Have you ever seen a more ridiculous grading policy than this?

[MrDingleDangle]

i had a prof. that once got negative points if you made a certain mistake. I mean they were obvious calc mistakes that you shouldnt make and he stressed it a lot in class, but some people still got a -10 on a midterm!

he also gave someone an F-...when a student asked another prof, what that meant, the prof said thats his way to tell you, not only shouldnt you have passed this Calc II, but he would be surprised if you could pass Calc I

lol

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: greenman100
no, I wouldn't.

say your boss asks you to engineer a bridge.

1.) you're not sure if you can do it but you try anyway, bridge collapses, people die, lawsuit

2.) you are honest with your boss and say it's beyond your capabilites to do safely and get points for leadership and responsibility.


get it?

I hope you're not serious.

The concept makes sense to me. I hope you're kidding. If you can't do the probably, don't do it. If you can't handle the class don't take it and quit b!tchin to us.

You are completely missing the point

Don't mind him, he just likes being an ass. He's just bitter that his school never taught him how to write.

An Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting).

And you are a devil's advocate

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: greenman100
no, I wouldn't.

say your boss asks you to engineer a bridge.

1.) you're not sure if you can do it but you try anyway, bridge collapses, people die, lawsuit

2.) you are honest with your boss and say it's beyond your capabilites to do safely and get points for leadership and responsibility.


get it?

I hope you're not serious.

Originally posted by: Jnetty99
So yeah that sucks... umm where did you read that review?

Bruinwalk.com..a place that reviews professors. Pretty much all of them describe the same thing..a few talking about how people ended up with 3 points out of 50 because of this policy..but if graded like a "normal" professor was at least B/C material.

Bruinwalk oh ok thats just for UCLA i guess. Is there a site for all colleges?

Some professors are just tough, some idiotic and some easy as long that you study.

I have a Final on saturday which consist of 40 questions each worth 2.5 points with partical credit allowed because some will have 3 answers required.

Plus we are going to get 18 bonus multiple choice questions each worth 1 point. If you don't get an A on the Final, then you didnt study.

 

[iamtrout]

Originally posted by: Jnetty99
Is there a site for all colleges?

www.ratemyprofessors.com

 

[Corporate Thug]

ROFL, typo???

 

[tfinch2]

In one of my CS classes this semester, we had a semester research paper. It was to be in MLA format, bibliography, outline, 15+ pages, blah blah blah, and it was only worth 10% of our grade.

Talk about stupid.

 

[mugs]

Well, it eliminates the possibility that someone who has no idea what they're doing would try to just put a bunch of B.S. down and hope for partial credit. But rewarding a student for not trying does not make sense. I'd like to see the professor's reasoning.

 

[Analog]

I would never do that.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
In one of my CS classes this semester, we had a semester research paper. It was to be in MLA format, bibliography, outline, 15+ pages, blah blah blah, and it was only worth 10% of our grade.

Talk about stupid.

That makes sense to me. a research paper is not terribly useful for computer science, so I wouldn't expect it to be a large part of the grade. However, at my school we were required to take a certain number of classes that were designated as "WR" classes that involved a certain amount of structured writing. Something like that would satisfy that requirement.

 

[EmperorIQ]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: greenman100
no, I wouldn't.

say your boss asks you to engineer a bridge.

1.) you're not sure if you can do it but you try anyway, bridge collapses, people die, lawsuit

2.) you are honest with your boss and say it's beyond your capabilites to do safely and get points for leadership and responsibility.


get it?

I hope you're not serious.

The concept makes sense to me. I hope you're kidding. If you can't do the probably, don't do it. If you can't handle the class don't take it and quit b!tchin to us.

there is such a thing as taking a challenge. Why would you reward someone for not trying, but punish those who are trying? In the real world, when your managers ask you to do a project, can you really say no to it? Isn't it all about you using your own problem solving skills, and your team to help you out on it? I'm pretty sure you'd lose your job faster by only doing what you know how to do and not trying to learn.

 

[EmperorIQ]

Originally posted by: JS80
I missed 1 problem on the final which was 100% of our grade (got most of it right, made stupid mistake in one of the last steps), no partial credit = 80% = C- in Cost Accounting.

I had an exam where 1 problem was 60% of the exam, I mixed the signs, everything else was correct, just the negatives and positives were switched in the answer. Got a F in the class. 2 months later I got called into the counselor's office and they changed my grade w/o me asking for it. Apparently a lot of students complained about this moron. I hate him so much, he is completely full of himself. (Accounting class)

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: greenman100
no, I wouldn't.

say your boss asks you to engineer a bridge.

