JUST TAKE THE FUCKING A-

5/13/2011 2:46:47 PM

professor agreed (unwillingly) there was some irregularities in the grading. He's changing it to an A.



dbhawley win.

/thread

5/13/2011 2:48:05 PM

Quote :

"dbhawley win loses at life."

5/13/2011 2:49:58 PM

if I would have wanted all kinds of comments from the peanut gallery, I would have posted in chit chat

5/13/2011 2:51:45 PM

5/13/2011 2:53:47 PM

you really don't see what you just did.

but whatever- it's not like the rest of us don't see people everyday pretending they're still in HS.

the only way this could have been worse is if you had your parents complain for you.

if this is even true, and you're not simply pushing back against everyone here who turned on you, then the professor is a pussy and should have stuck to his guns.

he's the expert on the material and the master of his class.

you're just a fucking student and an idiot at that.

congrats, bro.

5/13/2011 3:00:54 PM

dbhawley is the real winner today. If he listened to you clowns, he would have had to justify to himself with an undeserved - and more importantly, UNFAIR (via rubric), A-.

All the tough guys in this thread probably just take up the ass in real life. No ambition, no willpower, and no courage to stand up for what is obviously theirs.

Congrats, dbhawley

5/13/2011 3:04:08 PM

Its important to stand up for what you believe in, but you also have to weigh the cost of the effort and the net effect of the outcome. Its taken me a long time to realize that being right isnt necessarily worth the stress. Eventually it will take a toll on you.

5/13/2011 3:20:18 PM

It would be really cool if someone emailed this thread to the professor.

5/13/2011 3:20:22 PM

or if the student i mentioned earlier had made this thread, and listened to everyone, she would have had an A instead of an F.

we were simply advising him to play it safe, and more importantly, look mature.

sure he got what he wanted- that's beside the point. he looked like a ridiculous taint in the process.

he is not in any way a winner.

5/13/2011 3:27:57 PM

dbhawley, TWW gives you a C-

5/13/2011 3:39:12 PM

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 3:44 PM. Reason : this thing was a troll thread the whole time ]

5/13/2011 3:41:30 PM

^^^As an instructor or professor yourself, why would you defend a professor who gave everyone perfect scores on all their assignments and then at the end of the semester, subjectively handed out grades based on some undocumented (I suspect) notion of participation?

I mean, dbhawley originally had a B. He missed 5 classes and got a B, but somebody who missed 6 classes got an A. And he's gotten absolutely no feedback that he could use to understand that disparity or figure out how his grade was formulated.

5/13/2011 4:08:56 PM

There's too much I don't know about this situation to give a perfect answer, but I can say this.

He mentioned his classmates had all had this guy before, that means he knows their writing styles, knows what to expect, has previous expectations, and already knows if they're cunts.

Not having that advantage I can only imagine maybe dbhawley is as annoying in a classroom as he is on the internet.

You don't know the quality of his work- since he was the odd man out the professor was probably easy on him at first to let him adjust. If his work still sucked at the end he was probably tired of giving him handouts.

Maybe the guy who was absent more often still contributed more to the class?

Maybe the professor is gay and found him unattractive.

Maybe some people are missing the point that professors aren't bound by the same rules that bind public school teachers. If this thread was about a similar situation in a high school class I bet his momma would be complaining to the principal or calling a school board member, whatever. As a professor I can simply give you the finger, and you can complain to my boss and they can decide if you have merit. The point being they're all more educated than you, and possibly don't care if you stage little protests.

I'm not defending the professor- maybe it seems that way just because dbhawley offends me.

Even if he proves the professor wrong mathematically it still only serves to piss him off. Now he's going to talk to other professors- don't pretend this isn't how the world works. The sooner you pop the tit out of these dbhawley fuckers mouths the sooner our schools will stop churning out whiny, uneducated fucks.

Again, not trying to be mean- honesty is the best policy.

Seriously, congratulations for arguing your way all the way to an A. IMO your previous grade was worth more. Maybe I'm just a sucker for dignity?





[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 4:32 PM. Reason : yep]

5/13/2011 4:24:32 PM

Are you a professor of bullshit?

5/13/2011 4:31:28 PM

No-

But your mother, Abigail, can bend over for the gravy-pipe.

5/13/2011 4:33:04 PM

How unprofessional.

