<p>I am currently in a course which I am not doing very well this grading period. From checking my grades online, I've seen that I have not been doing very well on the tests, which make up 100% of the class grade. However, it was only this Friday that I was able to see what I missed on one of my tests. It was made up of some short answer questions, some multiple choice questions, and a short essay. I missed all of the multiple choice questions and got a 60. I guess I would be ok with this, except that I was able to see what my friend got, and he got one more multiple choice question right than me and missed two of the short answer problems. His grade was a 75. I have to admit that his essay was probably more well-received than mine, but I got no indication that my essay had anything missing. I don't want to sound like a grade-grubber, but I don't feel that it's fair that my friend who missed one more question than me made a 25% higher score than me with no clear indication as to how the test was graded. I would at least like to ask the teacher for a clarification to the grading process, if not to my grade myself, but I'm afraid of alienating my teacher.</p>
<p>What I would do is go to the teacher and say that you are concerned about your grade, and would like to know how you could improve for the final. I don’t think you will alienate the teacher as long as you make it clear that you are not trying to get the existing grade changed, but merely trying to better understand what you need to do in the future.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that the professor will see things in the same light as you…it’s clear that each of the multiple choice questions did not carry much weight, because together they added up to 40% of the grade, if, as you said, you missed ALL of them. It’s not clear how the short answer questions each were weighted, or whether the professor gave partial credit on those, but it seems that the essay seemed to be given the most weight on the exam.</p>
<p>Definitely talk to the professor…to miss ALL of the multiple choice questions indicates that you don’t understand what the professor is looking for in a quick check of your knowledge.
The same with respect to the essay…do you know what he is looking for, and how he wants it presented?
One other thing to consider is how does your grade translate to a course grade? Is the grade on a set scale or on a curve, and either way, where do you fall?</p>
<p>The thing about the multiple choice questions is that the answers were ALL from the footnotes section from the last part of the reading section I was tested on. Also, there were only five or six of them.</p>
<p>I’m still in high school so there’s no formal way for how the class is graded. I think that is too subjective and that is what really bothers me. However, there are more tests here than would be in college, but still.</p>
<p>Also, my teacher just underlined a word or two and left the grading at that. So I have no idea what he was looking for.</p>
<p>Why is it only this Friday you could see how you were doing on tests? </p>
<p>What I strongly encourage you to do- now, but also especially later in college- is the minute you get a result back that isn’t what you’d aimed for, ask for the exam or project back, go over it, and if you still do not understand what you did to warrant the grade you received, most definitely visit the teacher/professor. Often what is marked on an exam or project isn’t close to what the judge reflects (in my experience, very few students ask about their exams or project so I save comments until they ask for them…and I can provide MUCH more in person than in tick marks or scribbles in the margin).</p>
<p>You needn’t worry about ‘alienating’ the teacher, provided you approach it in a constructive manner. Try to keep an open mind and learn what you did wrong, and how you can improve. That should be your primary goal. No one is out to get you. But comparing to others is pointless (you really aren’t in a position to understanding how your work and another’s compare; if you did, you’d have done much better on the exam and maybe worked as a TA for the course. Focus solely on your performance and what you need to do better. Seek out feedback and learn from it.</p>
<p>@starbright: I’m in high school and I only had this test a few weeks ago. The issue I’m seeing is that, unlike in most college or high school tests, there is no set grading procedure to how the points are distributed on the test, and there is nothing on my essay that would indicate a 15-20 point gap I have with my friend.</p>
<p>It is perfectly fine, as others have written above, for you to sit down with your teacher and discuss the best ways that you can improve your grade in this class. You can use your own exam as a case study, but it would not be smart to reference the other student’s exam. </p>
<p>It is most probable that your teacher used specific grading rubrics for the essay and short answer sections of the exam. The specific words that the teacher underlined probably are words that were called for in that question’s rubric. If only one word is underlined, it is likely that there were three or four more that should have appeared in order to receive full credit. It also is possible that that word isn’t quite right, but is close enough for you to receive partial credit. The number of words you write in your answers is immaterial if you don’t hit on the information that the grading rubric calls for.</p>
<p>Forget about your friend’s test, grading essays and short answers is inherently subjective even with key words. I think it is fine to ask for a conference with your teacher to go over how YOU can improve (you reading everything, including the footnotes, is an obvious area for improvement). Good luck!</p>