impromptu blog, I have some spare time and I'm pretty frustrated right now. Not mad, or angry, just utterly flustered with confusion and annoyance edit:
On May 02 2012 04:32 Torte de Lini wrote: So I saw my advisor. He's good friends with Yael Glick and he said maybe she asked out of worry or interest (which I assure you, she did not). Then he said not to interpret it too far and file a grade re-evaluation about it.
He also asked inquisitively if I did have a mental illness.
P.S: I know he's good friends with her because I had two teachers confirm it.
P.S.S: Done with this blog entry, just gonna handle it on my own. Thanks for all criticisms and suggestions.
Does anyone remember that class in Sociology, 400-level where I had trouble fitting in? Well, I just got my grade back for the class: F.
I'm the only one to have failed my class and this is new to me since I've never been to close failing since high-school. I love Sociology and I've always said how easy it was because it is (know the theories, understand the logic, get the passing grade). My record right now in my university Sociology classes is B to A-. All my teachers know me and have no qualms against me and some even enjoy my company and viewpoint a lot.
So the problems of talking in class and such has been long gone and I never made a blog about this class again despite more irritating issues coming up, I have an appointment with my departement's advisor to see what my options are and right now, my argument is the following
Terrible syllabus (see spoiler, this came in an e-mail, no form of a piece of paper, nothing)
This course invites you to explore the subject of emotions. How are emotions used to create, monitor and preserve social bonds? How do we construct emotions as part of impression management? I have put together a reading package for you that will help set the framework for the seminars. They will be used as a springboard for class discussions so please have the pertinent readings done before class. You will be asked to select one emotion for investigation this semester. Many of the readings are good examples of how such research can be done and I will hand out additional guidelines for your work.
A seminar course on emotions inevitably pushes a lot of buttons in everybody. It is important that you respect the privacy of your fellow classmates and don't talk about personal material outside class. As well, you are asked to listen to what is said in class and while you are free to respond, it is important to do so without judging or criticizing what is said.
The breakdown of the evaluation of your work is as follows:
Major research paper 30% Seminar facilitation 10% Film review 20% Take home exam 30% Participation 10%
Grade Conversion
A+ 90-100 A 85-89 A- 80-84 B+ 77-79 B 73-76 B- 70-72 C+ 67-69 C 63-66 C- 60-62 D+ 57-59 D 53-56 D- 50-52
Mind you, nothing is edited besides her contact info. being removed. This is the syllabus which I'm not sure is qualified or at least professional.
In the syllabus, a seminar facilitation is never explained and somewhere in there, 10% was latched on where we had to summarize a specific reading. I'm not sure where that is on the syllabus, but it was created during the last few weeks of class.
We received no proper formal writing for the major research paper. She basically explained it loosely [to which I asked for clarification several times] that we were to observe interactions and the exchange of emotions, reflect it back through our readings and theories from the book and present it in class.
My first paper that I wrote was completely off-the-wall and perhaps not orthodox. I wasn't quite sure what we were asked originally, so I wrote something I felt was new, different and really interesting. I wrote this two weeks before my presentation was due (so that's 5 weeks before when we have to hand it in) and didn't criticize it, correct it or give me any feedback. She asked if I had a mental illness, was worried about me and then basically implied that I should start again. She was hostile and it really made me uncomfortable around her [which is a new feeling to me in a very long time].
I rewrote the paper in 3 days, it was very generic and simplistic, but followed the basic verbal instructions: it had citations, it was referenced back to the book and its theories and she gave me the corrections (which were hardly legible, but I managed) after I presented it. So I had a corrected paper, but after my presentation [the presentation is to just showcase your topic and show how far you've completed it], she suggested a whole new topic to me which, to be honest, I didn't want to do because 1. I didn't have the time when it's the final few weeks, I've already written two papers and I have other exams and such [that's not her problem or prerogative, but if you add that to the fact that my current paper had no real problems with the topic, just that the new subject is more unique, then I don't see why there is an imperative need to chagne it]. Perhaps that was my biggest problem: my first off-the-wall paper was 12 pages and change and it was honestly, in retrospect, not up to snuff. My second paper was 4 pages, but was very concrete and a lot more clear and more generic. When she suggested a third subject to me during the presentation, I didn't want to do it (it wasn't feasible with the other stuff we had to do with the class as well [the 20% paper on a theory we had to choose and read]. Plus, it was just because everyone else wrote the same thing as [or vice-versa, so why weren't they asked the same thing as well?].
The first movie assignemnt we had to do equally has no documentation for the instructions, so when I did it, I did it as I thought she wanted it. It has no grade on it, but I have corrections on it and she didn't tell me I failed that paper until when I met her and she asked if I had a mental illness.
I have a syllabus for her other class and in her other class, I'm doing ok. Average at best and I think it's because I was lucky and she has an assistant teacher helping her out [so she didn't have to read my stuff personally.
Never received a single grade on any of my papers, presentations, etc. I still don't have it.
That's my arguments right now, the biggest issue I think she has against me is 1. I was very outspoken in her class, but I wasn't disruptive and I made a lot of friends in that class. 2. I WAS NOT PROACTIVE WITH THESE PROBLEMS and that's my responsibility. I was very busy though doing both BarCraft, professional teams, LANs and events, managing my university club and doing the other classes. It's my fault and I think this could have been prevented if I was more active in my progression within the class. I loved the class, I loved its atmosphere and I loved the readings (I just wish we talked more about the readings than anecdotes). I don't even hate the teacher, she just intimidates me because of how much she has over my future (this is my last sociology course, thankfully, even failling, I still have summer school and a whole 'nother year to fit in).
edit: please remember that this my account of things, it could be bias unintentionally
I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
:/ Was this an undergraduate class Torte? Sometimes 400 level classes are Masters or Doctoral level classes and if that was the case the teachers (in my experience) usually expect you to be very proactive about getting your shit done. Though I should say that all of my professors (during my masters) were far more communicative about my grades, progress, and making themselves available for questions than yours. It kind of sounds like she didn't want to be bothered past a certain point which is troubling, and especially so because of how it sounds regarding getting your grades in a timely fashion (they shouldn't be holding that stuff).
But yea, what Gheed said. Talk to the Chair of the Dept. about it, they may be able to help with your situation.
On April 28 2012 06:10 KhAmun wrote: It sounds like you need to make a little bit more time for school, and less for starcraft, mr 33.28 posts per day
Good one.
On April 28 2012 06:11 SaintBadger wrote: I feel for you, and don't be bashful in suggesting that your outspokeness was a contributing factor. Happens all the time.
