So, after getting 96 after 96 on all my assignments for an online education class, I took another look at the professor’s rubrics. Apparently, the guy designed them so that the highest grade you can get on any assignment is 95% or 96%, depending on the assignment. For instance, we have weekly graded discussion posts in which we reply to our classmates on a forum similar to this one. The rubric has four categories with a maximum of 24 points per category, yet it is graded out of 100. Larger projects allow for a maximum of 95/100 points. Has anyone had a professor do this before? It seems pretty unfair, and it’s not something that I expected from a professor whose supposed to be a role model for future educators. What a douche…
Well, it depends. Is there a curve applied to the grades that stretches it all out to 100? Are points for the entire class structured such that individual assignments don’t need to each be 100 points? Is the line between a B and an A actually 86/87? Are the remaining 4–5 points a holistic amount that can be added for particularly outstanding work that isn’t captured elsewhere in the rubric? Is the grading method forgiving enough that it’s just as easy to score a 90 or above with the cap being 95/96 as it would be if the cap was 100?
There are other possibilities. Before you call your professor an expletive, you really ought to try figuring out if you have grounds for it—and if it really does seem like you do, then before you call your professor an expletive you really ought to try asking whether you’re understanding the system correctly.
That last one is important. If you’re right that this is an unfair system, you’ll have gotten evidence that the grading is problematic and you should talk with the professor’s chair (or someone in the dean’s office, if it is the chair). Alternatively, you may find out you’re wrong, and you will have learned something—and, if you approach it politely, you may end up gaining the professor as an ally in your education.
I take it he isn’t a math educator.
Why don’t you ask him about the issue?
Another possibility: I designed a class once where I made a stupid math error, so it was impossible for any student to get higher than a 98.5%. (In brief, I decided to eliminate a small assignment while building the course, and I ditzed it completely and neglected to factor that into the overall grading system. I figured it out just before a couple students did, and so had already decided but hadn’t yet announced that I’d be scaling everyone’s scores so that an earned 98.5% would be equivalent to a 100%, the A/B cutoff would be 88.65%, and so on.
It’s entirely possible that it was an honest mistake, and (if it’s done politely!) your professor should be grateful to have it pointed out.
dfbdfb, the answer to all your questions is a resounding “no.” Plus, I apologize for those four little asterisks that bothered you so much. I just wanted to know if anyone else has had a similar problem with a professor, and it’s understandable that I’d be pretty frustrated. I’m not yet convinced that this problem warrants a complaint to the dean or anything.
arabrab, you guessed right. I’ve thought about emailing him, but then I’d be the one feeling like four little asterisks, you know?
So you asked? It certainly sounds like you didn’t—but if not, how do you know with certainty that it isn’t anything like that, or an honest mistake? And why in the world would you feel bad for asking?
I don’t understand this. Why don’t you just ask? You can ask politely and respectfully. Just say you’re trying to understand the grading system and the rubric.
I’ve had writing classes where the highest grade you can earn on anything graded was 99 because “there’s no such thing as a perfect essay”.
He added wrong. It’s not a big deal. You can bring it up to him.