I am currently at a local community college, finishing up my pre requisites...And I need some advice...I recently took an anatomy class at this college, and our class caught our instructor grading unfairly...Such as several of us put the same answer on an exam, she marked some of us right and some of us wrong... We pointed this out to her hoping she had made an honest error, and instead she snatched our exams from us and told us "to quit scrounging for points" This continued for the following 8 exams. 11 of us decided to take pictures of our exams to prove this. We then put a letter together, had most of the class sign it, and we turned it in to the President of academic affairs...We thought he would help, but no help so far...We attended a board meeting and went on the record, and we have a scheduled meeting with the Dean, & President again this week. Needless to say, the teacher failed the ones who signed this letter. I have 70 units at this college, mostly excellent grades, with the exception of this "F" on my transcript...I am challenging my grade as I feel I was cheated out of points on my exams...Then we found out that this is not a 2 year community college course, it is a MASTERS DEGREE anatomy course. They are trying to pass it off as a beginning course, when it is clearly not. I have since registered at another community college to finish up my last 2 classes, and I am tempted to sign up at a private nursing school. I don't mind paying out the wazoo, as long as its a fair grading scale...Any advice as how we should handle this horrible grade as a class?? We have pictures in black and white where she marked us differently for the same answer and also she would deduct 6 1/2 points on a 4 point question. Refuses to give us our points...
I didn't know that. I just saw some similar consistent content...I thought it was important to include that I am not just complaining about a bad grade.
In that case, I'm sorry but your class doesn't have a leg to stand on. She wanted details to be sure you knew EXACTLY what it was that you were talking about and you didn't give them. Re-take the class and be more specific in your answers. Anyone who signed that letter came across as a cry-baby who couldn't follow directions. That's not a good look in nursing school. Good luck.
An example of her questions would be like this.... What bone is this? Answer= Femur Wrong answer... She would be looking for an answer like this, This is the Left Femur, it articulates in the left acetabulum with the transverse acetabular ligament inside of the os coxae bone.
Why didn't all of you that were failing withdraw on time?? You could have saved your self from a F with a W. In the end a W can give an opportunity to explain yourself as to why you withdrew. Even if it was a bad grade, it may show initiative from the students. Since they choose to Withdraw than Fail.
An F is a why didn't this student W the class and what does it say about that student with such an important class such as Anatomy.
Some schools don't look at you if you have a W. But they will look at you even less if you had an F. Take the W over the F any day.
An example of her questions would be like this.... What bone is this? Answer= Femur Wrong answer... She would be looking for an answer like this This is the Left Femur, it articulates in the left acetabulum with the transverse acetabular ligament inside of the os coxae bone.[/quote']
These are exactly the type of answers that were expected in my own A&P class when I took it. We had human bones and were expected to describe which bone it was not just state the name. Several bones had markings for us to describe features as well. Writing "femur" would have gotten me a failing grade as well.
It doesn't sound like your instructor was being dishonest. It sounds more like she wanted thorough answers and those weren't being provided. Perhaps she should have been more clear of her expectations.
An example of her questions would be like this.... What bone is this? Answer= Femur Wrong answer... She would be looking for an answer like this This is the Left Femur, it articulates in the left acetabulum with the transverse acetabular ligament inside of the os coxae bone.[/quote']
Pretty common for undergrad A&P to require you to know L v R and the articulations.
I think that going after the professor because course is too hard is a bad thing to do. The teacher in any course you take deserves respect. Errors on grading happen all the time, a few points is nothing to stress about. Anatomy is a must before nursing, there is no simple way to learn it, Master's course or not. Just learn it.
It was an 8 week course. She gave us our test scores too late. We don't even know what our scores on the last 2 exams were. She asked us to write our phone numbers on our exams and she would call us with our grades but nobody got a call.
I did a&p 1 in may-mester sooooo 8 weeks!? Thats HEAVEN!!!!
Honestly I thought a&p was harder then my nursing courses. LOTS of memorization, concepts and expectations answer wise.
I think this "style" was just new to you. Re-take it and suck it up baby. Cause guess what? Nursing instructors won't have time for complaints either. Trust me.
I'm the type that pushes for change and improvement...and a huge 'risk taker'...that stated...
Your prof seems to have some high standards. But not insane. I had all essay and fill in exams...proper spelling...location...etc. Other folks I know had the easiest multi choice ever...each prof is different. It's your job to figure out what you're in for early enough to make a choice to stay or drop. You chose to stay...ya gotta deal with that decision. Arguing tough questions now isn't going to help you. I'd let that part go.
On the other hand, I think every point is valuable...so if there was a legit discrepancy, I would drill into it like my life depended on it... but ONLY if it's cumulatively going to save your grade. If however, she simply made a few mistakes...but the changes will take your grade from F to F or F to D...then why waste your time and energy? Move on.
So if you're going to go, let's say, from an F to a B after points are corrected, I would 1) remain profession, 2) present only facts, 3) Not bring up the tough question issue, 4) Not present the exam pics (big issue there), 5) follow chain of command, 6) always request a face to face, 7) File formal appeal with school, 8) Go to state board of education if you exhaust all school contacts (though this will probably not result in your points being issued). Overarching message...you don't have to allow broken things to stay broken...always be an advocate for change.
Sorry to play mama bear now... but use this as a crappy 'life lesson' ... Not all profs are good... You have to take control of your education. Unfortunately that 'control' often just means sniffing out a bad prof and dropping before it gets to this point. If more students dropped problematic courses it would send a 'real' message to the administration. You don't have to be hypervigilant about it...but just don't 'go with the flow' until it's too late.
You will get past this F, too... Youd college may even have a forgiveness policy...check into that!
ipour14u
14 Posts
I didn't know that. I just saw some similar consistent content...I thought it was important to include that I am not just complaining about a bad grade.