1.) you're not sure if you can do it but you try anyway, bridge collapses, people die, lawsuit

2.) you are honest with your boss and say it's beyond your capabilites to do safely and get points for leadership and responsibility.


get it?

this is a dumb comparison.

In college you are there to learn. Part of learning is trying something, failing and learning from the mistakes. A test for the professor to see if you understand it. A good one will take that test and show you what you need to improve on.

In the work force you should know your limitations and while you continuing to learn everything you can there are backups. IF you design something it gets tested and re-tested by other people.


Any professor that says not trying is better then trying should not be teaching.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: greenman100
no, I wouldn't.

say your boss asks you to engineer a bridge.

1.) you're not sure if you can do it but you try anyway, bridge collapses, people die, lawsuit

2.) you are honest with your boss and say it's beyond your capabilites to do safely and get points for leadership and responsibility.


get it?

I hope you're not serious.

The concept makes sense to me. I hope you're kidding. If you can't do the probably, don't do it. If you can't handle the class don't take it and quit b!tchin to us.

That's stupid. The difference is an engineer building a bridge already supposed to know this stuff. A student in college is supposed to be learning the stuff that will allow him to build bridge later. Suppose what you say is true and students shouldn't even attempt to solve a problem they are not sure about, then what the hell will you get in ten years? In ten years there won't be anyone to build the bridge because there are no engineers that know this stuff and current students are discouraged at solving the problems. This is as vscked as it goes. The point of college is learning, often by trial and error, you can't possibly expect the student to solve everything on the first try. Students, try, they may fail the first time, but they will succed later, punishing them for knowing how to solve the problem half way is stupid. Say you got two exams with one problem left blank. How are you going to differentiate between the student who has no clue how to solve the problem so he left it blank and a student who knew how to solve most of it but had to leave it blank because of the stupid policy? In the end both will get the same score, but if I were the employer, I would definitely prefer the student who at least knows how to approach the problem, given more time most likely he WILL solve the problem. The first student will have to go back to school to solve it. The professor is simply a lazy bastard who doesn't want to spend time determining how much partial credit a student deserves and then deal with requests to look at the solution again because the student feels he deserves more points. Sure, it's a hassle to the professor, but that's what he's getting paid for. I hate professors and TAs who shoo away the students because "everything you need is in the book" or simply because they are lazy to answer the question.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: tfinch2
In one of my CS classes this semester, we had a semester research paper. It was to be in MLA format, bibliography, outline, 15+ pages, blah blah blah, and it was only worth 10% of our grade.

Talk about stupid.

That makes sense to me. a research paper is not terribly useful for computer science, so I wouldn't expect it to be a large part of the grade. However, at my school we were required to take a certain number of classes that were designated as "WR" classes that involved a certain amount of structured writing. Something like that would satisfy that requirement.

yeah i was going to post this.

what tfinch is complaining about is not that bad. 10% for a paper in a CS class sounds about right.

 

[EmperorIQ]

Originally posted by: mugs
Well, it eliminates the possibility that someone who has no idea what they're doing would try to just put a bunch of B.S. down and hope for partial credit. But rewarding a student for not trying does not make sense. I'd like to see the professor's reasoning.

yes, but it should be obvious to the professor if the student is just putting a bunch of nonsense to get partial credit, or a student who knew what they were doing, but just messed up somewhere down the line.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: tfinch2
In one of my CS classes this semester, we had a semester research paper. It was to be in MLA format, bibliography, outline, 15+ pages, blah blah blah, and it was only worth 10% of our grade.

Talk about stupid.

That makes sense to me. a research paper is not terribly useful for computer science, so I wouldn't expect it to be a large part of the grade. However, at my school we were required to take a certain number of classes that were designated as "WR" classes that involved a certain amount of structured writing. Something like that would satisfy that requirement.

It's not the fact of doing the paper, it's just the big ass deal he made about it. What he expected and how hard he graded it, then it's worth a measly 10%.

 

[EmperorIQ]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: greenman100
no, I wouldn't.

say your boss asks you to engineer a bridge.

1.) you're not sure if you can do it but you try anyway, bridge collapses, people die, lawsuit

2.) you are honest with your boss and say it's beyond your capabilites to do safely and get points for leadership and responsibility.


get it?

I hope you're not serious.

The concept makes sense to me. I hope you're kidding. If you can't do the probably, don't do it. If you can't handle the class don't take it and quit b!tchin to us.