Yeah, for once I was really clear and smart in what I said. Just frustrating.
On April 28 2012 06:13 Denzil wrote: You shouldn't be intimidated by her, you should believe in your argument and do everything in your power to get shit done.
She's a professional therapist, I don't understand why she would ask about my history and what's the relevance of that, can you fail people for being mentally handicapped?
On April 28 2012 06:15 Primadog wrote: Sorry to hear about this Torte.
Thanks ):
On April 28 2012 06:23 Gheed wrote: TBH, I would have dropped the class as soon as I saw the terrible syllabus. You should talk to the head of her department or dean or whatever.
I really was into the class discussions and the way we can talk and shit. The syllabus is bad and her 300-level course is hardly similar to it at all. I will talk to them Tuesday.
On April 28 2012 06:27 TheToast wrote: I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
See, that's not my issue at all. I put in the effort, my first paper is 11 pages. More does not mean more effort, but it says something at least. My second paper was new, different, but it was poorly drafted: I wrote it 2 weeks before presentation, 5 weeks before its actually due just so I can massively change it. She asked if I had a mental illness and so I rewrote a whole new topic in 4 days and she corrected it and told me the subject was okay a week before presentation and then on the presentation I got it back. I made modifications and I didn't want to rewrite a whole new topic/subject for the last few weeks of class because of other things we had to write for this class, etc. So I'm not sure where I had no effort, I was the most active in the class and the most comfortable talking about the theories.
Jeeze, that really is a terrible syllabus. She seems like one of those kooky teachers that have to go on meds and then end up being a spacehead for the rest of their life. You should really appeal to the dean/department. I've never taken sociology but is this how the subject is regularly run? The field seems to be muddied with loose definitions and subjectivity. It seems more like an english class that talks about emotions and politics/society.
On April 28 2012 06:31 wo1fwood wrote: :/ Was this an undergraduate class Torte? Sometimes 400 level classes are Masters or Doctoral level classes and if that was the case the teachers (in my experience) usually expect you to be very proactive about getting your shit done. Though I should say that all of my professors (during my masters) were far more communicative about my grades, progress, and making themselves available for questions than yours. It kind of sounds like she didn't want to be bothered past a certain point which is troubling, and especially so because of how it sounds regarding getting your grades in a timely fashion (they shouldn't be holding that stuff).
But yea, what Gheed said. Talk to the Chair of the Dept. about it, they may be able to help with your situation.
Yes, it is. and she did mention she was treating it like a graduate course, so that's something I should of been aware of. I suppose.
I never got a grade for anything. My first assignment has corrections: no grade. My presentation never got a grade publicly shown, my final research paper nor the book review paper. I don't have a grade on anything, I don't know my progress or anything.
I wasn't proactive about it, I guess I was too comfortable knowing I was going to pass regardless (it's worked for all my other classes including the other class I have her in, social sciences isn't exactly tough shit. Attend the class, know the stuff, regurgitate in a paper, get the deserved grade). I've been doing sociology classes for 4 years (two in CEGEP where I did 10 courses [the limit is 9, and 7 is the standard] and two more in university). I know a lot of this shit inside and out.
On April 28 2012 06:42 Roe wrote: Jeeze, that really is a terrible syllabus. She seems like one of those kooky teachers that have to go on meds and then end up being a spacehead for the rest of their life. You should really appeal to the dean/department. I've never taken sociology but is this how the subject is regularly run? The field seems to be muddied with loose definitions and subjectivity. It seems more like an english class that talks about emotions and politics/society.
She's a professional therapist. I'm going to appeal, but the good news is that I'm ahead of schooling, so I have another whole year to fit in the class and two more summers [I do 3 courses for summer school every year].
Sociology is very open, open course. The documentaries you usually see in high-school is usually sociology based:
On April 28 2012 06:27 TheToast wrote: I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
See, that's not my issue at all. I put in the effort, my first paper is 11 pages. More does not mean more effort, but it says something at least. My second paper was new, different, but it was poorly drafted: I wrote it 2 weeks before presentation, 5 weeks before its actually due just so I can massively change it. She asked if I had a mental illness and so I rewrote a whole new topic in 4 days and she corrected it and told me the subject was okay a week before presentation and then on the presentation I got it back. I made modifications and I didn't want to rewrite a whole new topic/subject for the last few weeks of class because of other things we had to write for this class, etc. So I'm not sure where I had no effort, I was the most active in the class and the most comfortable talking about the theories.
Really? I've written research papers in 8 hours the night before they were due and I've never been asked by a professor if I had a mental illness. And political science isn't that much different from the other social sciences (not including psyc in my definition of the social sciences, that's a real thing). I pretty much just wrote whatever bullshit for half my term papers and never got lower than a BC (basically a B-). If you didn't mess up the take home exam, the paper had to have been pretty low quality.
I'd be interested to see the paper you wrote, if it doesn't have anything personal in it you should post it and let us see for ourselves.
On April 28 2012 06:41 Torte de Lini wrote: She's a professional therapist, I don't understand why she would ask about my history and what's the relevance of that, can you fail people for being mentally handicapped?
From your description, it sounds like she is not really qualified to teach at a college level (both in terms of teaching ability, and in terms of the intellectual depth of her course). There's a good chance that the dean will simply shake his/her head and bump you up to a C when you appeal.
Edit: you might want to see if there are any school-level guidelines about providing feedback to students. It's really unprofessional (and often against the rules) to fail a student without providing any feedback first.
On April 28 2012 06:27 TheToast wrote: I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
See, that's not my issue at all. I put in the effort, my first paper is 11 pages. More does not mean more effort, but it says something at least. My second paper was new, different, but it was poorly drafted: I wrote it 2 weeks before presentation, 5 weeks before its actually due just so I can massively change it. She asked if I had a mental illness and so I rewrote a whole new topic in 4 days and she corrected it and told me the subject was okay a week before presentation and then on the presentation I got it back. I made modifications and I didn't want to rewrite a whole new topic/subject for the last few weeks of class because of other things we had to write for this class, etc. So I'm not sure where I had no effort, I was the most active in the class and the most comfortable talking about the theories.
Really? I've written research papers in 8 hours the night before they were due and I've never been asked by a professor if I had a mental illness. And political science isn't that much different from the other social sciences (not including psyc in my definition of the social sciences, that's a real thing). I pretty much just wrote whatever bullshit for half my term papers and never got lower than a BC (basically a B-). If you didn't mess up the take home exam, the paper had to have been pretty low quality.
