<p>That’s the protocol with virtually all my exam based courses so far in college. I think it may be part of our honor code. I also think students asking for higher grades is not always unwarranted-especially with sloppy TA’s doing the grading. I saw one of my friend’s tests that was “graded” by a TA and the TA must have been using the wrong key (questions on the test arranged in different orders for different students no doubt)-it turned out that out of five multiple choice/explain questions he had marked 2 wrong that were right and 2 right that were wrong. The kid still came out even in the long run…but that such blatant grading errors went unnoticed by the TA’s is sort of scary. Not to add that it took over 2 weeks to get the regrade…This problem is especially exacerbated with final exams which most students don’t get to see since they are leaving for break right afterwards.</p>
<p>as a recent college kid… those percentages from the survey are very disturbing</p>
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<p>WHAT??? Possibly these kids should go back to elementary school where you get graded on effort (at least I did… separate grade for effort and achievement)</p>
<p>I’m reminded of the old joke about the young woman, well-endowed, wearing a low-cut blouse who goes to the (male) professor’s office hours and declares,</p>
<p>“Oh, Professor! I’ll do ANYTHING to improve my grade. Anything!”</p>
<p>The professor looks at her flustered face and asks dispassionately, “Anything?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Professor. Anything!”</p>
<p>“Well,” says the Professor, standing up. “How about studying?”</p>
<p>If that post implied something negative about Harvard, it was very, very subtle. I think the implication was simply that this can happen even at the very best colleges.</p>
<p>A corollary to “I tried hard so you should raise my grade” (which I heard far too often when I was teaching . . .): I paid a lot of money to be here so you should give me good grades.</p>
<p>I went to grad school at a private, top-tier university. I heard this one too often as well. </p>
<p>One prof I TA’d for tells this story:</p>
<p>Student gets a C in Prof’s course. Dad calls to complain. Prof tries to have a reasoned discussion about the grade student earned in class. Dad not happy. After 15 or 20 minutes, it devolves to - “I pay a lot of tuition to your school so you should give my kid a good grade. What am I paying for?” Prof’s response: “You are paying for my expertise in evaluating your child’s performance in my course. My expert evaluation is a C. Good-day sir.” and he hung up!</p>
<p>The problem with relying on exams for the entire grade is that the instructor has to trust that an exam is a reliable assessment of each student’s knowledge of the subject. Given that different students have different brains inside their heads, the best way for one student to demonstrate his/her knowledge can be quite different from the best way for another one. When the instructors have multiple options for assessing the students, there is a better chance that they will come to a more accurate understanding of the students’ knowledge. Sometimes, a brief conversation is all that it takes to satisfy a teacher that student A who wiped out on question 22 really does know the material, but was just plain confused by the wording of question 22. </p>
<p>Test-taking is not a hugely important skill in most of life outside of school. Writing coherently, speaking coherently, picking up some item and using it correctly are. However, grading extensive written work, oral presentations, and practical exams is time consuming - so time consuming that instructors are often forced to rely on paper-based tests and/or an army of under-paid grad student graders.</p>
<p>UW’s dept chairmen do not have the ability to change another professor’s grade- the job sounds more administrative than being the boss (somebody has to do that stuff rather than power). Regarding that math grade and being able to take higher past test grades- I’ll bet some students with good grades would study harder and do better on the final if they didn’t have this option, it can be nice to know you have done well during the semester and spend your end of semester time on other courses.</p>
<p>reminded me of the strategy that worked best for me at all levels of school. All teachers—in my experience, without exception—respond well to a student who says, “I’d like to understand where I need to improve in order to get a better grade next time. Would you review my exam/homework/term paper with me?”</p>
<p>This works because you’re asking them to do their job, to educate you, and focusing on learning rather than on the grade.</p>
<p>However, I was also the recipient of several favorable grade changes thanks to this approach. Either the teacher came to see that I understood the material better than she thought, or she just liked me and gave me the benefit of the doubt on subsequent assignments. And of course I learned more, which is the whole point. There’s no way you can lose by approaching an educator with respect for their role as opposed to a mere provider of grades.</p>
<p>Test-taking may not be an important job skill, but solving complex and ambiguous problems without sufficient data is certainly one at most high level jobs. Nobody will be there to make it simple for you or explain it to you so your brain gets the question. Interpreting the ambiguous correctly or at least well enough is a great life skill that the most successful people have and do well.</p>