5/13/2011 4:34:30 PM

Ok

5/13/2011 5:35:54 PM

AHA, dbhawley has never made the Dean's list, and it looks like he's never approached a professor about a grade before in his entire college career, which is now coming to a close. The one time he does intend to voice some concerns, he not only has to put up with the usual crap from TWW, but a college professor pops up out of nowhere to rant about how this isn't high school and somebody needs to pop the tit out of this fucker's mouth.

(If anybody wants to hear more from y0willy0, go check out rateyourstudents.blogspot.com or collegemisery.com. He's a stereotype.)

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 5:38 PM. Reason : SNOWFLAKES!!! AHAHA]

5/13/2011 5:38:08 PM

Quote :

"you really don't see what you just did."

I am glad I never had you as a professor. You really seem to suck at your job and hate it. I hope you have second thoughts. Its a kids grades and future at stake.

I agree, if I didnt have the grade I THOUGHT i deserved by the grading scale i would bitch too and have in the past. Theres nothing wrong in doing that and knowing this professor is actually cool...I doubt he minded either.

I really hate the fact that y0willy0 has anything to do with teaching. You are obviously biased, unfair and very unprofessional.

5/13/2011 5:47:16 PM

Wow yowilly you started off so strong. Shouldn't have kept going

5/13/2011 5:49:06 PM

Students shouldn't expect to be coddled at the college level.

It's as simple as that- although I recognize it's human nature to want to always be right.

It worked out for the OP- good for him. Not something I'd personally be proud of.

This minor issue could have become a big one though, and that's what I'm trying to stress (it was a gamble).

I don't really care if you think I'm a bad instructor- you've all had them before. What did you do in that situation?

I loved my students this semester- the ones that didn't like me dropped VERY quickly, and that's the way it's supposed to be. The ones that stayed on were very involved and I'm sure when my boss sits down with me to go over my performance evaluations that will be confirmed.

I mean, if another thread like this comes up and you find me annoying, I can always not participate or lie? If he didn't want our opinions why would he have posted a situation/question on TWW? If he thought we would all agree with him why bother wasting everyone's time?

At least appreciate the variety of responses he received- he got the result he wanted.

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 6:10 PM. Reason : geez]

5/13/2011 6:08:48 PM

what courses do you teach and where?

5/13/2011 6:13:43 PM

I made the Dean's list without ever bitching for a professor to change my grade

people like dbhawley cheapen the experience for everyone

he should have just gone to UNC since they inflate grades like crazy, but he probably couldn't weasel his way in the first place

5/13/2011 6:15:27 PM

Exactly, the professor was wrong and it was pointed out to him that he was indeed incorrect in his grading.

Some of you people got really worked up over this. I would have done the same thing essentially.

5/13/2011 6:15:55 PM

Yeah, because so many employers are going to give a fuck that he got Dean's list his final semester. He took a big gamble and got lucky that the professor was tired of having him bitch and finally gave way.

What did OP learn? If he has an issue in the workplace, he can go bitch to his boss about how his shit effort deserves wild praise and award over those other employees who have major seniority over him. Maybe he'll get it. Maybe he'll get fired.

Sounds like OP has a good chance at UNC grad school in any case.

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 6:16 PM. Reason : haha, I didn't see the other UNC reference]

5/13/2011 6:16:01 PM

I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to put that information on TWW of all places.

5/13/2011 6:17:12 PM

I still will never understand why you are graded for attendance in college courses that you pay to take

5/13/2011 6:19:14 PM

are you in a tenure-track position? 4-year college?

you're talking a lot of shit about your students, seems really unprofessional (anonymous message board and all)

5/13/2011 6:20:48 PM

^^this.

^and this

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 6:21 PM. Reason : g]

5/13/2011 6:20:48 PM

What would've really been the correct decision is the professor to go back and fix the other students' grades who were curved, and then let them know why their A's got dropped to B's.

5/13/2011 6:21:12 PM

^ x 4 i share that same sentiment....however, if its spelled out in the rubric/syllabus then theres no getting around it...

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 6:21 PM. Reason : dfgff]

5/13/2011 6:21:33 PM

this quickly turned into a teachers vs. students thread

5/13/2011 6:23:17 PM

I would like BridgetSPK and JT3bucky to explain just how exactly anything I've said here makes me a bad teacher.

I "really seem to suck at my job?"

I'm "obviously biased, unfair, and very unprofessional?"