I'd be interested to see the paper you wrote, if it doesn't have anything personal in it you should post it and let us see for ourselves.
Last sentence made me feel like this blog was about being stuck in a league / losing in a game and not knowing why then someone saying "post a replay!". XD
Wait a minute, the only grade that you had seen was the final one? Is that like a normal thing, how would you know how well you are doing? Sounds terrible to me.
On April 28 2012 06:27 TheToast wrote: I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
See, that's not my issue at all. I put in the effort, my first paper is 11 pages. More does not mean more effort, but it says something at least. My second paper was new, different, but it was poorly drafted: I wrote it 2 weeks before presentation, 5 weeks before its actually due just so I can massively change it. She asked if I had a mental illness and so I rewrote a whole new topic in 4 days and she corrected it and told me the subject was okay a week before presentation and then on the presentation I got it back. I made modifications and I didn't want to rewrite a whole new topic/subject for the last few weeks of class because of other things we had to write for this class, etc. So I'm not sure where I had no effort, I was the most active in the class and the most comfortable talking about the theories.
Really? I've written research papers in 8 hours the night before they were due and I've never been asked by a professor if I had a mental illness. And political science isn't that much different from the other social sciences (not including psyc in my definition of the social sciences, that's a real thing). I pretty much just wrote whatever bullshit for half my term papers and never got lower than a BC (basically a B-). If you didn't mess up the take home exam, the paper had to have been pretty low quality.
I'd be interested to see the paper you wrote, if it doesn't have anything personal in it you should post it and let us see for ourselves.
I've done that in CEGEP, in university: I write it weeks before because I enjoy the topic and I know my stuff. I've done a minor in political science, but didn't finish it; I hate it, but I got Cs in that (not very good, first semester/first year).
If you want to see all my papers, I'd be happy to privately share it with you. They're long however. Which paper would you like to see?
For note: I almost finished my psychology degree in CEGEP too, but made the switch last minute and got my sociology degree.
bummer. sucks to have a professor that gives you no feedback or absolutely no indication of how you are doing in the class. unfortunately, the perogative is on you to get her to do her job/annoy her as much as possible to find out. its just one of those unwritten college rules and since you are going about all this after failing i dont think you have too much of a shot of making anything happen. shitty but hope it works out for you
On April 28 2012 06:41 Torte de Lini wrote: She's a professional therapist, I don't understand why she would ask about my history and what's the relevance of that, can you fail people for being mentally handicapped?
From your description, it sounds like she is not really qualified to teach at a college level (both in terms of teaching ability, and in terms of the intellectual depth of her course). There's a good chance that the dean will simply shake his/her head and bump you up to a C when you appeal.
Edit: you might want to see if there are any school-level guidelines about providing feedback to students. It's really unprofessional (and often against the rules) to fail a student without providing any feedback first.
Problem is, I don't have these stories in writing. I didn't exact have a recorder on hand for when she asked if I had a mental illness; but I have another story similar story where she asked the guy if he had a writing deficit, he didn't want to come forward publicly, but maybe I'll track him down and ask him to vouch for me that this has been done before.
I don't understand how she can be unqualified to teach if she's teaching so many other classes as well and has so for years.
On April 28 2012 06:56 hoot00 wrote: Wait a minute, the only grade that you had seen was the final one? Is that like a normal thing, how would you know how well you are doing? Sounds terrible to me.
I have no letters, gradings online or anywhere. I have all my papers given back with no grades on them (well... I have one paper with no grade on them, I never got the others back either). She told me once that I failed my other paper [the one I have back with no grade on it] and she was worried about me + mental illness dialogue.
On April 28 2012 07:01 Liquid`Zephyr wrote: bummer. sucks to have a professor that gives you no feedback or absolutely no indication of how you are doing in the class. unfortunately, the perogative is on you to get her to do her job/annoy her as much as possible to find out. its just one of those unwritten college rules and since you are going about all this after failing i dont think you have too much of a shot of making anything happen. shitty but hope it works out for you
Yeah, that's my fear: I wasn't proactive about the grading or the grades, but I was proactive about improving my papers and such.
I'm not looking to get her fired, I'm looking to have my writing re-evaluated by another teacher with her qualifications/grading system and have my grade revised. That's all I'm looking for, if I did do a shitty job, then it's shitty and that's on me.
If not, then... let's dance.
As I said before, if I do fail, I have the time to make it back up and I'm not going to graduate school or getting a job in this field, so it's not the end of the world. It just looks bad and annoys me to shit.
On April 28 2012 06:27 TheToast wrote: I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
See, that's not my issue at all. I put in the effort, my first paper is 11 pages. More does not mean more effort, but it says something at least. My second paper was new, different, but it was poorly drafted: I wrote it 2 weeks before presentation, 5 weeks before its actually due just so I can massively change it. She asked if I had a mental illness and so I rewrote a whole new topic in 4 days and she corrected it and told me the subject was okay a week before presentation and then on the presentation I got it back. I made modifications and I didn't want to rewrite a whole new topic/subject for the last few weeks of class because of other things we had to write for this class, etc. So I'm not sure where I had no effort, I was the most active in the class and the most comfortable talking about the theories.
Really? I've written research papers in 8 hours the night before they were due and I've never been asked by a professor if I had a mental illness. And political science isn't that much different from the other social sciences (not including psyc in my definition of the social sciences, that's a real thing). I pretty much just wrote whatever bullshit for half my term papers and never got lower than a BC (basically a B-). If you didn't mess up the take home exam, the paper had to have been pretty low quality.
I'd be interested to see the paper you wrote, if it doesn't have anything personal in it you should post it and let us see for ourselves.
I've done that in CEGEP, in university: I write it weeks before because I enjoy the topic and I know my stuff. I've done a minor in political science, but didn't finish it; I hate it, but I got Cs in that (not very good, first semester/first year).
If you want to see all my papers, I'd be happy to privately share it with you. They're long however. Which paper would you like to see?
For note: I almost finished my psychology degree in CEGEP too, but made the switch last minute and got my sociology degree.
Well I think it would be more helpful if you posted a page or two here, the more feedback the better. But otherwise PM me the first few pages of the one she actually graded (just copy paste text is fine) I'll give you my honest feedback.
Though I don't see why you should be afraid to post them, based on the syllabus you posted I was already able to figure out where you go to school and who the professor is. More feedback is better to assess the nature of the situation (whether you were screwed or not) as well as potentially understand what you might do better next time.
On April 28 2012 06:27 TheToast wrote: I failed a class once too. I had half a dozen complaints: my TA could barely speak english, half of lecture was filled with the professor's bullshit stories, the book was not easy to understand, etc. etc. But you know what? Had I actually put forward the effort I should've, I wouldn't have failed.
