Professor changes my grade b/c I expressed displeasure about his class.

[Simply Elegant]

I don't think him being foreign is really an excuse. If he lives near where you are, he should become better acquainted with how professors behave in the US since that's where he teaches. It could explain why but it doesn't make it right for him to do that.

 

[nelyanaphonexia]

omg! girl, I can completely cope with your situation! I hope you get this worked out ASAP!

About your grade:
Talk to administrative/deans about the grade and take a print out of the emails. They will hopefully help you!

About critiquing a class/professor:
At the university where I attend there was such a problem with professors doing stuff like this and running super difficult classes where almost no one could even hope to pass, they started doing class evaluations. at the end of every class we all have to fill out these little forms saying how we liked the class, what could change etc. For most classes there is no problem, but for obviously flawed classes (where either the prof. wasn't fair or the class load was waaaaay too much) things can be changed.

You should write to an administrator and make a suggestion like this. Tell your friends/classmates about something like this and start a petition or something. Just so that Admin. knows what the classes are really like and/or if things need to change.


Just thought I would share my story with you:
My experience wasn't a good one. I had a prof. freshman year in my second semester that I didn't think would be a problem. I had a 4.0 from the first semester and would have continued to have one until I graduated if it hadn't been for this guy.

I had an appointment with him one afternoon and when I went to see him about a project I was working on. Not only had he forgotten...he had a "friend" with him. When I knocked on the door he got pissed off, accused me of walking in on him and his "friend" and screamed at me to get out. I was humiliated and even though I had straight A's in his class, when grades were posted, my overall grade turned up as a C.

I emailed him, even though I knew he did not like me at this point, and told him that I had all of my grades and they were all As and I was unsure how I earned a C and wanted to meet with him to discuss my grades. I got an email back a few minutes later stating that "if I delved into the situation more he would drop my grade even further and that this would teach me to bother busy professors and that I was lucky he didn't try to kick me out of the university and revoke my scholarship."

Because I was a freshman, I just took it. I had no idea what to do, my parents were pissed because I had a C, I was disappointed because my GPA dropped and felt like I had no where to turn. My friends were all on good terms with the Professor and accused me of being a liar. So, I was really up shit creek.

Now, what I should have done was to see an Admin. with all my grades and papers, etc. They might have been able to change the situation. But I didn't and now I'm trying to get into grad school with one C on my transcript, which is a lot harder than people think.

 

[rbella]

What a dickhead. Please do what the others suggested and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Cinci]

I'd go straight to the dean, or even the President of the college...

 

[Brittni]

Completely illegitimate. I hope you take it to a higher authority because what he did was wrong. Completely wrong. Nothing more and nothing less to it.

Don't let him get away with that kind of behavior.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkylarV217 Well we normally do evaluations but not in the summer class, I really wish we had.... He is a foreign teacher ( from China)... so that might have something to do with his behavior ??? I don't know how grading works there ?

Grading should be based upon the quality of work you produce, not whether this guy favors you. I don't care where you are from. If grading becomes that subjective, imagine what kind of doctors, engineers, etc. we may end up having?

 

[fafinette21]

Wow, what a jerk! The one thing I would do is wait and see whether or not your grade actually changes. He might have just been saying that to scare you into not complaining about his teaching methods (which is still totally wrong btw).

If it does change then take all your documentation to the dean or co-ordinator of the course/program or whomever and get your mark changed to what you deserve.

If it doesn't change, I would still send them a little email or something outlining the suggestions you gave him to improve the class, and mention the fact that he was not responsive to constructive comments and furthermore decided to threaten you with a grade change. His behaviour should definitely be documented should this type of situation happen with someone else.

What type of course was it?

 

[fafinette21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark Grading should be based upon the quality of work you produce, not whether this guy favors you. I don't care where you are from. If grading becomes that subjective, imagine what kind of doctors, engineers, etc. we may end up having?

This would be the ideal standard! But as much as I hate to admit it, there are many cases where favouritism comes into play (and I have definitely been on the receiving end of some of those). Personally this is one reason why I am in science and not a field such as English or what have you since grading is less subjective in science. You are either right or wrong, there is no in between

 

[Beauty Mark]

Yeah, I'm in the sciences too and know favoring comes into play with a lot of grading, regardless (seen many people get extensions on assignments every week when others cannot), but I don't think I've ever seen it so blatantly put out there.

It pisses me off, because I conscientiously make a point of not looking at the names on the lab report when I grade until I have to enter grades. If more people would do stuff like that...

 

[fafinette21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark If more people would do stuff like that...

I've thought that so many times! Really, how hard is it to submit work under just your student number so the person marking doesn't know who you are? Or to get impartial people to mark assignments etc. It seems to be extremely feasible and I don't know why something like this hasn't been implemented. Steps should be taken to ensure that every student is on a level playing field so that only those who truly deserve it will get the best marks. I dunno, I'm just one of those "life should be fair" type people.

 

[seonmi]

I agreed with everyone. But just FYI, in Asia, usually students are not supposed to share their opinions on how the class should be run, unless professors/teachers ask. So maybe he got offended when he got your email. But still, he should learn his lesson not to act like that in the future.

