Is this really fair?!

[EyEnStein 07]

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Take it over to the chem department. Im all for helping others out...but if it comes to a point where you are busy with your own work...its hard to bring someone to your level as that stuff takes time.

Your paying your school to learn and get the grades you deserve, not teach someone in your group the material. Thats what tutors are for, people hired to do the work. Your class should all complain about this to him as well.

 

[caseofthemndays]

i honestly think the guy is doing an educational experiment and f*cking with your heads, to give incentive for students to help each other. but in the end everyone will get the grade they deserve, and you'll get an A. some TAs love to scare people about their grades.. i wouldn't worry. bet you anything i'm right.

Totally agree. He'll make it right in the end. I hope.

 

[Compass]

Life isn't. I lost a LETTER grade simply because I didn't turn in an assignment through a plagiarism prevention website.

 

[seelee]

Life isn't. I lost a LETTER grade simply because I didn't turn in an assignment through a plagiarism prevention website.

Totally irrelevant. The OP is studying and completing his work. You failed to follow instructions. Where is the similarity?

 

[vin5cent0]

My lab partner and I spoke to our teacher again today (it's not a TA who did this). He agreed to look into it and talk to us next week.

For those saying to "suck it up and teach him", you don't understand the situation. I myself barely understand what is going on. It's taking me hours each night of studying to grasp the material. I'm in no position to be teaching someone else!

Not only that, but my good partner is a pre-med student, and the other is just a "regular" biology student. The one doing poorly said at the beginning of the year that he would be perfectly content with a C in the class. Obviously the other guy and I feel differently. It's impossible to teach someone who has no incentive or desire to do better than "ok".

 

[deleted74029]

My lab partner and I spoke to our teacher again today (it's not a TA who did this). He agreed to look into it and talk to us next week.

For those saying to "suck it up and teach him", you don't understand the situation. I myself barely understand what is going on. It's taking me hours each night of studying to grasp the material. I'm in no position to be teaching someone else!

Not only that, but my good partner is a pre-med student, and the other is just a "regular" biology student. The one doing poorly said at the beginning of the year that he would be perfectly content with a C in the class. Obviously the other guy and I feel differently. It's impossible to teach someone who has no incentive or desire to do better than "ok".

Hope things work out for you, and some of these posters are being ridiculous. I'm sure none of them would like it if their MCAT scores were averaged with their lesser counterparts. You should definitely keep fighting until things get changed in that lab.

 

[UC pre med]

Sounds dumb, you should only be down-graded for something that you dont know, not something that your partner doesn't know. But I guess you have to cut your losses and explain it to your dumb lab partner since the prof's can apparently do whatever they want.

 

[njbmd]

My lab partner and I spoke to our teacher again today (it's not a TA who did this). He agreed to look into it and talk to us next week.

For those saying to "suck it up and teach him", you don't understand the situation. I myself barely understand what is going on. It's taking me hours each night of studying to grasp the material. I'm in no position to be teaching someone else!

Not only that, but my good partner is a pre-med student, and the other is just a "regular" biology student. The one doing poorly said at the beginning of the year that he would be perfectly content with a C in the class. Obviously the other guy and I feel differently. It's impossible to teach someone who has no incentive or desire to do better than "ok".

Your problem is that your professor has chosen to grade your "group" participation by giving your "group" a single grade that is a composite of your individual grades. That's the problem for you.

The solution is that if you want your "group" grade to be higher, you have to make sure that everyone in your group does well. The solution is NOT to make excuses for what you have decided you "can't do" but to get the job done.

Whether it's "fair" or not "fair" is up to debate but you don't have the luxury of debating the fairness of this. You and your other partners (all of them) need to get busy and work as a group (much like playing on a team) because one of you is weak.

Is this an ideal learning situation? Again, that's open to debate but you don't have time to debate this. You either get your group up to par or your grade is going to suffer. In short, get busy getting your problem solved. If you can't do this, then you need to drop the class and try something else.

 

[audiology]

That is absurd! I would immediately talk to the department chair. Of course do so in a very calm manner, and make sure you pull a bunch of influence tactics to make the chair be completely on your side. What does your freaking prof expect you to do, tutor your lab partner after class everyday? What a dummy your professor is.

 

[andrewnwi]

Wow, am I my brother's keeper?


Also, you can't help someone that doesn't want to help themselves. Some people take Organic chem just to get their BS or BA so getting a C tickles their fancy. Others like us (generally) strive to do our best.

How do you know he doesn't want to help himself? Did he tell you he doesn't care to learn the material and is happy with wasting his time in a class? Sounds a little odd to me...

 

[shouldvestudied]

Your problem is that your professor has chosen to grade your "group" participation by giving your "group" a single grade that is a composite of your individual grades. That's the problem for you.

The solution is that if you want your "group" grade to be higher, you have to make sure that everyone in your group does well. The solution is NOT to make excuses for what you have decided you "can't do" but to get the job done.

Whether it's "fair" or not "fair" is up to debate but you don't have the luxury of debating the fairness of this. You and your other partners (all of them) need to get busy and work as a group (much like playing on a team) because one of you is weak.

