Has this happen to you on a paper?

[WTXgrl]

Has anyone written a paper and answered all the objectives of the paper and then gotten it back only to have a failing grade because the teacher (in her opinion) thought it was not long enough? It happened to me in mental health nursing. I received the paper back without any deductions on any sections. (No marks on anywhere on my paper) I followed the outline that was given which indicates how much each section is worth and met all the objectives. Her comment was only that it was not long enough. The assignment does not state how long it must be just what objectives that should be discussed in the paper. It is like she pulled the grade out of thin air. Any advice would be helpful.

[Moogie]

I'm in a grad program in which we do a LOT of group work. It is frustrating because there are some students who don't quite comprehend the material or the directions and will give very terse answers. I moderated a group assignment in which we were to answer questions; one question was something like, "Do you feel the review of literature was appropriate for this research article" and the person assigned to the question answered, "Yes, I do." That was it. Turned it in so close to the deadline that I had to go back and answer those questions because the group would have gotten al lower grade with something so banal.

I've never had problems with my papers being too short---usually they are too long. Once, though, I emailed the prof ahead of time to let her know my paper was going to be long and she said she'd rather have a student write a much longer paper on a topic that interests him/her than feel stifled and not able to write everything because of a page limit. She was a great professor!

On the other hand, I have had assignments in which we weren't given adequate direction or told about the professor's expectations. I am not asking for any hand-holding in nursing education but I do want expectations and guidelines to be clear, understandable, and unambiguous. If a prof tells me (or my group) that an assignment should include X, Y, and Z, don't take away points because we didn't include V and W. If we're expected to cover everything, please make sure that the expectations are made clear. And if expectations are not clear, please don't get offended or not answer emails when we ask for clarification!

Sometimes I really get stressed over the whole group project mentality because one weak person who doesn't understand the assignment, who doesn't have the knowledge base, or who doesn't care can bring everyone down unless there's one anal overachiever who is willing to go through and correct everything to make sure the group gets a decent grade.

Sorry to temporarily hijack your thread. Do talk with your instructor and if you feel you are being graded unfairly, ask for a second opinion. If the instructor really was not clear about what he/she expected, you may be able to state your case. If it does turn out that you did not understand the assignment, do please ask for clarification and how you could have done better. Someday, if you end up in a group learning situation, you will be thankful you learned this lesson now---as will the members of your group.

[addiesmom]

I would just go the instructor, like llg said, you might not have do anything wrong. You just didn't elaborate on your understanding of the topic. Not saying that this is your particular case, but there has been a time or two when I have just given simple definitions in a paper, when what my professor wanted to see was that I trully understood and was able to apply what I learned.

Yes, maybe the question asked did not clearly state that that was what the instructor wanted, but if he is she is asking you to write a paper, I have learned that that is what he or she wants to see.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

moogie, "yes, i do." answered the questioned that was asked!!!

[Moogie]

moogie, "yes, i do." answered the questioned that was asked!!!

[WTXgrl]

Thank you all for your input! I will ask my instructor for clarification. However, this instructor has been problematic. When we ask her to clarify something she only says "Well you haven't read the syllabus have you." Uh, yes we have or we wouldn't have a question. When we restate the question her reply is in a condescending attitude, "That is for you to figure out." UGH!! WHAT DOES SHE WANT? We are not clairvoyant!!

In regards to this paper our problem is we go to a mental hospital and talk to the clients and practice our therapeutic communication. It is very difficult to find a client who is not catatonic, delusional, violent, or circling around the room. When you finally find a client that you can talk to they have been bombarded by a weeks worth of nursing students and are tired of telling the same story over and over. The clients actually tell us this. You are lucky to find a client that is willing to discuss topics of their spirituality, cultural background etc. The outline asks; State what the client discussed about his or her spirituality. So I did. My answer, "When asked to discus spirituality, the client stated that to him spirituality is a way for him talk to God. It gives him hope and strength knowing that he was not alone." I felt fortunate to get the information I did. I guess if the instructor is willing to allow me to redo the paper, I guess I will fill it up with citations. I take issue with writing fiction. The best thing is I only have four more weeks with this instructor. Whew! Our instructor evaluation will reflect our concerns!

[Moogie]

Thank you all for your input! I will ask my instructor for clarification. However, this instructor has been problematic. When we ask her to clarify something she only says "Well you haven't read the syllabus have you." Uh, yes we have or we wouldn't have a question. When we restate the question her reply is in a condescending attitude, "That is for you to figure out." UGH!! WHAT DOES SHE WANT? We are not clairvoyant!!

I don't like that. It's one thing to expect students to act like adult learners and take responsibility for their education but it's something else to be condescending when someone asks for clarification. I can see an instructor getting frustrated when things are spelled out in the syllabus and it's obvious that students haven't read it but when someone genuinely does not understand the guidelines or is confused regarding an assignment, why be snarky?