I thought I was a "professor of bullshit?"

Why would I want to check out a couple of websites I've never heard of before to read about people like me bitching about whiny students?

Maybe you should elaborate further on these points so I don't think you're a "dummyhead?"

As long as we're talking about stereotypes how typical is it for a student's grade to be blamed on the professor?

5/13/2011 6:27:56 PM

neither one of them has taught ever a class before, and it sounds like the only reason they agree with dbhawley is because they did the same thing to make it through college

sadly, students like these are why profs get grumpy and burnt out on teaching

5/13/2011 6:31:54 PM

1/3 of my students' grade is participation.

I explain in my syllabus that this is "asking questions, debating, office hours, etc"

It's no great mystery- it's not a cop out that allows me to fudge grades.

If you sit in the back on don't do anything besides turn in work you can expect a B. Period.

5/13/2011 6:33:28 PM

man this thread has been places I would have never expected it to go to.

Thanks BridgetSPK and JT3Bucky for the support. I love it how people read a few lines and assume they are experts on the given subject.

and y0willy0 remind me alot of several grad student i've had as teachers, ego bigger than ever and on a power trip. Im glad i've never had him as a teacher before.

And i love it how you all think that im just some douchbag student. Went and had a very good conversation with the professor. After ending our conversation about class, he kept talking about various subjects for at least another 20 minutes. Ended up leaving with a letter of recommendation for extension jobs. but once again some of you had to come in with your useless advice.

advice is one thing, but just down right trying to insult is another. take that mess to chit chat

5/13/2011 6:42:52 PM

I'll be the first to apologize for the "tit" comment- maybe that was a bit out of line.

5/13/2011 6:46:34 PM

^^ yeah, somehow i don't believe any of that

"yeah, you're right. my fault. you get an A. here's a letter or rec. how about a puppy?"



[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 6:48 PM. Reason : asdf]

5/13/2011 6:47:14 PM

Quote :

"If you sit in the back on don't do anything besides turn in work you can expect a B. Period"

what if there aren't really any questions to ask? or the subject matter isn't really debatable (think math and *some* science -oriented classes). Or they figure out problems on their own because they do the work outside of class?

this explains A LOT Of my graduate level classes and i've made plenty of A's...
and if 1/3 of my grade was dependent on these things that i figure out on my own-do you think i deserve a B?


i guess it would better asked....would you rather have me pretend i have questions or ask you before searching on my own to get the participation points?

(no trolling at all, honest question)


[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 7:04 PM. Reason : uggh]

5/13/2011 6:53:34 PM

There are many layers of academic management for quality assurance on the complete body of work that the professors are actually pushing. As far as going over the head of someone, try calling a member of the Board of Governors or a serious donor. That will dick-stomp a snarky TA real fast...but back to the matter at hand -

This is really a cost benefit analysis problem based on your perceived return on the invested work versus your realized benefit in further education or advantage in employability.
Assuming this is a 3 or less credit course and you need somewhere around 120 credit hours for your actual degree, ((3/120) * (3.7) - (3/120) *(4.0)) = 0.0075

Meaning that the contested cumulative GPA influence is somewhere on the order of one one hundredth of a point.
You have the option of preparing a professional presentation of all completed work in the course combined into an easily understood package and retaining a lawyer as you present your case to the multiple layers of academic faculty conducting oversight on the conduct of the course, and the minimal GPA influence may actually be testament that this is a mission inspired by principle more than value.

The benefit of pursuing your case to correct for the GPA is so incredibly low that you would actually be flagging yourself as a person with serious issues instead of focusing on graduating, moving on, or getting a job. Could it be you are misplacing your fear of graduation into microscopic administrivia in the rubric of one of your final milestones before entering the real world?
Move on. You can't fight every battle.

5/13/2011 7:31:46 PM

^^When I was taking nano grad courses, the professor would go through a series of complex slides and ask for questions. When no one said anything, he said to us "Oh so everyone here completely understands the material?" and basically wouldn't go forward without someone asking a question. Or he would ask specific students a question about the material just to get some discussion going, typically seeing if the student fully grasped some intricacies of the material or asking for real world applications.

As far as the "they figure out problems/searching on your own" goes...a lot of students will have a question in mind but be too afraid to ask it. Getting a discussion in class with many students and the professor often helps with understanding more than just an old guy reading power point slides until the class ends.

