Academic Appeal?

[BK2681]

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I was looking for some feedback from SDN about the following situation.

I took my O Chem lab final recently and there were two forms for the exam. Form A and form B. I had form B. One of the questions said "show how you would synthesize the following molecule from the reagents provided in the box". I worked on the problem for 20 minutes and could not get an answer. With about 25 min remaining in the exam, the professor announced that he made an error on one of the reagents in the box on form B and drew a corrected reagent on the board. The problem still didn't work out. 10 minutes after the first correction, he said "I'm sorry, I made an error on the corrected reagent" and he corrected the initial corrected reagent on the board. The problem finally made sense and worked out, but I had used a lot of my time working on that one problem and had to rush through the rest of the exam. I had an A going into the final, but now I'm afraid the final could drop me to a B. Do I have a valid case for an appeal? The mistake was only on form B. Form A had no mistakes. The problem in question was worth 25% of the total exam grade.

 

[mcloaf]

I would definitely talk to the professor--that is bull**** if it affects your grade.

 

[Nissan GTR]

So he didn't give the correct reagent until there were 15 minutes left in the exam? Yea that is pretty ****ed up.

 

[BABSstudent]

If it drops your grade, I would talk to him.

 

[911 Turbo]

lolz ur professor messed up pretty badly



but you did too, you should have went on to other problems.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Why would form b not be curved separately?

 

[BK2681]

So he didn't give the correct reagent until there were 15 minutes left in the exam? Yea that is pretty ****ed up.

Yup. He initially drew a corrected reagent on the board but that corrected reagent still did not work out. Then about 10 min after he drew that "corrected reagent" on the board, he noted that he drew that reagent wrong and finally drew the corrected reagent that made the problem work out on the board. He gave the same amount of time to people with form A as people with form B.

Looking at my universities academic appeal criteria, it says "a student may appeal a grade based on 1) prejudiced or capricious evaluation or 2) the instructor's allegedly inability to speak the English language to the extent necessary to adequately instruct students." Would this fall under prejudice or capricious evaluation?

 

[coffeesnob]

lolz ur professor messed up pretty badly



but you did too, you should have went on to other problems.

Haha yeah.. If I were the OP, I would have moved on and come back to the problematic question after finishing the rest.

Well, OP...What has happened has happened.. So sorry about that. But find other classmates who had Form B with the similar concerns and talk to the prof as a group.

If your grade drops, then you should patiently explain the situation to the professor and see what he says... Good luck.

 

[Loveless]

Holy ****, if that was me, I'd be in rage mode. He should definitely work something out with the students who were given form B, and if not, I think you have grounds to contest the grade if it ends up being a B.

 

[survivordo]

If your prof doesn't make it right and it really does end up affecting your grade then you certainly seem to have grounds for some kinda appeal. But I would wait until you get your grade back before you go into Hulk Mode. This kinda thing happens from time to time and profs have a way of making it right. Trust me, I am sure you are not the only one who had From B that is worried about this!

Survivor DO

 

[BK2681]

lolz ur professor messed up pretty badly



but you did too, you should have went on to other problems.

Ya looking back at it now, I should have moved on, but I stayed on the question for awhile because it was worth 1/4 of the overall grade. It's just frustrating because it's not like I didn't know how to do the problem. There was just no possible way to do the problem!

 

[JohnFe]

Ya looking back at it now, I should have moved on, but I stayed on the question for awhile because it was worth 1/4 of the overall grade. It's just frustrating because it's not like I didn't know how to do the problem. There was just no possible way to do the problem!

Don't be afraid to talk to your professors.

Things you may consider before appealing,

1. Talk to your professor first
2. Go with a group to strengthen your case
3. Professionally explain what happened during the exam.
4. Offer possible solution
5. If it did not work out, file a group appeal with your classmates.

 

[Nissan GTR]

Don't be afraid to talk to your professors.

Things you may consider before appealing,

1. Talk to your professor first
2. Go with a group to strengthen your case
3. Professionally explain what happened during the exam.
4. Offer possible solution
5. If it did not work out, file a group appeal with your classmates.

This.

 

[BK2681]

Don't be afraid to talk to your professors.

Things you may consider before appealing,

1. Talk to your professor first
2. Go with a group to strengthen your case
3. Professionally explain what happened during the exam.
4. Offer possible solution
5. If it did not work out, file a group appeal with your classmates.

Ya the final grades are released tomorrow morning and he has office hours tomorrow afternoon. In order to even file an appeal with the university, you first have to talk to the professor and if that doesn't work, you have to talk to the department chair, and if that doesn't work you can file an appeal.

I'm hoping for the best, but if I do end up with a B, I am going to talk with him for sure. But I'm not expecting much from him, seeing that this professor is a total ass. He once stopped his lecture and threatened to call the police and have a girl removed who was taking pictures of the lecture slides...

 

[mimelim]

Were you put at a disadvantage compared to other students by this? If everyone faced the same testing circumstances, it is very difficult to believe that anything can be changed. If this is a curved class, I would even complain if I were someone that did well on the exam and other people's grades were changed shifting the curve because they complained about something that everyone had to deal with.

Edit: Misread the question. The fairest thing to do for the entire class is to drop that entire question.

 

[DokterMom]

There were two versions of the exam - right? Would you be willing to go back tomorrow and take version A? Seems like a reasonable offer, and one that would demonstrate your sincerity.