That's stupid. The difference is an engineer building a bridge already supposed to know this stuff. A student in college is supposed to be learning the stuff that will allow him to build bridge later. Suppose what you say is true and students shouldn't even attempt to solve a problem they are not sure about, then what the hell will you get in ten years? In ten years there won't be anyone to build the bridge because there are no engineers that know this stuff and current students are discouraged at solving the problems. This is as vscked as it goes. The point of college is learning, often by trial and error, you can't possibly expect the student to solve everything on the first try. Students, try, they may fail the first time, but they will succed later, punishing them for knowing how to solve the problem half way is stupid. Say you got two exams with one problem left blank. How are you going to differentiate between the student who has no clue how to solve the problem so he left it blank and a student who knew how to solve most of it but had to leave it blank because of the stupid policy? In the end both will get the same score, but if I were the employer, I would definitely prefer the student who at least knows how to approach the problem, given more time most likely he WILL solve the problem. The first student will have to go back to school to solve it. The professor is simply a lazy bastard who doesn't want to spend time determining how much partial credit a student deserves and then deal with requests to look at the solution again because the student feels he deserves more points. Sure, it's a hassle to the professor, but that's what he's getting paid for. I hate professors and TAs who shoo away the students because "everything you need is in the book" or simply because they are lazy to answer the question.

this quarter I had a TA who was somewhat like what you described.
student: can we go over the practice final, problem 2?
TA: the solutions are online, i don't want to go over this and waste everyone's time
me: I think she doesn't understand it, can you go over step by step the iterations of the algorithm?
TA: but its in the book, if you follow the algorithm mechanically, and not worry about its meaning, you will get the right answer.

this goes on for 2 hours and we get no where. He even stands in front and says "any questions?" When a question is asked that involved detailed work on the board, he rejects it and tells us that the book should be sufficient.

 

[wasssup]

I had a class that was EXACTLY like that. I got a C+ (my average was a 40/100 or something)...

It was some Algorithms class at Rutgers...

 

[Mark R]

This is just a variant of 'negative marking' - so called because you lose points for an incorrect answer. It's supposed to discourage guessing at questions on the off chance that you might say something correct. Whether you get 0 points for a incorrect answer and partial credit for a blank - or whether you get negative marks for an incorrect answer and 0 for a blank, it doesn't matter - they are equivalent.

This used to be quite a common method of assessing work but has fallen out of fashion in modern times. However, the last formal exam I took, was marked this way, and my next ones will be too. I've also competed in several academic competitions (including math), and again - they've been marked the same way.

In short, it's not laziness on behalf of the teacher - it's teaching you not to attempt a problem if you don't know how to do it. In some situations in real life, it's better not to try then to try something and fail.

I admit, it's a bit weird to apply it to questions like mathematical proofs - but I've seen it applied in such a way.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Mark R
This is just a variant of 'negative marking' - so called because you lose points for an incorrect answer. It's supposed to discourage guessing at questions on the off chance that you might say something correct. Whether you get 0 points for a incorrect answer and partial credit for a blank - or whether you get negative marks for an incorrect answer and 0 for a blank, it doesn't matter - they are equivalent.

This used to be quite a common method of assessing work but has fallen out of fashion in modern times. However, the last formal exam I took, was marked this way, and my next ones will be too. I've also competed in several academic competitions (including math), and again - they've been marked the same way.

In short, it's not laziness on behalf of the teacher - it's teaching you not to attempt a problem if you don't know how to do it. In some situations in real life, it's better not to try then to try something and fail.

I admit, it's a bit weird to apply it to questions like mathematical proofs - but I've seen it applied in such a way.

Negative marking may make some measure of sense in multiple choice questions, but the chances of throwing a random number down on a page and getting it right in a math class are pretty slim.

 

[Gibson486]

I was gonna say it was stupid, but then I put my AT experience into prespective and remember how many people on this forum attmept to answer a question the have no idea how to answer.

 

[Special K]

I had a philosophy class that was graded exactly like that, except all of the questions were either multiple choice or fill in the blank, so there was virtually no question as to what the correct answer was. The class was also arranged so that you could score up to 200 points on the exams, which were only graded out of 100. I think the highest score in the class was about 110 or so.

Using that grading system on a proof-based math class seems pretty harsh though.

 

[ShadowBlade]

Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz
Isn't that a similar policy to the one used by the SATs?

iirc its -1/4 point for marking and incorrect answer and -0 for not answering
On the math portion anyway

 

[thegimp03]

At least they're only 10 pt questions.