Hi, I wanted to post this here because I couldn’t find a similar post anywhere else.
My problem is that I’m taking a Calculus II Summer class with a terrible professor (I saw the Rate My Professor ratings but I had no choice), and she seems hell-bent on ruining my grade. She just passed back our last exam (worth about 15% of the class grade) and she took off almost 12 points for bogus reasons. I went up to her and I explained to her that she had made two big mistakes in grading the exam, but she has refused to do anything about it (She would just say, "I don’t care, I’m not listening to you, I don’t have time for this, That’s not the answer on my answer sheet). I have literally given her multiple proofs showing how my answers are correct, but it looks like she never learned Algebra or something. I have asked her if she will accept a second opinion from another math teacher, but she said she doesn’t care because she knows that “I’m right and you’re wrong and there’s nothing you can do to convince me”. Long story short, I have literally fought with her for at least one hour (in four attempts at different times) and she won’t do anything (why do you have to fight for something so easily proven as math?). So, I went to the dean of math, science, and engineering at my school and spoke to him, he said he would first try to talk to her, and if nothing worked out, I could submit a formal appeal and maybe have my grade bumped up.
The question I’m asking here is: Has anyone else over here ever been in a similar situation? Is it easy to petition for a grade appeal and win (this is a community college)? What should be done about such terrible teachers? and finally, How should I deal with this problem?
I’m trying to be patient and just escape from the class without losing points on my GPA, don’t wish any harm for the teacher.
I’m looking to transfer to SJSU in their Computer Science program or UC Berkeley in EECS/CS and so my GPA is really important at this point in time. SJSU only accepts students above a 3.7 GPA, and I’m sure Berkeley is even harder to get into.
First, if you haven’t sought out a second opinion on your answers, I highly recommend doing so. Ideally you would have done that before going to the professor and then the dean, but at the very least it would be good to have impartial verification of your position before you press the matter any further.
You may very well be in the right, technically, but politically you have challenged your professor’s authority and then gone over her head to the dean. No matter how right you are, she’s likely to be taking that as a serious affront. Filing a formal appeal will only serve to make that political transgression more concrete, so make very sure that your challenge is going to prevail before you take that step.
I doubt if this is what she said.
Many, many years ago I had a college Algebra teacher at the University of Tampa that was just horrible! She would not explain things, she would not show up for office hours, she didn’t even show up to the class before the final where she said she was going to review the test! She failed everyone in the class except for one foreign student who already had a math degree and was only taking the class to learn the English terms. The entire class appealed and all our grades were raised. There is strength in numbers, see if other in your class will join you in your appeal.
Thank you guys for the responses.
As for TomSrOfBoston, that is EXACTLY what she said and I have taken note of those statements of hers when I make a formal case to the Dean.
And DreamSchlDropout, I am currently in the process of getting a second opinion from another Calculus teacher at the school. Also, I have confronted the instructor about 4-5 times (each at least 10 minutes long), and, after receiving the above responses, I decided that it is not possible for me to get something done without taking the case one step above the ladder and getting her seniors involved.
I still have a slight chance at getting an A in the class. My plan is that, if after the end of the semester, I do not get an A which I would have deserved, that I will file a formal appeal with the Dean. In preparation for that, I am also planning to collect contact information from as many students in the class as I can which I may be able to use as witnesses/proof in my case against her. Additionally, I have good relations with at least two other professors in the Math department at my community college and I am seeking to have them vouch for me in front of the Dean also.
@rollinaround, this is not a playground and you are not the schoolyard thug who ‘wins’ by getting all your friends to gang up on your ‘enemies’. You are not going to ‘win’ by getting other teachers who like you to convince the Dean that you “deserve” an A.
Your math teacher is not “hellbent on ruining your grade”, because frankly she’s not that invested in what your grades are: she comes to school and teaches her subject. I have never met a teacher yet who wanted a student to do badly. Your vitriol is not helping the situation.
Your Dean has said that if you are not happy with your final mark you can appeal it. Most likely at that point your paper would be taken and re-marked by another teacher, using the same rubric that the first teacher used. Btw, using the same rubric is important, as in math you can often get to a right answer different ways. If the learning goal of that module was to learn a specific approach you could have a correct final answer but still lose points for not doing the work the way that you were asked to. If another teacher marks it differently the Dean can have the grade changed.
Finally, like @TomSrOfBoston, I doubt that the professor started with “I don’t care, I’m not listening to you, I don’t have time for this”, but after
I can believe that she got to the point of saying those words. This is a kid tactic: provoke and provoke and provoke and when the person gets to the point of exasperation, grab the last quote out of context and wave it around triumphantly as proof that you are being hard done by. Just so you know, most adults recognize the tactic.
I would suggest that continuing to argue with her is pointless, and that you should focus on getting the test independently corrected by another teacher, and then presenting the first teacher’s incorrect proofs and the second teacher’s correct ones to someone who can correct your grade.
Fighting with the teacher is absolutely useless. You have no power or leverage with her. Getting angry gets you nowhere. Focus on what you want, which is correct grading.
We all have had good teachers and bad. Find another way to get to where you wanna go.
Too much “fighting” and “confronting” (and probably not enough “discussing”) for this relationship to be saved.
Sometimes grade appeals do not involve having others re-grade the exams and are only based on whether or not the grade was determined in the method described on the syllabus.
Horrible idea. The best you can hope for is that a different teacher regrades the test with the same rubric.