In regards to this paper our problem is we go to a mental hospital and talk to the clients and practice our therapeutic communication. It is very difficult to find a client who is not catatonic, delusional, violent, or circling around the room. When you finally find a client that you can talk to they have been bombarded by a weeks worth of nursing students and are tired of telling the same story over and over. The clients actually tell us this. You are lucky to find a client that is willing to discuss topics of their spirituality, cultural background etc. The outline asks; State what the client discussed about his or her spirituality. So I did. My answer, "When asked to discus spirituality, the client stated that to him spirituality is a way for him talk to God. It gives him hope and strength knowing that he was not alone." I felt fortunate to get the information I did. I guess if the instructor is willing to allow me to redo the paper, I guess I will fill it up with citations. I take issue with writing fiction. The best thing is I only have four more weeks with this instructor. Whew! Our instructor evaluation will reflect our concerns!

That sounds so unimaginative. I understand that you need to practice therapeutic communication but it also sounds like the patients are on overload with so many students. It would seem better to not have so many students on a floor within a certain period of time or to have students practice therapeutic communication techniques in a different type of setting, maybe a long-term care facility in which the residents don't get many visitors.

Seriously, you and your classmates aren't learning much about therapeutic communication if you're stuck in a setting in which the patients are sick of having students. It's a disservice to all of you and to the patients.

Then again, you could practice therapeutic communication on me. I've been rather delusional, nearly catatonic and circling around the room as this semester winds down.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

but, I AM SERIOUS, and yes i have been accused of being concrete.......but if you want a desertation, dont ask me yes or no questions.....

[WTXgrl]

As unimaginative as it may sound the outline has one "state..." question which I did, two "describe..." questions which I described, two "discuss..." questions which I discussed, and two "identify..." questions which I identified. What more can I do other than follow the outline? Should I have done, I asked..., he said..., I asked..., he said... kind of paper? I dunno. I feel that I at the very least I met the objectives and should have a passing grade not a 48% that was pulled out of thin air! Funny thing my paper has no misspelling, no grammatical errors, it is in outline format and references are cited correctly, but yet no markings of where and for how much was counted off in each section, just her quote, "This is not long enough to be a Spirituality assessment paper." I guess I got the 48% on my writing skills. lol. The outline we go by indicates the information required in each section and how much each section is worth. I'm just very frustrated with this instructor. Like I said before, we get no constructive instruction if we get instruction at all. I just gotta chalk it up to just another crummy teacher I have to get past.

[melmarie23, MSN, RN]

I think that perhaps you could have expanded your discussion some. You could have pulled some research on how those who are spiritual form relationships with a higher being and how that relationship can be very centering for someone who lives in a world full of chaos. Just doing a quick search of my library's data base with the terms "spirituality" and "mental illness" I came up with 108 hits.

[Moogie]

As unimaginative as it may sound the outline has one "state..." question which I did, two "describe..." questions which I described, two "discuss..." questions which I discussed, and two "identify..." questions which I identified. What more can I do other than follow the outline? Should I have done, I asked..., he said..., I asked..., he said... kind of paper? I dunno. I feel that I at the very least I met the objectives and should have a passing grade not a 48% that was pulled out of thin air! Funny thing my paper has no misspelling, no grammatical errors, it is in outline format and references are cited correctly, but yet no markings of where and for how much was counted off in each section, just her quote, "This is not long enough to be a Spirituality assessment paper." I guess I got the 48% on my writing skills. lol. The outline we go by indicates the information required in each section and how much each section is worth. I'm just very frustrated with this instructor. Like I said before, we get no constructive instruction if we get instruction at all. I just gotta chalk it up to just another crummy teacher I have to get past.

I am not saying that you are unimaginative. Please forgive me if that is the impression you got. I think your instructor is pretty unimaginative for assigning something that is not helping your or your classmates learn---and is frustrating the patients.

48%?!? That seems ridiculously low. I would never grade a paper that low unless there were grammatical and spelling errors, obvious plagiarism, incorrect citations, or if the student just didn't do some of the work. Additionally, if I were to give someone a failing grade on a paper, I would at least talk to him/her about it to find out if he/she just didn't understand the assignment or if there was another issue. From your posts, you seem to be articulate enough to put together a good paper. You don't have a lot of misspellings, you don't engage in textspeak, and you seem very thoughtful and conscientious. Are other students in your class having similar problems with this instructor? (Is the instructor new?)

I think spiritual assessments are very important but I am not sure a psych unit is the best place for a student to learn how to make such an assessment. Many psych patients have issues with spirituality and religiosity and it might be more appropriate for a student to learn to do spiritual assessments on people who are in acute or long-term care and may be faced with a crisis of faith in addition to a crisis in their physical health.

I am so very sorry you are going through this. I guess situations like yours frustrate me because I am busting my chops to finish my graduate education so I can get out there and be a good, effective teacher who actually facilitates learning. I have been fortunate to have some amazing instructors in my lifetime who are exemplars of how I want to be when I am teaching again. I have also had some real turkeys who have made learning a chore and have made me question very seriously if I want to even be a part of a system that tolerates dysfunctional, incompetent educators. Sometimes I think I should take a course on how to administer Botox and forget about academia.