Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
Students will try anything & everything… and I mean EVERYTHING!
Re: tearful pleas, there isn’t a blanket response… they get heard but its rather easy to identify genuine cases where the student has done well overall in the course and deserves a little leniency.
Haha… yes, the notes in the final exams… requests, pleas, jokes and some outright weird comments too - generally these don’t work… but sometimes they’re a welcome relief during a marking marathon.
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
Students will try anything & everything... and I mean EVERYTHING! :D
Re: tearful pleas, there isn't a blanket response... they get heard but its rather easy to** identify genuine cases where the student has done well overall in the course and deserves a little leniency. **
Haha... yes, the notes in the final exams... requests, pleas, jokes and some outright weird comments too :-) - generally these don't work... but sometimes they're a welcome relief during a marking marathon.
The bolded part pretty much says it - it depends on the student and what they are requesting.
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
The bolded part pretty much says it - it depends on the student and what they are requesting.
Absolutely! and even then, the leniency typically amounts to a couple of points that may make a difference. Regulations are usually pretty stringent on "bumping up" students grades, and it's a slippery slope. In extremely difficult cases where professors strongly feel that a student was hard-done by one instance of a bad performance, they consult their peers on whether a bump in the grade is warranted.
Apologies @Contrarian - didn't mean to hijack your thread.
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
LOL. Yes it does depend on what you say actually. One time I totally blanked out on a question, so I actually wrote that on the answer sheet. “Dr. I am sorry I am totally blanking out on this question”. He gave me half credit for it
Contrarion - why you gotta be such a hater man?? Some of us nerds take it hard when the final effs us over
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
lol I had .5% between A and B. "I'm sorry I've given too many A's." I was then told that out of compassion the grade was being changed to a B+ (from a B, I guess).
As for A-/A+ people...those people just either have some sort of weird weak personality where they needed positive encouragement all the time...or they just want to rub it in your face...probably the latter (even if it's unconsciously)
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
No worries. I am enjoying the offtopic discussion more than the original issue. So what were some of those outright weird comments if you don’t mind, just curious.
LOL, as long as nerds act like the stereotypical meeks, I’ve got no problem. It’s when they sorta kinda rub it in the face, that I gotta hate.
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
ya, my TA friend told me he usually honors those notes and give a point or two. just coz hes that awesome
random exam story but ..
I had to write a long essay about pseudogenes. My little brain totally blanked out .. believe me I dedicated the next hr trying to recall if Pseudonymous( Marwah) ever mentioned the reason behind her username :sid:
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
oml!!!
i remember i had to retake a physics paper, i couldn’t answer large amounts of the paper so i wrote something along the lines of “i really don’t know, chemistry and maths have slaughtered the last brain cells i had left”
hence the retake in summer. sigh.. atleast be a little sympathetic and generous with your marking
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
ahem… let’s just say that when it comes to some students, I prefer meeting in the cafeteria rather than in my office. Also, I always try to keep the webcam button handy just in case I need to keep a log of the meeting session. I’ve learned over time - the first few years of University teaching were rather “interesting”
On the other extreme, I’ve also been threatened by students - had to get campus police involved in one instance.
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
In our GCE O Levels exams, I remember the structured questions just had two lines space to write. And obviously when in doubt, I always wrote stories I kept making stars in the Biology theory exam sheet continued here and there. And at the end of it, I wrote ‘apologies for the bad writing and scrambled responses. If only you could give us more space to fill the answers, this wouldn’t have happened’
Dunno if it helped me get my A or not
and as for Contrarian’s reply…I got an A not an A+ …darrrrnnnn
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
awesome stories everyone. I just remembered a story about the importance of who the student is. I wrote an essay for grade 12 law class which I got a really good mark in. Next year my brother plagiarized my essay (read printed my essay with his name and handed it in) but got a lower mark. So, teachers and professors can be really biased
Re: I did poorly, got an A instead of A+ as I bombed the final
tsk tsk… not biased… subjective - and nothing wrong with that - who is to say that in the second offering of that same course, the class content was a little different and hence the teacher’s expectations weren’t met with the old essay - it’s also quite possible that the teacher was on to your brother and if the teacher felt it was plagiarized but didn’t want to confront the student, a lower grade was awarded. Even though I don’t agree with this tactic, I know some profs who practice it just because they don’t have time to get involved in plagiarism proceedings.
- generally these don’t work… but sometimes they’re a welcome relief during a marking marathon.
Or offered him a trip to some exotic locale in exchange for an A+ 
