The Ridiculously Unfair Grader

I certainly don't even pretend to reflect the views of all professors, but I wonder what professors think about students who complain that they thought the grade they received was unfair.

I find that I've changed a LOT on this issue over the years. When I started teaching, I guess it was natural that I was a little unsure of myself. I dreaded having students come into my office complaining about their grade. Grading presentations and reports is a subjective exercise and I hated having to come up with some explanation of why they got an 83 instead of an 87. I think I also used to be more of a pushover in those days. If a student complained enough, I think I would rationalize to myself that they deserved an increased grade because they cared enough about the class to argue for a higher grade.

Things are different now, but still the same in some ways. I had a student send me an email this week complaining that the grade he got on his class presentation was "ridiculously" low and that he really deserved a much higher grade for all he did and compared to the other lousy presentations he saw in class. He copied all his fellow group members on the email. First, I reassured him that there was no chance I would be willing to change his grade. Then, I explained that I understood his frustration and invited him to my office along with all his group members so I can explain their grade to them face to face. Since I give students a host of comments (and not just a grade), I said I would be happy to explain each of my comments in person.

Interestingly, I got emails from other members of the group telling me they were okay with the grade they got and that they were satisfied with my explanations for their grades. One student actually wrote to me apologizing privately for his fellow group member's email and hoping that this would not result in a sour ending for what he said was an outstanding class experience.

As I was replying to him and assuring him that no apology was necessary, I realized several things about myself. First, I was absolutely confident in my assigned grades and I was completely certain that I would not be "adjusting" the student's grade. Second, I did not feel the slightest bit threatened or nervous about the student's arguments regarding his grade. Finally, I honestly did not feel any anger or frustration with the student about his complaint about the grade. In fact, I realized that not only did I like the kid and think he was very bright, but I actually like students who show me they care enough about the course to be disappointed with their grade. While I don't want to engender any frustration with the grading in my classes, I actually am more disappointed in students who get very poor grades and don't bat an eyelid. It frustrates me to no end when a student who gets a really poor grade simply shrugs and goes on his or her way without bothering to come in to me and explain what led to the poor performance. I realize it is one more person I was unable to reach and who ended the course not really giving a damn.

On the other hand, I do know faculty who would definitely not view complaining as a positive indicator. So, if any students are reading this, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Well Writing Is Important A Lot Or Not?

In the midst of grading numerous student reports, I started wondering about a lot of things related to writing. First, I wonder what makes someone a good writer as opposed to a poor writer. I always thought that my ability to write (fairly) clearly was because I was a very avid reader when I was a kid. Although I still don't know a past participle from a dangling vertebrae, I can instantly read a sentence and realize that it is awkwardly worded. Rewriting a sentence to flow better has always been easy for me. But, my son who is also a very avid reader still writes and speaks using convoluted and grammatically incorrect sentences.

I am grading reports written by college students (all juniors or seniors) and I am appalled at the astonishingly poor writing on many of them. I wonder whether they realize how much writing style influences their grade. Of course, content is critical. That's a given. But even good content, when poorly communicated can dramatically affect their grade. I even explicitly told them this in class. When I am grading report after report, I can feel my frustration rise rapidly when I encounter a report that is poorly organized (jumping from topic to topic with no sense of organization), has lousy sentence structure (convoluted, grammatically incorrect sentences that I have to read three times to understand), and lacks a clear narrative. As I sense my frustration rise, I can almost feel the decrease in my inclination to give them a good grade. Folks, if you're listening, it helps a lot if you make grading easy for your profs. Try to write well so you can get your ideas across efficiently!

Finally, I wonder if this matters in the "real world." Is it just an "academic bias" I have that makes me think clear writing is so important? Perhaps in this world of sound bites, text messaging, and micro-memos, the importance of sentence construction and narrative structure is not as critical as it used to be. Perhaps it is only for school reports that these skills are important. What do you think?