A bad professor can make a class more difficult, and I have had some bad professors. But I've never met a professor who made it impossible to success with enough effort. Torte, we all know how much time you spend on TL and doing SC2 related stuff. I've been there, I remember how easy it was to get distracted and not spend the time I should on my studies; both with extra curicular activities and with my own stuff. And honestly, I'm not sure I regret it. GPA doesn't mean shit. Just make sure you don't risk screwing up so badly you don't graduate; beyond that enjoy your time in college. You're going to spend the next 40+ years working 8 hours a day, every day of the week. Do the fun stuff while you can.
See, that's not my issue at all. I put in the effort, my first paper is 11 pages. More does not mean more effort, but it says something at least. My second paper was new, different, but it was poorly drafted: I wrote it 2 weeks before presentation, 5 weeks before its actually due just so I can massively change it. She asked if I had a mental illness and so I rewrote a whole new topic in 4 days and she corrected it and told me the subject was okay a week before presentation and then on the presentation I got it back. I made modifications and I didn't want to rewrite a whole new topic/subject for the last few weeks of class because of other things we had to write for this class, etc. So I'm not sure where I had no effort, I was the most active in the class and the most comfortable talking about the theories.
Really? I've written research papers in 8 hours the night before they were due and I've never been asked by a professor if I had a mental illness. And political science isn't that much different from the other social sciences (not including psyc in my definition of the social sciences, that's a real thing). I pretty much just wrote whatever bullshit for half my term papers and never got lower than a BC (basically a B-). If you didn't mess up the take home exam, the paper had to have been pretty low quality.
I'd be interested to see the paper you wrote, if it doesn't have anything personal in it you should post it and let us see for ourselves.
I've done that in CEGEP, in university: I write it weeks before because I enjoy the topic and I know my stuff. I've done a minor in political science, but didn't finish it; I hate it, but I got Cs in that (not very good, first semester/first year).
If you want to see all my papers, I'd be happy to privately share it with you. They're long however. Which paper would you like to see?
For note: I almost finished my psychology degree in CEGEP too, but made the switch last minute and got my sociology degree.
Well I think it would be more helpful if you posted a page or two here, the more feedback the better. But otherwise PM me the first few pages of the one she actually graded (just copy paste text is fine) I'll give you my honest feedback.
Though I don't see why you should be afraid to post them, based on the syllabus you posted I was already able to figure out where you go to school and who the professor is. More feedback is better to assess the nature of the situation (whether you were screwed or not) as well as potentially understand what you might do better next time.
The teacher is Yael Glick and my school is Concordia University. Doesn't really matter.
I'm not looking for feedback on my paper, I'm in a professional writing minor for that.
Good luck mate. Even in intellectual circles reason can sometimes be an elusive beast. Lots of love as usual, and I know you'll use this next year wisely. Cheers.
On April 28 2012 07:16 DivinO wrote: Good luck mate. Even in intellectual circles reason can sometimes be an elusive beast. Lots of love as usual, and I know you'll use this next year wisely. Cheers.
She asked if you have a mental illness? Im not one for complaining but this would piss me off. Perhaps go to the haed of the department but i would need info on the teacher before i can make that suggestion. (ie is she a newer teacher is she friendly with the head etc)
On April 28 2012 07:44 iamperfection wrote: She asked of you have a mental illness? Im not one for complaining but this would piss me off. Perhaps go to the haed of the department but i would need info on the teacher before i can make that suggestion. (ie is she a newer teacher is she friendly with the head etc)
My Sociology of Emotions teacher is not new, she is a professional therapist and has been teaching at Concordia University for several years ranging from 300-level classical sociological theory courses (mandator 6 credit course) to 400-level courses [such as the one I am in]. Complaints and compliments have been mixed about her but she encourages class discussion and often lends her subjects or topics off into these class discussions to exercise interest and participation in the class. She tells a lot of relevant stories and often circulates the debates back to the theorectical content that will be shown on the exams.
The exams are easy and revolving around choices of criticial questions to which you have 3 to 6 pages to write for each, for 30%. The papers are of the equivalent and very liberal in choices (sometimes even based upon anecdotes more than actual theory). In public, she is moderate, open-minded to generic subjects, so long as they agree with how she is thinking. Don't challenge what she is trying to implicit get the class to understand unless you can explain it adequately (even then, she still has a problem, but isn't verybal about it).
Does that give a clear indication? In private, she was terribly crude and blunt.
I was a sceptic until I saw the grading system and that your professor was female. In my 23 courses in college thus far I've had 7 female professors, after being told to avoid them by my family (males and females) and friends (typically females actually), and every single one has been worse than the one before, as the course content becomes more difficult. 85-89 is an A? My mind just blew up. Sorry to hear you failed, but indeed judging by the blog combined with my presuppositions about female higher education teachers, I'd say you got the short straw.
On April 28 2012 07:54 Game wrote: I was a sceptic until I saw the grading system and that your professor was female. In my 23 courses in college thus far I've had 7 female professors, after being told to avoid them by my family (males and females) and friends (typically females actually), and every single one has been worse than the one before, as the course content becomes more difficult. 85-89 is an A? My mind just blew up. Sorry to hear you failed, but indeed judging by the blog combined with my presuppositions about female higher education teachers, I'd say you got the short straw.
I appreciate your sympathy and understanding, but I don't think this has anything to do with her being a female.
I didn't mean to be offensive or clever with my first comment, you said
I was very busy though doing both BarCraft, professional teams, LANs and events, managing my university club
that was a serious suggestion. You seem like you're taking this well, so I didn't think you would take offense. Regardless, sorry if I offended, and sorry for the situation.
I was very busy though doing both BarCraft, professional teams, LANs and events, managing my university club
that was a serious suggestion. You seem like you're taking this well, so I didn't think you would take offense. Regardless, sorry if I offended, and sorry for the situation.
I'm not offended, no worries. A lot of people joke about my post count, so I just assumed you were teasing innocently
1. Syllabus is not the source of your failure to pass.
2. I take that a 400 level class would mean 4th year, so you're instructors are not there to hold your hand.
3. Did you ask other people in class for help at least?
4. Perhaps the reason your failed is because you might be a hermit and are socially illeterate so you couldn't pass a class about emotions (don't take it personally, it's just a farfetched idea).
