more effort in than a lot of the people who will get A's. Was just a weird decision, hadn't ever really considered it before this came up yesterday.

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Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

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Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.

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Originally posted by Moral Hazard Who cares? Seriously... B or C makes pretty much no difference in the real world. Unless she's competing to get into a graduate program her marks really don't matter, as long as she gets a D- in everything she'll earn her degree... employers don't ask for transcripts.

I don't know - I mean I know it's not a "big deal" in any kind of life-altering sense, it was just an awkward/different decision than I had ever made before.

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Its a she?


pics or stfu

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Originally posted by ******** Seplling don't demonstrate intelligence and educatoin - knowing does.

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Originally posted by Clovis Its a she? pics or stfu

You don't want them.

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Originally posted by RJT You don't want them.

That bad eh? lol

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Originally posted by bas Dual exhaust tips on dual exhaust = QUAD EXHAUST = 300 gain in horsepower. Duh

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Originally posted by bas Undies with a dickhole aren't good for guys. Your balls can get caught in them. That's why I prefer to go over the gate instead of through the fence.