<p>
</p>
<p>It’s not always a different political view. In my two cases, one was political (English class), the other had strong opinions on what an author meant in books (humanities class) and didn’t want to consider other options.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, Chaos, don’t ask the professor what you need to do to get an A. There is no formula for an A paper at the college level, and many professors find this question intensely irritating and high-schoolish. Perfectly accomplished and well-argued papers may get B+s because they don’t go beyond the assignment and take no successful risks.</p>
<p>It’s fine to ask the professor what you could have done better, and/or how to improve on the next assignment.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I never said that I was 100% that the professor’s beliefs factored into my grade. I don’t think anyone could know unless they were in the class and actually knew my professor well, which I admit I don’t. However, it’s possible in the future that an actual case of bias could factor into my grade or people’s grades in general, so I was wondering what would be the best way to deal with the situation.</p>
<p>Regardless of my grade, I was very annoyed with the way the issue was presented in my class in general. And I have already made an appointment with the professor.</p>
<p>So you’re bringing some annoyance to the situation already, based on how the teacher presented the issue in class. It’s commendable that you recognize it. It would indeed be a mistake to assume that the lower-though-still-ok grade resulted from your difference in opinion (though many people do).</p>
<p>Perhaps the teacher simply wants to be reinforced by the undergrad papers he reads, though that seems unlikely. Perhaps everyone in the class received an ok-but-not-stellar grade because this teacher has very high standards for grading papers. Perhaps you didn’t bring sufficient evidence or persuasive argument to bear in differing with the teacher’s opinion. He probably does know more about the subject than you do, no? So to differ with him successfully requires a high level of insight and skill.</p>
<p>You’re at a school that is committed to undergrad teaching. Hunt’s advice can really help you - ask to review a draft ahead of time with your professors. I think they like this opportunity to show students what they consider effective writing. One of my kids is not a naturally excellent writer, but did quite well in history and poli sci papers because her profs were generous in discussing her drafts with her.</p>
<p>I think there are teachers and professors who are biased and will downgrade students who disagree with them–I’ve seen it happen. I trust they are the minority. But if you get one of these, or think you may have one, the way to deal with it is proactively. As I noted above, when you get the bad grade on your paper, it’s probably too late.</p>
<p>It’s my opinion that most professors, even those with strong views, will like a student who actually takes an interest and comes to office hours to discuss and debate.</p>
<p>Usually it works quite well if you take a neutral position and argue both sides of the issue. You want to get that A and move on if you don’t want your belief system to affect your A. It is better to argue your side in class but toe the line on your papers. :D</p>
<p>^not necessarily. I give a substantial ding for not clearly picking a position.</p>
<p>^ why? people are supposed to be open minded unless the requirement of the paper is to take a side. However, academics are predominantly onesided in opinions.</p>
<p>Because I already know multiple sides of any assigned topic and really don’t need an undergrad to explain them to me again. I want to know if the student can form and adequately support an opinion.</p>
<p>How much do you ding your students for not toeing your own belief system?</p>
<p>What an unkind assumption. I require an argument; therefore, I absolutely must require students to argue the position I hold.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t care what opinion a student holds, only that it is wll-supported.</p>
<p>One thing you may want to check in advance – did the professor actually grade the paper, or was there a grad school grader/TA doing the grading? You still have the same set of issues, but it probably makes sense to know who actually made the judgments.</p>
<p>Anyway, I know a lot of professor types, and I don’t know any who would deliberately downgrade a student because the student disagreed with him or her. Not one. Maybe they exist somewhere, but not in great numbers. (And let me add that the people I know best tend to be in the Humanities, where this sort of thing is reputed to happen most.)</p>
<p>On the other hand, I certainly believe that a professor who feels a student is giving the professor’s point of view short shrift is likely to be hypercritical of the student’s arguments, maybe without even being aware of it. </p>
<p>Think for a moment: The professor knows more than you do. The professor has probably thought about the subject matter a lot, and cares about it deeply. The professor has a point of view, which may have been reached only after years of study and self-questioning. The professor is certainly aware that other points of view are possible – the professor likely contemplated some of those along the way – and any professor is going to be excited upon encountering a legitimately new idea that hasn’t already been hashed over somewhere. But if the paper doesn’t treat the professor’s views with respect, and thoughtfully, then it’s going to be hard for the professor to get the quality of the paper’s ideas.</p>
<p>Students have to recognize, too, that they may know less than they think. It’s easy to say, “Oh, this is just liberal crap.” It’s much harder to explain why it’s liberal crap, and what non-liberal non-crap you think applies. If you do the latter respectfully and thoroughly, you will get a respectful grade.</p>
<p>“What an unkind assumption. I require an argument; therefore, I absolutely must require students to argue the position I hold.”</p>
<p>That is OP’s concern and we don’t know OP’s professor.</p>
<p>“And let me add that the people I know best tend to be in the Humanities, where this sort of thing is reputed to happen most”</p>
<p>STEM usually has only one correct answer. :p</p>
<p>My son got an F on a financial paper, 4 or 5 yrs ago, in one of his classes. He had argued that europeans might go off the Euro, back to the previous monetary system.
Though he had backed it up with the usual documentation, the prof wrote on it that it was a preposterous theory.</p>
<p>Oops. There is some talk of that very thing now. It may or may not happen, but there is talk. That shows it wasn’t so ridiculous after all.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Really? That’s why issues like climate change, drug efficacy, and choice of medical treatments are so easy to resolve? Everyone agrees on the answer all the time?</p>
<p>It’s really: talk to the prof * before* bringing the issue here.<br>
Often, the issue is not your differing opinion, but how you fleshed it out.
Lots of people assume it boils down to “the other guy.” That’s too easy. I think you knew we’d advocate some personal responsibility. That’s a life lesson.</p>
<p>"Really? That’s why issues like climate change, drug efficacy, and choice of medical treatments are so easy to resolve? Everyone agrees on the answer all the time? "</p>
<p>Courses of medical treatment are not arguable. People know the outcomes based on the treatment path. In class they are usually taught one way.</p>
<p>Climate change is a pseudo science, not a major.</p>
<p>Courses of medical treatment are arguable all the time. My own doctor admits that many of the cancer treatments that are prescribed as “best outcome” are based on bad science… they work on white men who don’t have any chronic illnesses besides the cancer… but that medicine doesn’t know enough to know if that means they should be prescribed for Black women with asthma or Asian men with Hypertension or even White men with MS.</p>
<p>A lot of partial credits are given on math and CS tests.</p>
<p>Math may end up with one answer, but there often several ways to get there, some elegant and some not so. We see kids on CC complain that their answer was right but their process was down-graded.</p>
<p>Put me on the side that medical treatments do not always have one secure answer. Sheesh. Med school does not teach there is one distinct solution. There’s not always even one sure diagnosis. So much is process of elimination.</p>