On April 28 2012 08:26 thoraxe wrote: A couple of points that came to my mind
1. Syllabus is not the source of your failure to pass.
2. I take that a 400 level class would mean 4th year, so you're instructors are not there to hold your hand.
3. Did you ask other people in class for help at least?
4. Perhaps the reason your failed is because you might be a hermit and are socially illeterate so you couldn't pass a class about emotions (don't take it personally, it's just a farfetched idea).
1. A syllabus needs to be properly directed and with proper instructions as well as being given at the first class (as far as I recall)
2. 400-level is not 4 years because a university degree is typically 3-years. The instructor didn't hold my hand and you can read my efforts previously as well as where I lacked effort (in being proactive about my grade)
3. On what? I don't know what I passed or failed and I don't know what was good or bad.
4. That's a really farfetched idea. It's insulting actually and not even feasibly possible.
This makes a lot more sense after going back and reading your other blog about the class.
I have occasionally had similar problems with talking in class. In Jr. High Philosophy discussions I remember telling the class at one point that I took their failure to rebut any of my arguments as evidence that they accepted them, only to be told by the teacher that it was more likely that no one had any idea what I was talking about. Looking back, I was an arrogant jerk. In college I tended to talk a great deal in the first two or three classes, and then less and less as the semseter wore on. Even though by that time I had learned to speak in a way that was generally appreciated by the professor and other students, I tended to dwell privately on my comments later, when I would inevitably find fault with them end up full of self-loathing, ashamed at both my ignorance and the arrogance that made me feel it necessary to inflict said ignorance on the rest of the class.
From your description of events I do think you have a pretty good chance of getting your grade changed upon appeal - Good luck.
Even though by that time I had learned to speak in a way that was generally appreciated by the professor and other students, I tended to dwell privately on my comments later, when I would inevitably find fault with them end up full of self-loathing, ashamed at both my ignorance and the arrogance that made me feel it necessary to inflict said ignorance on the rest of the class.
The crappiest part of these stories, is usually the student only brings up the issue after the course has finished. When it's too late to do anything about it. You should have known you were failing weeks before, even months maybe. If the teacher was handing back assignments without a grade on it, my class would not have let that go. Would've gone straight to the Program coordinator, we got a shitty teacher fired before and got a new one that could actually teach. Failing classes suck, I been there. But I wouldn't blame it all on the teacher. 50/50 at the most. This is only an issue now because you failed... Don't know what to tell you. Be more responsible? Worked for me the 2nd time around.
On April 28 2012 08:50 Spikeke wrote: The crappiest part of these stories, is usually the student only brings up the issue after the course has finished. When it's too late to do anything about it. You should have known you were failing weeks before, even months maybe. If the teacher was handing back assignments without a grade on it, my class would not have let that go. Would've gone straight to the Program coordinator, we got a shitty teacher fired. Got a new one that could actually teach. Failing classes suck, I been there. But I wouldn't blame it all on the teacher. 50/50 at the most. This is only an issue now because you failed... Don't know what to tell you. Be more responsible? Worked for me the 2nd time around.
I don't want to complain about the teacher and her mistreating me while she is still deciding my grade. She can call me whatever she wants so long as her grading is fair or up to what I expected (yes, that is selfishly intended). I simply don't want to make a huge federal case in the middle of my final sociology year when I can just keep my head down, write what I need to write and just pass the class.
It's a problem I can tolerate if it means just being done with it. It no longer becomes tolerable if I have don't get an exit.
On April 28 2012 09:02 Torte de Lini wrote: I was, literally, stunned when she asked and just "ok'd" it when she asked because I wanted to move on with the actual criticism of the paper.
You're a lot calmer than me, I would have lost my shit.
I get better syllabuses than that in high school. Honestly, I've never gotten one shorter than 2 pages. I think that's a good point to bring it up, just make sure you are prepared for what the head says after that. Good luck yo.
On April 28 2012 09:06 Dalguno wrote: I get better syllabuses than that in high school. Honestly, I've never gotten one shorter than 2 pages. I think that's a good point to bring it up, just make sure you are prepared for what the head says after that. Good luck yo.
Thanks, I have her other syllabus from her other class and it is 100% more concrete and clear.
Dont take this wrong way, but I would really spend a bit less time on sc and tl and more on school at this stage. If there is even a small chance of failing a class you have to eliminate it. Believe me I learned this the hard way a couple years ago and its possible to find a balance.
You are at risk of failing now because you were not proactive when these issues first started to occur as you have acknowledged. You admit to taking the blame in the op, but in your title you seem to be blaming the professor.
Best of luck with your situation, theres two sides to every story, but I hope it works out for you especially if your version of the story is 100 percent accurate.
On April 28 2012 06:41 Torte de Lini wrote: She's a professional therapist, I don't understand why she would ask about my history and what's the relevance of that, can you fail people for being mentally handicapped?
From your description, it sounds like she is not really qualified to teach at a college level (both in terms of teaching ability, and in terms of the intellectual depth of her course). There's a good chance that the dean will simply shake his/her head and bump you up to a C when you appeal.
Edit: you might want to see if there are any school-level guidelines about providing feedback to students. It's really unprofessional (and often against the rules) to fail a student without providing any feedback first.
Problem is, I don't have these stories in writing. I didn't exact have a recorder on hand for when she asked if I had a mental illness; but I have another story similar story where she asked the guy if he had a writing deficit, he didn't want to come forward publicly, but maybe I'll track him down and ask him to vouch for me that this has been done before.
I don't understand how she can be unqualified to teach if she's teaching so many other classes as well and has so for years.
Welcome to the seedy underworld of academia, where departments hire large number of lecturers (aka. sessionals, part-time instructors, etc.) instead of tenured or tenure-track faculty. Many of the people hired as lecturers are competent and knowledgable, but the bar is definitely set lower for lecturers compared to tenure-track hires.
Googling around, Concordia seems to have a very high number of part-time instructors: around 900 (compared to 2000 full-time faculty), teaching around 40% of courses. For comparison, University of Toronto claims around 20% of courses taught by part-time faculty. (These numbers are a little old, but it's really hard to find accurate numbers, because the stats are pretty embarassing for universities).
On April 28 2012 09:11 Nick_54 wrote: Dont take this wrong way, but I would really spend a bit less time on sc and tl and more on school at this stage. If there is even a small chance of failing a class you have to eliminate it. Believe me I learned this the hard way a couple years ago and its possible to find a balance.
You are at risk of failing now because you were not proactive when these issues first started to occur as you have acknowledged. You admit to taking the blame in the op, but in your title you seem to be blaming the professor.
Best of luck with your situation, theres two sides to every story, but I hope it works out for you especially if your version of the story is 100 percent accurate.
