Would you question your grade if....

[Jlaw]

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A prof weighted things in a strange way...i.e. two short quizzes were worth 50% of your grade while 8 short lab reports (3-6pgs) were only worth 10% and two long lab reports (10-20pgs) were worth 40%?

I guess it's the profs call as to what should count for what but it doesn't seem to make sense that assignments we spent 75% of our time on were only worth 10%.

I should add that this prof is a bit absent minded and might change the weighting system or curve things to adjust grades upwards so I'm not sure if I should say anything.

 

[RG73]

Generally this is a recipe to piss off a professor. If you want 100% of your stuff graded with more scrutiny though, by all means question the prof.

I'm also confused as to why you'd spend 75% of your time on short lab reports when you have 2 big lab reports and studying to do for the quizzes.

 

[Jayscin]

A prof weighted things in a strange way...i.e. two short quizzes were worth 50% of your grade while 8 short lab reports (3-6pgs) were only worth 10% and two long lab reports (10-20pgs) were worth 40%?

I guess it's the profs call as to what should count for what but it doesn't seem to make sense that assignments we spent 75% of our time on were only worth 10%.

I should add that this prof is a bit absent minded and might change the weighting system or curve things to adjust grades upwards so I'm not sure if I should say anything.

If the prof outlined the grading procedure in the syllabus at the start of the semester, I wouldn't say a word before your grade is finalized.
If you turn in quality work and do your best on all assignments it should not matter what assignments are weighted in the final average. If you think your grade does not reflect the quality of your work, appeal after the fact. Confronting the prof before your assignments are posted may have a negative impact on your and your classmates grades.

 

[bioteach]

If you saw the syllabus and the grading breakdown at the start of the semester, you have no place to complain. It is up to the professor to determine grading breakdown and you can choose to take the class or not. Complaining after the fact would be inappropriate.

If the grading system is different than what was originally presented, you should talk to the professor.

 

[TexasPhysician]

If you saw the syllabus and the grading breakdown at the start of the semester, you have no place to complain. It is up to the professor to determine grading breakdown and you can choose to take the class or not. Complaining after the fact would be inappropriate.

If the grading system is different than what was originally presented, you should talk to the professor.

👍

 

[Jlaw]

Thanks for the responses guys. I guess I will wait and see how I do. The weighting was layed out in the syllabus but what he billed as being the "midterm" and "final" were actually 15-20minute quizzes where he literally photocopied a couple random paragraphs and diagrams from the lab manual, whited them out, and asked you to fill in the blanks. His response when asked why not a normal test was that he couldn't speak english when he came to school in the US so he had to memorize the biology book and we should be doing the same. In contrast, the short lab reports which altogether made up only 10% of our total grade involved doing a 3hr long lab, having your notes checked at the end, and then writing up 5 page reports according to whatever criteria he assigned for that week.

He's a bad professor but a nice guy so I'm probably worrying about nothing since he will probably end up giving bonus points for percieved effort.