Okay..this is probably more of a vent then a question, but I turned in a small 500 word paper in my online interpersonal communicatiions class. I got an 88. Now, I realize this is a decent score. I still have a solid A in the class. However, his comment threw me. He said I needed to send my paper through spellcheck before I sent it to him.
Well..I did. MS spellcheck found 1 error! the error was pseudolistening. This is the way it was written in the textbook, so I left it alone and sent it.
The lowest score I have gotten in this class on a paper until now was a 98, the last paper I got a 100!
So...I send him an email and ask him to be more specific about what the errors were. he emails me back and says . Well my spellchecker found 6 errors.
What!?!
He doesn't even give me what the errors were!!
Do you all think I should pursue this or just let it go? I certainly don't want to make him mad, or have him think I am a troublemaker.
I would definitely ask what the errors were since your spell check only found the one you already mentioned, there could have been sentence structure errors too though. I don't think he would dock you points for errors you didn't have.
Okay so, I totally see you point! I would be upset too.
I had kinda the same situation in chemistry class. My professor gave me a 92 on my lab and my lab partner got 100. We both had the answer right and I pointed it out and he say "oh my mistake," but wasn't going to correct it in his grade book. I said, "Aren't you going to change my grade?" and he said, "It's not going to make that much of a difference in you final grade!" So I argued and made him change it. I wanted my 100! I earned a 100 not a 92. And he changed it, but gave me a hard time and didn't like me after that.
So if you argue too much, it could hurt you more than help you b/c you teacher sounds like that kind by his reply to your email.
You know you got an awesome grade:up:, and since you will still have an "A," sometimes you have to let it go!
Honestly...in my opinion...I don't see the big deal. You still got an A, life isn't fair sometimes, we all know that. Is the extra 6 or 7 % really worth all this time and effort? Are you going to get some sort of prize for the highest mark?
.
To those of us who are high achievers, we simple cannot allow a bad grade (and yes, we think a 88 is a bad grade) to happen if it's not appropriate.
If it were me, and I know that I deserved better, I'd fight for it. The same principle still holds true for me today in nursing. I fight for what I think is right.
To the OP, ask for the paper back-graded. Tell the instructor that you can't improve and grow as a student if you don't know what you did wrong, and aren't given the opportunity to improve it.
You can stand up for yourself, but in a polite nice way without making him upset. Simply email him, and tell him you really appreciate him calling attention to your mistakes because your spell checker only picked up one error. Ask him to please tell you what 6 errors he found so you can find out where your spell checker is messing up, and never make that mistake again.
Then he will hopefully give you the information, and if he is wrong point it out, and have him change your grade. If you were incorrect you save face, and everyone is happy.
My dad always said "Don't burn bridges you may someday want to cross". This is one of those situations that you can get what you want without burning a bridge.
BTW - What lazy teacher uses spell check to grade papers??? Everyone knows that spell check makes error. It sometimes shows some of my words as being incorrect but they are not! Sounds like your teach is the problem!
Everyone knows that spell check makes error. It sometimes shows some of my words as being incorrect but they are not! Sounds like your teach is the problem!
Dream2BANurse
175 Posts
I would definitely ask what the errors were since your spell check only found the one you already mentioned, there could have been sentence structure errors too though. I don't think he would dock you points for errors you didn't have.