Is this an ideal learning situation? Again, that's open to debate but you don't have time to debate this. You either get your group up to par or your grade is going to suffer. In short, get busy getting your problem solved. If you can't do this, then you need to drop the class and try something else.

Are you reading the bull**** that you're writing? How's the weather up on that soap box?

To the OP: Go above his head to the head of the Chem Department. If that doesn't work, proceed to your Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

 

[FuturaDocta]

I doubt the professor will really account for those grades as it is clearly unfair. I'm not sure the chair would even approve of this, since it inhibits the students performance.

I think the professor just wants you to help the other student out of the goodness of your own heart. He/she wants you to learn the basics of teamwork and compassion out of your own initiative. You should see a student that is struggling or even a patient and have a natural urge to help. That is what your professor wants to see.

You should go talk to your professor again. Tell him/her that your group will collaborate in a way that will help the other student comprehend the class. And, you don't think that the quizzes should count as a grade, but as a way to measure improvement in the class.

If that doesn't work, then drop or just suck it up and help the poor thing.

 

[schrizto]

How do you know he doesn't want to help himself? Did he tell you he doesn't care to learn the material and is happy with wasting his time in a class? Sounds a little odd to me...

Did you read this?:

Not only that, but my good partner is a pre-med student, and the other is just a "regular" biology student. The one doing poorly said at the beginning of the year that he would be perfectly content with a C in the class. Obviously the other guy and I feel differently. It's impossible to teach someone who has no incentive or desire to do better than "ok".

 

[njbmd]

Are you reading the bull**** that you're writing? How's the weather up on that soap box?

To the OP: Go above his head to the head of the Chem Department. If that doesn't work, proceed to your Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

You still have not solved the problem. The OP has a grade problem because the professor is grading his group together. They either succeed together or fail because they can't find a way to work together. The OP only has the options of solving the problem or getting out. The OP is in no position to debate, argue or anything else. It is useless to fight battles that you can't win. Fix the problem or get out.

Unless the professor is asking that group to do something that the rest of the class is not doing, the Dean or chair isn't going to intervene in this. In short, total waste of time.

 

[Compass]

Are any of the other classmates complaining about this grading system? Yes? No?

 

[ChiDO]

I think you need to get used to this as it CAN continue in medical school. For example: we had 4 students per cadaver and had pop quizzes (3 total) during the course of anatomy. There were 10 questions per quiz and the prof. just went around the circle of us. I could have gotten a 2/2 or 3/3 on my questions, but the group score was your score.

This forced me to TEACH my fellow cadaver buddies so that we had a chance at a 9 or 10 on the quiz. Once in a while there were really hard questions that no one knew, but if 1 person is consistently bringing the group down, you need to tell them to get their act together (study before class) and help them even more during lab.

So, stop whining, suck it up, and help out your fellow student. Being a doctor is about working as a TEAM in the hospital; there is no I.

 

[shouldvestudied]

You still have not solved the problem. The OP has a grade problem because the professor is grading his group together. They either succeed together or fail because they can't find a way to work together. The OP only has the options of solving the problem or getting out. The OP is in no position to debate, argue or anything else. It is useless to fight battles that you can't win. Fix the problem or get out.

Unless the professor is asking that group to do something that the rest of the class is not doing, the Dean or chair isn't going to intervene in this. In short, total waste of time.

The truth of the matter is that you have no ****ing clue what the Dean is going to do. You are talking out of your ass when you most likely would be ****ting a brick if this were happening to you.

This is the bottomline: The student is receiving a grade that does not represent his knowledge and, more importantly, test/quiz performance in the class. These grounds are more than enough to have a Department Head or Dean step in. The situation is completely unfair and should not be tolerated at any college/university.

 

[orthomyxo]

Life isn't. I lost a LETTER grade simply because I didn't turn in an assignment through a plagiarism prevention website.

Cry me a river...this is totally irrelevant. The OP's grade is being effected because of a bad lab partner, which is totally out of his control, unlike your failure to follow simple directions. Don't complain about things that are of your own doing.

 

[schrizto]

People are saying this kind of thing can continue in medical school. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the stakes higher as a pre-med than as a medical student? Pre-meds have to strive for A's and while medical students still have to learn and do well, they don't have to be the best in the class to come out a doctor. And it's less likely to happen in medical school anyway, because if someone gets through the medical school application process than they must be quite motivated and wouldn't blow off a grade, especially if others depend on their work.

 

[OncoCaP]

Amusing thread. Sounds like a lot of folks have never had their grade lowered by a lab partner who didn't do their work. It happens in a number of situations. Medical school (particularly once the clerkships start) is very "team dependent." Besides just having to deal with a struggling team partner, you might wind up with an attending or resident who grades with a very tough scale and isn't very nice about it whereas your fellow students on a different team at the same hospital spend most of their time studying for a shelf and get the same or better grades for a lot less work and performance. I'm not saying this is always the case, but it can and does happen. Usually there is very little that can be done about a situation like this except to do the best with the hand you are dealt. Complaining about something like this would probably need to be done with a great deal of care (diplomatically). I would suggest the original poster do his best to help prepare the weaker lab partner for the quizzes. I also doubt that these lab quizzes will be the largest determinant of the lab grade.