 

[amazing tekkers]

He once stopped his lecture and threatened to call the police and have a girl removed who was taking pictures of the lecture slides...

A bad move, but that still shouldn't be reason to attack his character. He is the professor after all and you are the student.

 

[BK2681]

There were two versions of the exam - right? Would you be willing to go back tomorrow and take version A? Seems like a reasonable offer, and one that would demonstrate your sincerity.

Absolutely. Had I not have had to keep going back and looking at that question every time he made a correction to the exam, I would have finished the exam. When he called time, only people with form B were left. But I doubt that would happen, seeing that there were 250 people in the class and half of them had form B with the mistake on it.

A bad move, but that still shouldn't be reason to attack his character. He is the professor after all and you are the student.

True. I'm going to approach this matter in a professional way.

By the way, my grade was just posted and I now have an 89% in the class. However, this is based off the TA's grading and the head professor of the class (who is actually a grad student?) says that he will be going through grades tonight and posting final letter grades tomorrow morning. I'm hoping he does the right thing and takes his huge mistake into account when issuing the final letter grades...

 

[khrisskhoras]

Ya I would definitely appeal this in the worst case. Hopefully it works out, but if it doesn't its not the end of the world.

 

[DocGodfather]

I would go to his office tomorrow if your grade dropped from an A. Explain to him how much time you used up trying to calculate the question he made a mistake on twice. I think he'll be understanding about your valid issue.

 

[thesauce]

You definitely have a solid appeal if it comes to that

 

[BK2681]

Well I just got back from his office hours. He said he is not giving me the A. He said 1. I should have raised my hand to alert him to the error earlier. 2. That I should have known what he forgot to put on one of the reagents? So now I am supposed to read his mind?

He said I was not put at a disadvantage because he corrected the error during the test. But he messed up correcting it! I had to go back and work this problem 3 times because of this.

According to my university policy, I have to first contact the instructor, then the department chair, and then I can file an appeal. The instructor said it was fair but I don't think so. I am in the process of contacting the department chair and am requesting that my grade be based off my grade before my final.

 

[mcloaf]

Definitely contact the chair, your instructor sounds like a douche.

As advised before, see if you can get some other students with the same complaint to back you up.

 

[DAPI]

Well I just got back from his office hours. He said he is not giving me the A. He said 1. I should have raised my hand to alert him to the error earlier. 2. That I should have known what he forgot to put on one of the reagents? So now I am supposed to read his mind?

He said I was not put at a disadvantage because he corrected the error during the test. But he messed up correcting it! I had to go back and work this problem 3 times because of this.

According to my university policy, I have to first contact the instructor, then the department chair, and then I can file an appeal. The instructor said it was fair but I don't think so. I am in the process of contacting the department chair and am requesting that my grade be based off my grade before my final.

That sucks.

Before contacting the department chair, I would think about trying to contact other students who had test B and see if there are others who got screwed. Having 3-5 students saying the same thing is a lot better than being a lone wolf.

 

[DocGodfather]

Well I just got back from his office hours. He said he is not giving me the A. He said 1. I should have raised my hand to alert him to the error earlier. 2. That I should have known what he forgot to put on one of the reagents? So now I am supposed to read his mind?

He said I was not put at a disadvantage because he corrected the error during the test. But he messed up correcting it! I had to go back and work this problem 3 times because of this.

According to my university policy, I have to first contact the instructor, then the department chair, and then I can file an appeal. The instructor said it was fair but I don't think so. I am in the process of contacting the department chair and am requesting that my grade be based off my grade before my final.

You have nothing to lose if you fight it, unless you have to take him again. Keep us updated on what transpires. Handle it 👍

 

[BK2681]

Well after a friend told a friend and so on that I was going to file an appeal, I had 13 people email me asking to get in on the appeal. I emailed the professor this morning notifying him that I am in the process of filing an academic appeal (it's required at my school to first let the professor know of your intent of filing an appeal) with 13 other people. I got an email from him this afternoon saying that he will now only use the grade on the final in calculating final grades if it helps your overall score. If it brings you down, you get the grade you had before the final. So I now have an A in the class.

Thanks for the feedback from everyone regarding this issue!

 

[Nissan GTR]

Well after a friend told a friend and so on that I was going to file an appeal, I had 13 people email me asking to get in on the appeal. I emailed the professor this morning notifying him that I am in the process of filing an academic appeal (it's required at my school to first let the professor know of your intent of filing an appeal) with 13 other people. I got an email from him this afternoon saying that he will now only use the grade on the final in calculating final grades if it helps your overall score. If it brings you down, you get the grade you had before the final. So I now have an A in the class.

Thanks for the feedback from everyone regarding this issue!

👍

 

[DocGodfather]

Well after a friend told a friend and so on that I was going to file an appeal, I had 13 people email me asking to get in on the appeal. I emailed the professor this morning notifying him that I am in the process of filing an academic appeal (it's required at my school to first let the professor know of your intent of filing an appeal) with 13 other people. I got an email from him this afternoon saying that he will now only use the grade on the final in calculating final grades if it helps your overall score. If it brings you down, you get the grade you had before the final. So I now have an A in the class.

Thanks for the feedback from everyone regarding this issue!

Congrats 👍