I'm not taking it the wrong way. In all my other classes, I am doing 100% better and I've been doing the same thing I'm doing now for the past two years and I've never been close to failing. Believe me, I have done my 9th grade twice and I struggled with French High-school for years to know what failure is, what it asks for and how to properly study, assess assignments and approach them at least remotely adequately.
Ultimately, the failure mark is marked by the professor, that's what my title is suggesting simply. To say "I failed my sociology class" would be to understand how or why I failed it, which isn't indicated in any of my papers (since the one I did get back has no grade on it) in addition that I obviously don't agree with the mark (given the combination of my efforts that typically give me good grades, plus the lack of information and treatment from the teacher).
Yes, 100% agree. my story is unintentionally bias because it is from my perspective :3 Thanks a lot!
On April 28 2012 06:41 Torte de Lini wrote: She's a professional therapist, I don't understand why she would ask about my history and what's the relevance of that, can you fail people for being mentally handicapped?
From your description, it sounds like she is not really qualified to teach at a college level (both in terms of teaching ability, and in terms of the intellectual depth of her course). There's a good chance that the dean will simply shake his/her head and bump you up to a C when you appeal.
Edit: you might want to see if there are any school-level guidelines about providing feedback to students. It's really unprofessional (and often against the rules) to fail a student without providing any feedback first.
Problem is, I don't have these stories in writing. I didn't exact have a recorder on hand for when she asked if I had a mental illness; but I have another story similar story where she asked the guy if he had a writing deficit, he didn't want to come forward publicly, but maybe I'll track him down and ask him to vouch for me that this has been done before.
I don't understand how she can be unqualified to teach if she's teaching so many other classes as well and has so for years.
Welcome to the seedy underworld of academia, where departments hire large number of lecturers (aka. sessionals, part-time instructors, etc.) instead of tenured or tenure-track faculty. Many of the people hired as lecturers are competent and knowledgable, but the bar is definitely set lower for lecturers compared to tenure-track hires.
Googling around, Concordia seems to have a very high number of part-time instructors: around 900 (compared to 2000 full-time faculty), teaching around 40% of courses. For comparison, University of Toronto claims around 20% of courses taught by part-time faculty. (These numbers are a little old, but it's really hard to find accurate numbers, because the stats are pretty embarassing for universities).
Yes, you are right. But sociology isn't exactly a demanding field and most social science professionals and part-time instructors can do the basics (which is asked).
A lot of the part-time instructors are either academic achievers and published researchers or professionals of the typically associated field.
Can't believe she asked if you're mentally handicapped or not.
That would really, really set me off. Especially since the stupid bitch can't even do a syllabus correctly.
She may have been asking because if you were to say yes, then she could've have given you second chance. Maybe even a pass. My friend in college was failing because of his "ADHD" and whatever problems. Or so thats what he told them and was able to weasel his way out of situations, getting extra leeway than "Normal" students. like come on. That's stupid, but unless she asks. It could never happen. Don't be so sensitive. Losing your shit over that doesn't help your argument...
Not sure why you didn't confront her about your grades on these unmarked assignments before the end of the year...seems like something that's important to know.
On April 28 2012 09:11 Nick_54 wrote: Dont take this wrong way, but I would really spend a bit less time on sc and tl and more on school at this stage. If there is even a small chance of failing a class you have to eliminate it. Believe me I learned this the hard way a couple years ago and its possible to find a balance.
You are at risk of failing now because you were not proactive when these issues first started to occur as you have acknowledged. You admit to taking the blame in the op, but in your title you seem to be blaming the professor.
Best of luck with your situation, theres two sides to every story, but I hope it works out for you especially if your version of the story is 100 percent accurate.
I'm not taking it the wrong way. In all my other classes, I am doing 100% better and I've been doing the same thing I'm doing now for the past two years and I've never been close to failing. Believe me, I have done my 9th grade twice and I struggled with French High-school for years to know what failure is, what it asks for and how to properly study, assess assignments and approach them at least remotely adequately.
Ultimately, the failure mark is marked by the professor, that's what my title is suggesting simply. To say "I failed my sociology class" would be to understand how or why I failed it, which isn't indicated in any of my papers (since the one I did get back has no grade on it) in addition that I obviously don't agree with the mark (given the combination of my efforts that typically give me good grades, plus the lack of information and treatment from the teacher).
Yes, 100% agree. my story is unintentionally bias because it is from my perspective :3 Thanks a lot!
Yeah sorry I think what I wanted to say came out a bit too harsh. I hope it works out and you should learn some valuable lessons from it either way.
Can't believe she asked if you're mentally handicapped or not.
That would really, really set me off. Especially since the stupid bitch can't even do a syllabus correctly.
She may have been asking because if you were to say yes, then she could've have given you second chance. Maybe even a pass. My friend in college was failing because of his "ADHD" and whatever problems. Or so thats what he told them and was able to weasel his way out of situations, getting extra leeway than "Normal" students. like come on. That's stupid, but unless she asks. It could never happen. Don't be so sensitive. Losing your shit over that doesn't help your argument...
My friend joked about this. Agreed, losing your shit doesn't help, but at the same time, it's just not something you ask in general. I'm pretty sure my grade should not be, officially, weighted based on my mental handicap or deviance. It's an ironic contradiction considering I'm in sociology.
On April 28 2012 09:21 sooch wrote: Not sure why you didn't confront her about your grades on these unmarked assignments before the end of the year...seems like something that's important to know.
Yes, it's my fault. No one else did it as far as I know either.
On April 28 2012 09:11 Nick_54 wrote: Dont take this wrong way, but I would really spend a bit less time on sc and tl and more on school at this stage. If there is even a small chance of failing a class you have to eliminate it. Believe me I learned this the hard way a couple years ago and its possible to find a balance.
You are at risk of failing now because you were not proactive when these issues first started to occur as you have acknowledged. You admit to taking the blame in the op, but in your title you seem to be blaming the professor.
Best of luck with your situation, theres two sides to every story, but I hope it works out for you especially if your version of the story is 100 percent accurate.
I'm not taking it the wrong way. In all my other classes, I am doing 100% better and I've been doing the same thing I'm doing now for the past two years and I've never been close to failing. Believe me, I have done my 9th grade twice and I struggled with French High-school for years to know what failure is, what it asks for and how to properly study, assess assignments and approach them at least remotely adequately.
Ultimately, the failure mark is marked by the professor, that's what my title is suggesting simply. To say "I failed my sociology class" would be to understand how or why I failed it, which isn't indicated in any of my papers (since the one I did get back has no grade on it) in addition that I obviously don't agree with the mark (given the combination of my efforts that typically give me good grades, plus the lack of information and treatment from the teacher).
