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Great expectations

It's that time of year again. Students are getting their grades and I am getting their emails.

Hello Proffessor Rooney this is [name withheld] again. I have a big problem for my grade I was expecting an A but you gave me a C I don't know why because I did all of my homework assignments I did most of the extra credits and I'm sure i did very well on the essay because i worked very hard on it. I'm thinking that you didn't get the essay or something. I also did very well on the final. How else should I contact you to know my real grade. Please reply as soon as possible. Thank you.

For the record, this student averaged 67% on the quizzes -- and these were all handed back. The quiz scores were 30% of the course grade, so she (were she capable of doing basic arithmetic) should have realized that it was almost impossible for her to get an A. As it is, her final exam score was, fittingly (since the final was mostly a reprise of past quiz questions), 65%. So for half the course grade, she scores a D -- and she expects an A?

It absolutely staggers me that community college students regularly (at least one a semester, usually two or three) complain about their grades. In my experience, I usually got a better grade than I deserved, mainly because I knew the unstated rules for "sounding smart" in class and on assignments. Even so, I never once, ever, complained about a grade, or had the temerity to tell a teacher or professor that he or she was wrong and had graded me incorrectly. I never even considered such a thing. Yet these high school mediocrities routinely accuse me of shortchanging them -- when I generally give them better grades than they deserve. Where do they learn this overweening sense of entitlement?

By Mrooney at 2007-01-07 09:13 | Mrooney's blog | login or register to post comments | 633 reads

Negotiating grades is routine

Didn't you see the movie Clueless? You may have never complained about or questioned a grade but that just means you're either:
1) not very assertive
or
2) didn't get any grades you didn't like.

Professors aren't infallible. One time I got an A in a class and a co-worker of mine got a B. Foolishly I told her about it because I was so surprised and pleased with my A. She knew she worked harder than I did. She went to the professor and learned that, by accident, the professor had reversed her grade with mine. Bummer for me but good for her for standing up for herself.

At Oxy, one really lousy professor (creative writing) did openly negotiate grades with several students (including me) to avoid more serious complaints than the ones we had already lodged. At Cal State Hayward, the balance of power between professor and student was even more tenuous.

Few instructors are totally honest with themselves about the subjectivity of grading -- giving better grades to syncophants, better grades for attendance than for product, grades for trying hard. . . In my experience, what you describe as the unstated rules for "sounding smart," also have to do with pleasing the professor. This kind of relationship building is very real world, as is the negotiation. I think because the professor has so much of their ego invested in teaching, and rightly so, they often personalize misunderstandings about grades.

I had a psych professor who gave a friend of mine straight A's because he attended every class, sat in the front row, complimented her on her looks, and turned things in on time. The quality of my work was better than his and I scored higher on exams, but I missed many classes, etc. Twice she seriously personalized my behavior to my detriment -- accepting late assignments or corrected assignments from other students and not from me.

By graduate school I had learned my lesson. I went to every class, participated in every discussion, kissed every butt. It worked.

The student you describe here is frustrating because s/he did not pick up on the real world clues you gave in terms of grades, etc.

My Mom taught middle school and they always gave out midterm progress reports with some blunt statements like, "your grade right now is a C. If your performance doesn't change, you can expect a C on your report card." Parents would balk, but there were no surprises and the teacher's asses were covered. There was even a small minority of students who would work hard to turn the grade around.

I think the students you are teaching do not have the same understanding of the culture of college that you do. Like you said, s/he can't even do basic arithmetic. I don't think its temerity or a sense of entitlement. That doesn't mean you have a responsibility to fix it.

By lazinky at Tue, 2007-01-09 10:37 | login or register to post comments

Clueless

Well, I may not be very assertive (though I'm sure my students would disagree). While there were some grades that I didn't like (C+'s in Spanish, Statistics, Logic, Consciousness & Intentionality), I can't say I didn't earn those grades. In fact, I probably deserved lower grades for some of those courses, like Bill "now would that be ethical?" Neblett's logic course, where I pretty much stopped attending after the midterm. Naturally, I pronounce with authority on logic every semester now.

I know that professors can make mistakes (though I've never had a student find a flat-out error of mine at the letter grade stage). And precisely because I don't like subjectivity in grading, I try to make my grading as objective as possible. Where there is a paper involved, e.g., I try to use topics with objective answers or grade on formal criteria rather than content. I never accept late work and put that in bold print. I tend to be suspicious of bootlicking students. I grade all tests with names covered. (Maybe it was my handwriting that got me good grades in school?) But probably there is some subtle unconscious influence in how I read assignments at some level.

Also, you are probably right that this student wasn't thinking clearly about the requirements more than she was harboring a sense of entitlement. In fact, in this case she may have been misled since I responded positively toward her comments in class.

It may have a cultural component -- my natural Asiatic deference to educational authority. Or maybe I invest my ego in grading objectively. Nonetheless, it bugs me that students think I grade carelessly.

By Mrooney at Tue, 2007-01-09 14:06 | login or register to post comments

Careless interpretation

It may be accurate to read the student's statement and think there is an assumption of carelessness. That's not what I read. I read someone who has had some training (perhaps informal) in negotiation. The student tells you what s/he expects and why. The person gives some (weak) justification for their position. Then the person presents a reasonable argument why you might be wrong and its not your fault. Its unlikely that you missed that assignment...I think its presented more as an opportunity to save face. Then the person asserts that they are going to follow-up and asks for a commitment from you regarding that follow-up. I mean, maybe the student just logged onto "ehow" and got a tip sheet for negotiating, but point by point, there's strategy there.

You're not careless. . . you're just not interested in negotiating.

Sounds like you go to great lengths to be objective and that is a benefit for your students. They're lucky.

By lazinky at Tue, 2007-01-09 15:04 | login or register to post comments

Grade Expectations

I mean how can you not go for the obvious pun there Mike?

By AEadmin at Thu, 2007-01-11 15:39 | login or register to post comments

Welcome to the culture of entitlement

We will live in an entitlement world my friend. Culturally people now expect that DOING the work (even poorly) is enough to get them what the want. The instant stardom of reality televison has permeated our culture, so much so that people expect things for nothing. I also chock it up to parenting where the children have been raised in a lax and permissive atmosphere where every action the child takes is praised and validated. There's something to be said for properly setting expectations for your child.

By AEadmin at Sun, 2007-01-07 17:24 | login or register to post comments