Should I go back and talk to my prof over an obscurely graded assignment?

[vin5cent0]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I was looking over my grade in my psychology class and I'm so irritated right now that I'm literally going to have to ace my last test (final) as well as our last project to get an A in this class.

On our first assignment, I got 50/50 on our paper. I then got 91% on both of our following tests. So at this point, I'm averaging ~93% in the class.

We then got a random online quiz in class. I wound up doing horribly on it as I wasn't expecting a pop quiz - 24/36, or 66.66%.

However, much to my dismay, I saw I only recieved a 12 out of 36 on the assignment, even though I clearly counted 24 right when I reviewed the quiz.

I went in and spoke to my teacher and he simply said "your grade is # right minus # wrong." I was too surprised to say anything else, so I just left. So essentially I got 24 right, 12 wrong, so my grade in his eyes for that assignment is 24 - 12, or 12.

I just don't feel that it's right a teacher can turn one grade (66.6%) into an even worse grade (33.3%) because of some obscure style of grading something. Should I go back and talk to him? It just burns me that he decides to grade one thing differently in the class, and now it's the difference between an A and a B.

 

[red10]

look and see if it is on the syllabus, but if he grades pop quizzes that way, then that's the way he does it. kinda sucks you weren't aware that missing a Q would harm your grade, but there isn't much you can do about it if that's his grading policy

 

[sizillyd]

Definitely talk to him. Last semester I found errors in 2 of my classes and was able to convince 2 professors to give me A's instead of B's. It can't hurt.

 

[vin5cent0]

There's no mention of pop quizzes in his syllabus, nor has he graded anything else like that. I hate pop quizzes, but they're fair game and I won't complain about that. I just don't like being graded unfairly. I already did crappily enough on the quiz!

 

[BBender716]

Wait, so he told the amount wrong and subtracted them from the amount you answered correctly? So he basically doubled the amount wrong answers counted for?


If you got 3 wrong, 27/30, you would actually have an 80%? That's B.S. Talk with him again and go through the math. Wait until the end of the semester and file a complaint with his superior, briefly outlining this professor's "math".

 

[298609]

use reverse psychology and tell him you think it's an excellent style of grading and you will utilyze it when filling out the teacher evals at the end of the semester.

 

[FlowRate]

Triple check and make sure you're not wrong about getting 24/36 correct. Then go talk to him.

 

[JenniferRU]

You already mentioned it once... let it slide. You don't want to make it seem like you know the Professor's grading system than he does, let it slide, its one quiz.

 

[Janieve]

Definitely talk to him about it. If he stands his ground, go to the department head/dean and talk to them. If his bosses question his grading methods, he'll probably fold.

And frankly, that's a terrible way of grading. Ask him to rationalize it for you - ask what the benefit of this grading system is, how it changes the grade distribution, why he uses it, etc. Just avoid telling him to his face that he's an idiot for using such a stupid grading system and you should be okay.

And yes, I am speaking from experience on the 'avoid telling him he's an idiot' front. How did you know?

 

[missbones]

You already mentioned it once... let it slide. You don't want to make it seem like you know the Professor's grading system than he does, let it slide, its one quiz.

Normally I'd agree, but if it ends up being the difference between a B and an A then there is no reason to let it slide.

 

[girlofgrace7]

If you go to his superiors, you also should probably mention that he did not say anything about pop quizzes in the syllabus. Although they may seem like "fair game," my step-mom who is a professor told me that professors are required to list anything graded in their syllabus per university policies (she is an adjunct professor at 3 schools; so, I'd assume it's the same everywhere). Although it's fairly common for professors to stray from what they put on the syllabus (and people typically turn a blind eye to it), it can technically be grounds for a formal complaint about the professor. When he broke down points/percentages for how he grades, there should have been a category for pop quizzes. Think of it like an ex post facto law. You can't be punished for a rule made after you commit the "crime." In the same way, you shouldn't be punished for planning according to the syllabus he laid out. It's dishonest and unethical.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I was looking over my grade in my psychology class and I'm so irritated right now that I'm literally going to have to ace my last test (final) as well as our last project to get an A in this class.

On our first assignment, I got 50/50 on our paper. I then got 91% on both of our following tests. So at this point, I'm averaging ~93% in the class.

We then got a random online quiz in class. I wound up doing horribly on it as I wasn't expecting a pop quiz - 24/36, or 66.66%.

However, much to my dismay, I saw I only recieved a 12 out of 36 on the assignment, even though I clearly counted 24 right when I reviewed the quiz.

I went in and spoke to my teacher and he simply said "your grade is # right minus # wrong." I was too surprised to say anything else, so I just left. So essentially I got 24 right, 12 wrong, so my grade in his eyes for that assignment is 24 - 12, or 12.

I just don't feel that it's right a teacher can turn one grade (66.6%) into an even worse grade (33.3%) because of some obscure style of grading something. Should I go back and talk to him? It just burns me that he decides to grade one thing differently in the class, and now it's the difference between an A and a B.

I would go back to the prof. But first, are you a psych major?