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'm not trying to be rude, but here's the deal: I had LVNs in my class that failed anatomy as well, that doesn't mean the class was too hard, it means they aren't given that level of information in LVN school. Your expectation of answers were exactly the same as mine, and that's because my instructor wanted to see full understanding of the structures not just memorization. In my class two students could have similar essay answers and one could be marked down a few points for how they stated the answer. My class was rough because my instructor used multiple choice questions that often had several "right" answers, but we were asked to choose the"best right" answer. Half my class received a D, the class was hard. I've had other pre-nursing students tell me their class was nothing compared to mine, but I'm glad for it.
My response, to be honest, move on... Get the class done, and ask your school if they will remove the F based on your complaint. If they won't, there is nothing you can do.
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.
Oh okay. This happened to a friend of mine. He was taking College Algebra. He was waiting for the test scores for his latest test and received the test score too late and ended failing the class. He did retake it for a higher class.
It sounds like you are doing everything you possibly can do. I live in the AV but do not attend AVC due to it being over crowded. I commute to COC. I can tell you that the ratemyprofessor ratings are not all that great to go off of. I took a class over summer and the teacher I took it with was rated SO bad, yet I learned so much in his class. I did receive a C in his class, when I am an A student, but I take it for what it is. If you are now attending COC I would be careful. They will only allow you to fail a science once, so now you must pass the remaining of your science prereqs. Good luck to you! I am also finishing up my prerequisites and will be applying at both COC and AVC. maybe we will be in the program together!
First of all, community colleges CANNOT offer Master's level courses. They can only offer undergraduate courses. The course description you posted is a common description of any 200-level A&P course. If you knew the level of detail your professor was looking for after the first exam, why not be more descriptive? I don't see how a few points here or there caused you to get an F. You had the opportunity to withdraw at any time before the cut-off date. You may not have been able to withdraw with a refund, but typically you can withdraw halfway through an 8 week semester.
The F is already on your transcript. You are going to have a long haul to face to get it changed and it doesn't sound like the school found merit in your group's protest. Do you have enough proof that the incorrect scoring on your exams would change your grade from an F to a C? If it will only change it to a D, it's not going to do you any good. All I can say is to re-take the course with a different professor, go to Supplemental Instruction or get a tutor and study your tail off the next time around.
I am so sorry you are going through this, it is very sad.
I am not sure about a "Masters Program" anatomy class because I have never seen an anatomy class on that lever other than in a phD program for a medical school. Do not focus on the content of the class - because that is opinion not based on fact.
I would also be careful about admitting you took pictures of exams. In my university, regardless the reason, taking pictures of exams is grounds for expulsion as they can be used to cheat. I would keep working up the chain of command and speak in generalities..."On exam 3, there was a question about _______ that a bunch of us answered the same and some of us got it right and some got it wrong". The people doing the investigation can pull the tests and see for themselves.
My anatomy class had a spelling requirement... if you didn't spell it correctly you got the question wrong. Could this be the case?
Good luck.
I have to completely (unfortunately for the OP) agree with you. A&P is what it is, the 232 and 233 levels are the same as what you take for pre-med. I've never heard of a master's level A&P. We has our own cadavers in A&P 2 at the community college. Most schools and, I'm pretty sure, all nursing schools are leaning towards not even getting your test back. Trust me, it is the most aggravating thing when you don't know specifically what you got wrong. I personally feel it's not conducive to the learning process, but it is what it is. We are also "not allowed" to discuss questions or grades with other students and all of our tests are proctored and computerized, so there's definitely no taking pictures. But trust me, I get the unfairness. We have 2-4 cohorts each level and even though we go to clinicals and VLC together, each cohort has a different didactic instructor. Which means different material (same test,) different due dates, different leniency policies, etc. So be gracious you've made it this far in the grieving process. Side note: my school is so hard that I failed out and am trolling the forums looking for an idea for a grievance letter. Thanks!
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Alisonisayoshi, LVN
547 Posts
I'm not trying to be rude, but here's the deal: I had LVNs in my class that failed anatomy as well, that doesn't mean the class was too hard, it means they aren't given that level of information in LVN school. Your expectation of answers were exactly the same as mine, and that's because my instructor wanted to see full understanding of the structures not just memorization. In my class two students could have similar essay answers and one could be marked down a few points for how they stated the answer. My class was rough because my instructor used multiple choice questions that often had several "right" answers, but we were asked to choose the"best right" answer. Half my class received a D, the class was hard. I've had other pre-nursing students tell me their class was nothing compared to mine, but I'm glad for it.
My response, to be honest, move on... Get the class done, and ask your school if they will remove the F based on your complaint. If they won't, there is nothing you can do.