Yes, 100% agree. my story is unintentionally bias because it is from my perspective :3 Thanks a lot!
Yeah sorry I think what I wanted to say came out a bit too harsh. I hope it works out and you should learn some valuable lessons from it either way.
I have. Ultimately, if I fail; I fail and I can do the class over. I have the time, money and luxury of another year to wrap it up anyways. I don't intend for graduate school or get a job in a research field related to Sociology, so it's really not the end of the world.
I honestly don't see what's wrong with the syllabus. It could elaborate more on what's going to be taught in class but not all syllabi do that because Profs are lazy and want flexibility so they don't have to change syllabi or plan ahead.
I do see a problem with not giving out grades though, or for calling someone mentally handicapped.
Can't believe she asked if you're mentally handicapped or not.
That would really, really set me off. Especially since the stupid bitch can't even do a syllabus correctly.
She may have been asking because if you were to say yes, then she could've have given you second chance. Maybe even a pass. My friend in college was failing because of his "ADHD" and whatever problems. Or so thats what he told them and was able to weasel his way out of situations, getting extra leeway than "Normal" students. like come on. That's stupid, but unless she asks. It could never happen. Don't be so sensitive. Losing your shit over that doesn't help your argument...
Luckily its not my argument and I was just making conversation.
Appeal and get the dean involved. Your writing's not the best (work on clarity), but I doubt it's absolutely horrific, and she at least should've given you hard, concrete feedback. You should additionally never be graded on whether your prof agrees with you, but on how well you argue your point, even if she disagrees; obviously this isn't followed in most cases at all, but if you can show that you did argue fairly decently (at least above an F-level paper, which, c'mon, you have to try hard to fail that), I think you stand a good chance. Your previous good history with these classes should help you, and be sure to have records of as much as you can. (Did you send those papers in through email? Make sure you have copies of those emails, so they know you had sent in a completely diff. paper previously and had to rewrite the other on extremely limited time.) Describe your interaction with her and her coldness/unprofessionalism/lack of response.
You say you have good relationships with previous profs in your SOSC classes; you might want to requisition them to give an account of your work ethic/quality/character as a person. When you appeal, tell the dean that you can get those character references if necessary, and tell the profs beforehand that they might be asked about you (explain the situation to them too). Even if you have no evidence, I would definitely mention her asking if you have a mental disease, because that is unprofessional to the extreme.
Gluck.
This is honestly very weird to me, because it's just difficult to fail a humanities/social sciences class short of just not turning in papers/work.
Your account of the events may be biased, but the professor sounds like a douche, especially the part where she asks if you hve a mental illness. You should do everything in your power to destroy her.
Do you have any more info on your grade breakdown? Specifically what you got in each category? You have a right to know what grades you got on the different categories. Ask her. She's bound to the syllabus as much as you are.
With rewriting papers multiple times, nagging for clarification, etc. you should (hopefully) have a high grade for participation. If not, ask her what her judging criteria was. Ask if other students were judged on the same criteria. Let's even assume you have a lower grade... it probably shouldn't go below 50% if you did that much.
Even if you got 5/10% on participation, 20/30 on the research paper and take home exam, SKIPPED the seminar, and got 10/20 on the film review, you should have a D in the class by her scale.
For your appeal, you need to GET ORGANIZED. Records of everything!
Do you have email records, any other info where you've recorded that you asked for clarification on things? Has she ever handed back graded work? Has she ever given indication on how she judges the categories? How did other students do in the class? If you have some friends in the class, maybe you can dig up evidence that the teacher is judging inconsistently. Not necessarily because of bias, but because of laziness or just "winging it" for the grade.
SHOW that you made an effort. SHOW that you turned in work. I have a feeling that she has a 0 in some category that's unjustified (maybe she lost something, it happens!). Because otherwise I have no idea how you could do so bad to get a 0 unless her grading is extremely harsh.
If she is missing records, then dispute that you're punished because of it. If she can, and she just grades that harshly, well... you probably should have been more tenacious getting feedback. But usually harsh grades have to be justified by some concrete reasoning. If she can't justify her grading, and never gave stuff back, and is inconsistent, you can probably show you were a victim.
if i didnt read the name of the course theres no way i could tell wtf the course was on...da fuck with the syllabus. Also i've had the same problem in highschool where teachers dont show u ur mark or even finish correcting them...but so far my uni profs have been fine. sorry to hear about this, good luck
Wow Torte, I just looked her up on ratemyprofessor.com. UGH! She sounds like a terrible professor if only half of what I read is true.
a few reviews: (not all are for the 400 level class several are for 200 or 300)(and I pulled some positive reviews as well, though they were slim pickins)
9/1/05 -"Brilliant woman, inspirational!!" 9/18/05 -"Worst teacher I have ever had. Completely closed-minded and too radical in her philosophy. She imposes her beliefs on students and if you disagree, she tears you apart. Even ridiculizes you in front of the rest of the class at times" 11/9/06 (soci498) -"Class i took with her is called "Sociology of Emotions" She is amazing, she loves talking and we have great discussions. One, maybe, the best teacher ive had in Concordia so far (3 yr student here)" 11/14/06 (soci498) -"Not every academic is meant to teach...this is one of them. Stay away at all costs!" 12/26/03 (soci498) -"She's nice, but not a fair grader..." 9/11/07 (soci498) -"This woman is the pits! Kind of interesting class discussions and great articles. Really stimulating readings, but as a teacher she's terrible! Kind of vague and just plain lousy. Buy her coursepack but avoid her like the plague." 8/11/08 -"She is the worst teacher at ConU. She's very biased and feminist, which doesn't help because she doesn't see where the students are coming from. Never clear on what she wants. She even suggested her students to picket with the part-time profs. She cancelled last class due to that reason. NEVER TAKE HER CLASS!!!" 9/5/08 -"One of the best professors i have had. You don't have to agree with someone's politics in order to appreciate their intelligence. For those complaining about her vagueness, this isn't elementary or high school, ts university and don't expect to be spoon-fed. Fair grader and approachable." 1/7/09 -"Was a hard marker, can be very opinionated. Really nice to talk to when she has the time. Seen her publicly humiliate a student for doing a paper which didn't reflect her opinions of the topic. Personally would stay away." 12/8/09 -"I'm not crazy about her. She can be rude and opinionated and she's not very helpful. She can be interesting at times but the way she organizes her class is odd. We all have to present and half the time, we can't understand anything. Her assignment guidelines are also unstructured. Also, she has favourites which is annoying." 4/5/10 -"Great prof. You can learn so much if you are ready to listen. Some students are unhappy with her because they are used to special treatment, not with her. If you are there to learn you will. If you are there to whine and complain without hard work you will have hard time. She is one of the best professors I have ever had." 4/7/10 (this is the following comment to the previous review) -"as a woman I feel very insulted when i'm in her class even though I share many feministic views, she makes students uncomfortable and scared to ask her something or her temper starts kicking in. She gives Concordia a bad rep I have never had such a terrible experience with a "professor". She must have wrote the last comment, we were all terrified!" 6/6/10 -"Everyone takes her classes expecting easy As but that's just not the case. I've heard so many complain about the grades they've gotten with Glick but these are people who don't work and half-ass everything. She has been one of the BEST professors I've had at Concordia." 6/30/10 -"This Prof. is not fit to teach, she as unresolved personal issues, If she has guts she sould print these comments and give it to her class at each term, or maybe show it to her friends and family!! If she has any!! I wish I knew about this site before, DONT TAKE HER CLASSES you wil regret it. she is clearly not happy being a female. STAY AWAY!" 7/1/10 (my personal favorite) "I passed her class with good grade, still doesn't change the fact that she has an ungly personality, she should live in a cave, and ironically she teaches sociology, she possess no values, even animals have better qualities than her, for those who failed her class you fail a subject she is faliure in life, if you still want to take her class, Well!"
