<p>Yesterday I took my final exam for economics, I needed a 90 to get an A in this class. This is what happened, there was a question about the value of a public good and I knew the answer. Anyway, I wanted to make sure that the question was not stated incorrectly, because I could only miss 5 questions in order to maintain my 90. So, I asked my professor about the question for clarity, "is it 150 people who individually value the park at 2, or is it their total value", she told me individually with a suspicious smile. I ended up changing my answer to what she stated, but after I turned in my exam I realized that she told me the wrong thing. I'M MAD AT HER! because I think I might have missed more than 5 now.</p>
<p>are you sure ashton kutcher wasn't there</p>
<p>bump pidi bump bump!</p>
<p>Get over it. You need to trust your own gut, not what the professor says during an exam! It's all over right? Move forward and concentrate on the next thing whatever you have.</p>
<p>can ur professor do that... i mean i understand her not helping you, but telling you the wrong thing?</p>
<p>Yea, that's messed up. I would definitely complain if i didn't get the A.</p>
<p>That sucks, but you make it sound like a funny situation. :P</p>
<p>It is kind of funny in a way, but at the same time economics is my major, so it's only normal to be passionate about what grade I get. I was thinking about sending her an email to remind her of what she did, and ah...kiss her rump a little bit. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>If it's your major, I'd actually suggest NOT doing that with her. It will probably look more like grade grubbing and complaining than anything else and trust me your reputation with her and the dept is FAR more important than a couple points on a final!</p>
<p>I totally understand what your saying, but she's a micro professor who does'nt teach macro or any of the upper division Econ courses. Therefore, I'm quite certain I won't have her again. But, I understand I might need a recommendation!</p>
<p>If it wasn't a Scantron exam, you could've gone ahead and put both answers down, marking them according to different interpretations of the question. I write notes to my professors on these kinds of exams all the time. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.</p>
<p>I can't see that it would do anything but help for you to put down the answer for each possibility if you're unsure, as long as it's the right answer for each possibility. ;)</p>
<p>If it was a Scantron... not much you can do there but rely on the professor's good will. I can't imagine why she would intentionally mislead you like that -- how does that help you OR her? -- but if she did I doubt there's anything you can really do about it.</p>
<p>I completely echo undecided's first paragraph. On written exams, I often clarify my interpretation of a vague question, and I'll ask the professor or write a note if I'm really unsure. And as undecided said, "sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't." </p>
<p>I think that writing an email would be fine if you're sure you're right, and if you're sure you can phrase things well. But if she told you the right answer and you accuse her of trickery, it could seem odd and just cause trouble. If you really feel like communicating, I think face-to-face would be safer. Will you be able to see your grade or exam before leaving for the holidays? If so, you might wait to see how things turned out and then figure out whether or not you need to bring it up.</p>
<p>It really seems strange that this happened. Maybe if you do go see the professor, a possible approach could be something like "I keep thinking about one of the questions on the final, and I was wondering if I could talk about it with you. When I asked you to clarify the question, you told me that __<strong><em>, but the more I think about it, the less I understand why it's not _</em></strong>_. I know the test is over, but could we go over this?" This reminds her of your question without accusing her of tricking you, and will make sense regardless of whether you're right or wrong. If she admits to misleading you, then you have room to plead your case.</p>
<p>So...is your professor Margaret Ledyard?</p>
<p>And I think she told you the right thing. Why would she tell you "150 people" if not to make you do the multiplication of 150 X 2?</p>
<p>Who would of known, someone from the same school with the same class could find this thread. I think your right though. I was just so mind boggled by her deceiving reaction, and even though I did the multiplication of 150 X 2, her reaction caught me off guard to the point where I was second guessing myself. Silly me, I'M AN IDIOT should be a more appropriate title for this thread instead of accusing my professor.</p>
<p>Well, she could have thought the answer she gave you would make the question either absurd, interesting, or harder to receive in their results.</p>
<p>Maybe she was open to the weird interpretation of the question and wanted to see what would happen if your "weird" process was calculated in its entirety.</p>
<p>Kinda how a physics professor might intentionally mislead a student to examine what would happen if the object really <em>wasn't</em> in static equilibrium (if the balancing forces/torques were ambiguous, for example).</p>
<p>It's a possibility she just wanted to see how you think, and if you gave her the right answer to what she exactly said, she should be lenient.</p>