I'm so glad, most of my professors are wonderful even though I had a bad experience with one of them.

Good luck fighting

 

[macslut]

Go to the dean of the college with all your evidence. If that doesn't work, escalate. If you have a lawyer or a lawyer friend who can write a strongly worded letter, that will make them run for the hills. No lawsuit needed. It doesn't even have to be illegal. Still, the professor is getting into academic honesty issues. So perhaps calling up the local newspaper might make him rethink the grade change.

 

[mona lisa]

It is sad how often persons who are supposed to be professionals cannot separate their opinions from their work and particularly teachers are prone in this area. (So too are judges but that is another subject altogether.) Several examples from my school career could be mentioned teacher-wise but one in particular stands out which I will mention now.

Essentially, a big mistake I made in college was showing up some teachers one of whom I had in four business classes. My grades overall were good in the first three (3.6, 3.8, and 3.1) but he got me in the fourth class when I slacked up a bit...the "umpire" called quite a tight "strike zone" and I escaped with a 1.8.

The bottom line is, when it comes to teachers, simply wait until after you get your grade to be critical if you are at all. And make sure you will not have them in another class later on.

 

[TamEva Le Fay]

Skylar...

This has upset me more than I can express on this forum.

This and Nelyanaphonexia's story of injustice has made my stomach turn and has left me feeling very angry that tiny little men feel they can and will abuse their power.

All I can say is - I know...you will make this right!

And if their is a God in this world you will find a way - in your own way to ensure that this pig discovers that he messed with the wrong Girl!!!

And in doing so you will have saved some other victim the repercussions of his bruised ego as a result of the many inadequacies as a man in this world.

Having stated that...I feel sorry for the poor bastard already!

Normally, I'd ask for a locket of his hair, but in this case...no VooDoo is necessary...he digs his own grave!

Skylar...make this right...you are not the one - not today, and not like this.

You may have to lose some future battles in your lifetime, as we all will. But this one you will NOT lose!!!

That "B" is yours and you WILL NOT take that class again!

 

[reesesilverstar]

Print out the last email - Take 1 copy to your Academic Advisor. Nothing? Take a copy to the Dean. Nothing? Take it to the Academic Center? Nothing? Take it to your Provost. Nothing? Take it to the President. Nothing? Let them know you're gonna put an article in the local paper.

Because these professors need to realize WE pay THEM to educate us. I've seen it happen before where a professor gets some bad feedback in those end of course survey/opinions forms we had to fill out, then ppl's grades changed from what they expected. I remember in our handbook what they said the order was to get some justice. Why I included the local paper is because Companies and Figure Heads make donations to local colleges, and bad publicity would wreck that for them... They depend on funding.

 

[honeybee28]

That is really immature of him to do that. No professor has a right to do that. I hear that they can change your grade if you do extra credit or I know one professor said that if we have a D in the end of class we can come to his office and he would ask us a few test questions and if we get them right he will bump us up a grade. But I never heard a professor giving a lower grade if a student has an opinion.

I mean you have the right to say what ever you want. I think he took it the wrong way thinking that you were telling him what he should and shouldnt do when you were just helping him. Im sure other students may have had the same opinion as you did. But I agree with the others and save the e-mails and take them to the dean.

Good luck!

 

[chameleonmary]

Doing such a thing is against university policy. This is a very serious matter and should be taken to all senior staff. If I were in your position I would email head of schools, and unit coordinators etc.

In all my past and current universities teacher assessment is taken very seriously. 100% discretion is advised for any comments on the quality of a teacher or the unit structure. You should not be penalised for that in any way shape or form.

Assessment is based on skill, merit and effort. The marks are final.

This is a form of discrimination.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeybee28 That is really immature of him to do that. No professor has a right to do that. I hear that they can change your grade if you do extra credit or I know one professor said that if we have a D in the end of class we can come to his office and he would ask us a few test questions and if we get them right he will bump us up a grade. But I never heard a professor giving a lower grade if a student has an opinion. I mean you have the right to say what ever you want. I think he took it the wrong way thinking that you were telling him what he should and shouldnt do when you were just helping him. Im sure other students may have had the same opinion as you did. But I agree with the others and save the e-mails and take them to the dean. Good luck!

In your examples, you'd have earned the grade. Grades should be changed based upon merit only

 

[SkylarV217]

Thanks ladies for all of your help =) .... Lets just say that in then end I got the grade I deserved ;-)

 

[laperle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkylarV217 Thanks ladies for all of your help =) .... Lets just say that in then end I got the grade I deserved ;-)

I'm glad to hear that!

Let me just give you some advice to the future. The academic universe is based on vanity. They will destroy you if you start questioning their habilities to teach by yourself. The best thing to do when the professor isn't openly pro feedback is to talk to other students and gather a GROUP and send a signed letter to the professor in question. Never send a letter directly to the head of department before letting the professor know about it.

I'm telling all this for experience, once I used to be a "full of opinion" student since I can remember and it got me into all sorts of weird situations when I was in the University.