<ol>
<li><p>In my micro economics class, I will blame my poor grade on the professor, and rightfully so. To explain, the class was out of 450 points, 300 of which were dedicated to tests. However, the professor did not always teach what was going to be on the test. The only help was a practice test online and even then, students didn't know to what extent they should study things. And, the textbook was of practically no help because the test questions were from a different source so the information didn't line up in most cases. The averages for the tests were, in order from first to last, 79, 74, 63, 66, 54. I look at this declining average and I don't blame it on the students because I know that I am struggling just like the majority. The only reasons I received the grade I did (A-) was because he would give us bonus point that made our averages look better than they actually were. I actually had a 4.0 before this, which may or may not prove to some that I work hard and care about my grades. I talked to other students and they agreed that certain things were not taught. I already tried talking to him but I couldn't control my emotions considering he kept telling me it's my fault that I got a bad grade and that he did teach everything in class. Well, he didn't and I'm displeased. I just don't know what to do because I feel like I wasn't given a fair opportunity to earn an A because of the instructor's poor teaching. I can file a formal complaint but I don't know if I want to go that far. I really want to figure it out on a teacher-student level.</p></li>
<li><p>I received an A- in my drawing 1 class. On the syllabus, it talks about the evaluation being based on effort, improvement, attendance, participation, and skills building throughout the quarter. Well, I feel like I exceeded in all of those. I did not miss one class, I worked throughout the entire period each time, I applied the methods to the best of my ability, and so on. I feel like I did improve a lot considering it was my first drawing class ever in my life. I never used those materials, techniques, etc before so I honestly feel like I deserve an A in the class. I know that she didn't know this, but I started out knowing absolutely nothing about how to draw. But as I looked around the room, I found that many already had experience with shading, the tools, the methods. But here I was, a simplistic artist if you could even call me that. All I had ever used before was pencil and a paper, and things never turned out how I wanted. For the first assignment, she gave me an A-, which I don't see as justified considering it was the first assignment and I was focused and put effort into it. I genuinely tried with the skills that I had. And, because it is a drawing 1 class, I didn't know a lot of experience was required. I feel like she graded more based on what my drawings looked liked rather than how much I improved and the effort that I gave. The reason I took the class was to learn how to draw and I came in with absolutely no prior experience, so I feel I did improve a lot and deserve and A for my personal case. How can I talk to her about this?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You’re complaining over two A-'s?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I’m not really looking for responses like that. But I will say yes, I am “complaining” over two A-'s, especially because I had a 4.0 prior. I actually care and it does make a difference to me.</p>
<p>On a more serious note, I can see why for history, but did he indicate at all those topics would be tested, even if he didn’t explicitly go over them in class (b/c of time, for example)?</p>
<p>For art, I feel that at least some part of the grade should be based on the quality of the final project; that’s how the real world works – if you were designing a bridge, and you attended every meeting and put a ton of effort into designing/constructing a bridge, but there was a design flaw and it failed, ultimately you’d fail.</p>
<p>He did list a number of rather broad topics. But, he used the textbook to go over them but the textbook was not the material we should have been studying considering the test questions came from another source. So, what was in the textbook wasn’t actually helpful when it came to studying for a test because it didn’t come close to covering the test material. The only thing I really used to study was an online practice test and there were a number of things on each of them that he never mentioned in class so I tried my best to memorize and research some of the things on there. But, I didn’t know what I needed to know and that was a problem obviously. And after he told us the average for the test, he would laugh and say “You know, you guys are doing better than the other class” or something of the sort. That also got on my nerves because it’s not a joke to me.</p>
<p>And as for art, of course the final outcome should be evaluated. But my point is that I had absolutely no prior experience so to grade the first assignment based on appearance, in my honest opinion, is unfair, especially because the syllabus speaks of improvement and effort. I gave my best effort and improvement can’t be seen from the first drawing. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>For econ, if the syllabus outlined the topics to be covered on the tests or the topics were covered in the readings, you are responsible for the material whether of not it was covered in class. Welcome to college life.</p></li>
<li><p>For art, I agree with MITer94.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Yes, he listed topics, but those topics encompass a large amount of information and knowing all of that wasn’t required. For example, he listed international trade as one. Well, what about international trade? There are so many things that that could mean. Where do I even start? </p>
<p>over an A-…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As a structural engineer, I agree with that! I often wonder how the engineering students who cheated or did very poorly in college manage to get buy in the real world. There is not much room for error. And if we screw up, there will be serious consequences.</p>
<p>OP, you could cause more trouble than you’d think by complaining. I wouldn’t bother. Two A-s aren’t going to matter AT ALL. But a complaining attitude can have repercussions.</p>
<p>I actually did take a physics class in which we had to build and test a bridge and I can tell you that physics and art are very different although I’m sure you already knew that.</p>
<p>Actually, there is more art to structural engineering than you would think! We have to be pretty creative to make the architect’s vision a reality.</p>
<p>@simba514 welcome to college life/real world. I took a physics E/M course freshman year of college with absolutely no experience alongside MIT students, some of whom took AP Physics C - E/M, some of whom built circuits, and everyone is graded equally, regardless of past experience.</p>
<p>But the thing is, as I stated before, the syllabus says that part of the evaluation is based on improvement and effort. In my opinion, you shouldn’t be comparing my art class to your physics class. My physics class was heavily based on math. I was at a disadvantage because I took it a year earlier than suggested but I really didn’t want to take chemistry. Anyway, since I’ve always exceeded in math, I received an A in the class. But that’s my point; with physics, you have to have some kind of mathematical experience. You can’t go in the class without knowing certain things. In my case with a Drawing 1 class, you don’t need to have any experience and should be based on improvement, if necessary. </p>
<p>@simba514 I’m sorry, but I’d kill for my lowest grades to be A-s (or really for any or all of my grades to be replaced by them; even those that are higher). Most colleges will recalculate your GPA so that it’s still a 4.0. Don’t stress.</p>
<p>And honestly, an A- isn’t the end of the world. For example, I don’t think there’s a single person at my school who has never gotten an A- in a class (in fact, I doubt there are any people who have not gotten at least 3 or 4). You’ll get unfair teachers. It’s a fact of life. </p>
<p>It’s fine for the class to be based on improvement and effort (some classes here at MIT and other colleges do that - for example, if you have a very high B+ but the TA notices you participated and clearly understand the material, even if you didn’t do stellar on tests, then they might round your grade to an A). But some part, in fact a significant part, should also be based on your output.</p>
<p>My 6.01 (intro to EECS) was kind of like that - technically it doesn’t list any pre-requisites, and one can take it and do well without any prior experience, but some background in Python is strongly recommended. If you don’t know Python before taking 6.01 (for example, me), then you have to play catch-up because the course moves rather swiftly. I ended up getting a B+…I would’ve loved to get an A-, but once final grades are released, you can’t do anything else.</p>
<p>Does your teacher teach multiple classes of the same subject? My 8th grade social studies teacher, although not in High School, would put things that he never taught to us (4th period), but he would teach to the other classes on the tests. </p>
<p>Well, it’s actually a college course and he did mention a few times after he handed test results back that our class was doing better than his other class(es). </p>
<p>@simba514 eh, that’s pretty normal. I had a class where the average of one section was 90% and the average of a different section on the same test was 60%.</p>