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Poll: Is grading comparatively ethical?

D

Dedpuhl

Lifer
I have 2 college professors that like to grade reports and papers comparatively. Is this ethical behavior? Should we be graded against other classmates? I read somewhere that it is unethical to grade comparatively.

What do you think and be sure to vote in the poll...
 
The best example I can think of.

We had a technical report on an experiment that was due. There were 8 of us in the class. 6 of the students typed the report. 2 of us wrote out our reports. In the professors syllabus, it says that we can neatly write or type the reports. When we got our papers back, I had made a B. Nothing was wrong with the report. The handwriting was very neat(I asked other ppl if it was neat). On the paper, the professor wrote:

"All other students typed, why didn't you?"

then he wrote under my grade "graded comparatively"
 
Well, anyway you look at it thats a load of horse-sh|t. You did what the assignment asked, you did it within guidelines he gave you. Man, I'd be bustin caps if that happened to me. What if you had of typed it and one of the students got his professionally printed on gold-leaf? Would it then be graded comparitively? You did what you were asked, and you did it well. Nah, thats crap.

And who the hell here called that ethical!
 
grading 'comparatively' is basically grading on a 'curve'. all of the reports that i have ever turned in have always been or had to be typed. that's pretty much understood. as for his comment "All other students typed, why didn't you?", it was probably just that, a comment.

and you must understand, at this point you ARE competing against your peers. right now you're ONLY competing for grades. after you graduate you will also be competing for a job. will you complain if the other guy gets hired just because he dresses better, or puts on cologne?
 
i agree with both tuffguy and skoorb. in this instance, you followed the rules, so there's no way you should get penalized. i would bring him his own syllabus and ask him to read it out loud.

tuffguy's right about competition though. how good is a 4.0 if 90% of your classmates get them too? also, a 3.0 at a tough school is better than a 4.0 at a community college. job recruiters are going to want to know how well you stack up against people in similar situations. so grading comparatively may not be 'nice' but it is the way life works.
 
right now you're ONLY competing for grades

EXACTLY. I followed his syllabus, yet he still punished me for not typing. I asked him why I made the grade I did and it was because everyone else typed.


I am talking strictly in the sense of grading. I realize that in the outside world we will be compared against each other.

 
In this case he cannot possibly penalize you for writing when the syllabus says you can type. Its just not right.
 
The only reason why I had written this report was due to the fact that I had no knowledge of equation editor for Word.
 
how was everybody else able to type it up then? there is an equation editor in the newer version of word, or you could have left a blank space and hand-written the equation itself.

as for the syllabus not specifically telling you to type the report - i have been told since high school that everything i hand in should be typed, ever since i started taking college prep courses. the professor probably expected the report to be typed. and why did everybody else type it? did they have a different syllabus or did they know something that you didn't?
 
TuffGuy

I never used equation editor up to that point. I did not prepare my papers around these particular students who have used it. Who gives a flying rats ass if you "should" turn in a paper typed. The syllabus stated that it didn't need to be typed. I prepared everything at work where I did not have access to a computer.

The syllabus, written in the English langauge, said "handwritten or typed."
 
The 'curve' sucks and is statistically invalid in a class of less than 23 students (we were told by the professors teaching seminar specialists when I started). I grade each of my students individually and when I grade a paper or an exam, I try to forget the name or the face so as not to be influenced. If you fullfill all that I ask, you will get a great grade. I do not compare. Doing more than what I ask will not get you more than 100% or raise the bar of expectations for others. That mistake is one made by newbie lecturers and many anal retentive post doctorates who cannot get a full-time teaching position and take it on the students. If all students in my class would get an A, instead of deciding that my evaluation is too easy (and I know that it is fair and adequate), I would conclude that I am a kickass professor (which I also know is true 😉).

Bad profs flunk many students.
Good profs pass many students.
Great profs inspire many students.

To Sir, With Love (Lulu)

 
I heard that AP tests are graded comparatively, especially on the DBQs for History. I gotta take 2 this year.. 🙁
 
Every report and essay you do SHOULD be typed. Syllabus are vague guidelines. It is understood that you should type. Wait till you go to college, they will not even accept a hand written paper and the guidlines are even more vague.
 
no gibson the syllabus specificallys aid that non-typed was OK - this is what dedphul told us. Typing is better, and when not mentioned you should type but in this case if he was told he can write its unreasonable to be marked down.

Dedphul I'd get this looked into, man. Its just wrong no doubt about it. In this case its unfair and the teacher is hoping you won't say anything about it, because most people don't.
 
I had a teacher that had all papers turned in with your name written on the back side of the back page at the bottom. That way he could grade objectively and record grades after the fact.

However, get used to being graded "compared" to others. Welcome to the real world. Get used to typing everything. You'll understand when you make it into the job market. Try handing a handwritten resume to someone.

BTW, good luck with your professor. Guess what, he is the professor for a reason. I wouldn't push too hard on this issue--you'll just add a black mark next to your name everytime he sees it.

😀
 
fdisk you're missing the point though - he submitted it handwritten because it was specifically stated that he could. The prof game him rules, he went by them, and then got screwed by prof changing them after the fact.
 
actually, it might be a fair grade. if the syllabus says 'typed or handwritten', then the average person would handwrite it. which is a 'c'. a 'b' is above average, and an 'a' is superior. and he got a 'b' while everybody else that handwrote it got an 'a'.

it's kind of hard to sympathize since (at least to me) it's pretty common knowledge that you should type up your reports. granted, i don't know his situation, but it sounds like the report was done at the last second.
 
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