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 7:33 PM. Reason : ^]

5/13/2011 7:33:32 PM

Poor guy, in the real world he will not make it.....and who knows if he is telling the truth on the grade change (again). I can see him now, boss, Ginger is making $10K more than me a year and we both graduated at the same time. She told me she had a 2.1 GPA when she graduated....and I made the deans list! How is this fair?!?!?!?!?!

5/13/2011 7:35:40 PM

I don't teach graduate level classes.

But my classes are very geopolitical in nature so there is plenty to discuss and debate openly- especially considering the amount of reading I give them.

I don't think anyone pretends to ask me questions- typically I facilitate discussion between students.

My lecture at the beginning of class is the catalyst.

I don't ever call anyone out if nobody will speak- apparently I have the gift of irking people until they can't stand it anymore.

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 7:39 PM. Reason : fsdf]

5/13/2011 7:38:33 PM

y0willy0, I never said you were a bad teacher. And I wasn't recommending that you check out those websites--I was very clearly recommending them to other users who wanted more of your schtick.

UJustWait84, I have never spoken to a professor about a grade. It goes entirely against my nature. However, I'm also not a presumptuous prick who likes to pile on on a message board and rant about how my degree is being devalued by someone who does speak to a professor about a grade.

Also, because I am so very, very, very aware of just how obnoxious and stupid my peers are, I am able to recognize when someone's complaint appears moderately reasonable. Professors shouldn't hand out perfect scores to all their students all semester long and then assign final grades based on participation without explanation or documentation.

It's flat out pitiful how eager some of you are to vilify dbhawley. You're so predictable that it's pathetic.

5/13/2011 7:53:04 PM

the only reason i ask is because we have some DAMN good teachers at school.

(seriously there are a few that absolutely blow my mind-ie our pathology/immunologity teacher was able to describe and relate the complement cascade insanely well)

and sometimes while what ThePeter said is right- we're generally too scared to pipoe up, there are just as many times when....theres just not many questions, if any at all.
there's actually many instances where the questions were out of the scope we needed to know.
it's understood very well.


it was an honest question

5/13/2011 10:20:47 PM

Quote :

"I can tell many of you arent reading through all of the post and are posting stupid stuff, so im just going to ignore you. "

I think you need to understand one thing very clearly. This is not the case at all. I think everyone here understands your point, but nobody agrees with it, because you are pretty much nothing more than a little whiny bitch.

I know you try to rationalize your situation because others got grades that were better than yours. Make no mistake, they didn't deserve to have their grades bumped up either. if you're really concerned about "fairness", what about all of the people in your class who did not whine to the professor to get their grades adjusted? Or what about people in other classes who didn't get their grades adjusted?

Like others said, if you continue with this kind of behavior in "the real world" you are going to fail miserably. You didn't earn an A. You didn't earn an A-. Have fun looking back and knowing that the only time you "made" the Dean's List was on a technicality - you didn't earn it and you didn't deserve it.

5/13/2011 10:43:27 PM

This is some gay millennial bullshit.

The only way you can survive in the real world whining about pointless bullshit is if you work for some government organization -- where it doesn't matter if you do productive labor or not.

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 10:51 PM. Reason : k]

5/13/2011 10:51:22 PM

Quote :

"UJustWait84, I have never spoken to a professor about a grade. It goes entirely against my nature. However, I'm also not a presumptuous prick who likes to pile on on a message board and rant about how my degree is being devalued by someone who does speak to a professor about a grade."

The motherfucker was crying about an A- he didn't even deserve to earn. As somebody who never once bitched about a grade, yet still managed to get good grades, and even get into grad school, this shit pisses me off. It pisses me off even more now that I actually teach. Nobody is entitled to getting an A in my class, you have to work for it. Not showing up to class 25% of the time, doesn't sound like an A student to me. But what do I know? I'm just a presumptuous prick

The saddest thing of all is that it sounds like the prof just wound up giving everyone As because he had a shitty course syllabus and wasn't clear about his expectations of his students. I certainly wouldn't be proud for earning an A in any class like that. What a fucking joke of a class and what a sucky professor. I almost want to sympathize with the OP and be happy he bucked the system, but his warped sense of entitlement prevents me from it.

5/13/2011 11:14:33 PM

I can't imagine this prissy whiny bitch ever creating something that is valuable to others

5/14/2011 12:24:04 AM