Overall Rating: 2.8 76 reviews from 2002 to the present In the past 6 months she has 4 "good quality' reviews for Soci300 & 376, though none of these suggest that she is "easy" Best of luck in talking with the Chair of the department or Dean.
On April 28 2012 09:29 babylon wrote: Appeal and get the dean involved. Your writing's not the best (work on clarity), but I doubt it's absolutely horrific, and she at least should've given you hard, concrete feedback. You should additionally never be graded on whether your prof agrees with you, but on how well you argue your point, even if she disagrees; obviously this isn't followed in most cases at all, but if you can show that you did argue fairly decently (at least above an F-level paper, which, c'mon, you have to try hard to fail that), I think you stand a good chance. Your previous good history with these classes should help you, and be sure to have records of as much as you can. (Did you send those papers in through email? Make sure you have copies of those emails, so they know you had sent in a completely diff. paper previously and had to rewrite the other on extremely limited time.) Describe your interaction with her and her coldness/unprofessionalism/lack of response.
You say you have good relationships with previous profs in your SOSC classes; you might want to requisition them to give an account of your work ethic/quality/character as a person. When you appeal, tell the dean that you can get those character references if necessary, and tell the profs beforehand that they might be asked about you (explain the situation to them too). Even if you have no evidence, I would definitely mention her asking if you have a mental disease, because that is unprofessional to the extreme.
Gluck.
This is honestly very weird to me, because it's just difficult to fail a humanities/social sciences class short of just not turning in papers/work.
This is solid advice and I am actually seeing one of my professors who absolutely adores me. She begs for me to be in her class everytime. I'm going to try and settle for a C because a F is very, very extreme.
No, I sent the papers in-hand, only way she would accept it.
On April 28 2012 09:35 Slithe wrote: Your account of the events may be biased, but the professor sounds like a douche, especially the part where she asks if you hve a mental illness. You should do everything in your power to destroy her.
I could care less about her, not going to waste my time trying to destroy her, just to get what I deserve.
Hey, the handicap accusation will certainly be a strong point in the appeal, if you have proof of it (Think she'll... Deny it?)
Yeah, I think so. But why the fuck would I make that shit up and as a good student in every single class and with the account of a similar student being asked if he had a writing deficit, I might have something to show.
On April 28 2012 10:04 ninjafetus wrote: Do you have any more info on your grade breakdown? Specifically what you got in each category? You have a right to know what grades you got on the different categories. Ask her. She's bound to the syllabus as much as you are.
With rewriting papers multiple times, nagging for clarification, etc. you should (hopefully) have a high grade for participation. If not, ask her what her judging criteria was. Ask if other students were judged on the same criteria. Let's even assume you have a lower grade... it probably shouldn't go below 50% if you did that much.
Even if you got 5/10% on participation, 20/30 on the research paper and take home exam, SKIPPED the seminar, and got 10/20 on the film review, you should have a D in the class by her scale.
For your appeal, you need to GET ORGANIZED. Records of everything!
Do you have email records, any other info where you've recorded that you asked for clarification on things? Has she ever handed back graded work? Has she ever given indication on how she judges the categories? How did other students do in the class? If you have some friends in the class, maybe you can dig up evidence that the teacher is judging inconsistently. Not necessarily because of bias, but because of laziness or just "winging it" for the grade.
SHOW that you made an effort. SHOW that you turned in work. I have a feeling that she has a 0 in some category that's unjustified (maybe she lost something, it happens!). Because otherwise I have no idea how you could do so bad to get a 0 unless her grading is extremely harsh.
If she is missing records, then dispute that you're punished because of it. If she can, and she just grades that harshly, well... you probably should have been more tenacious getting feedback. But usually harsh grades have to be justified by some concrete reasoning. If she can't justify her grading, and never gave stuff back, and is inconsistent, you can probably show you were a victim.
Good luck.
No, there is no more about the grade breakdown or how she really corrects them. The syllabus is not as relevant as it was before because some of the things on there were never graded or used, she changed it a little I think due to time.
Records of emails: yes No other record of me asking to clarify things, just three copies of work with corrected shit on it. She's never handed back graded work, no indication on how she judges the categories, maybe verbally. I have the grade spread if you want it, I'm the only one that failed, which is 100% surprising.
My only thought right now is that I handed in the work for the assignment at 5PM of the day it was due. But she never specified what time it was due and thus that shouldn't be an issue. Plus, I saw a lot of other papers were handed in as well at the same time, so she must have not picked them up.
On April 28 2012 10:55 fishuu wrote: That is one weird syllabus, and the mental illness remark was just way out of line. Good luck, I really hope you can appeal this and work it out.
Thanks <3
On April 28 2012 11:25 Mothra wrote: Woah she sounds like a scary bitch:
Wow Torte, I just looked her up on ratemyprofessor.com. UGH! She sounds like a terrible professor if only half of what I read is true.
a few reviews: (not all are for the 400 level class several are for 200 or 300)(and I pulled some positive reviews as well, though they were slim pickins)
9/1/05 -"Brilliant woman, inspirational!!" 9/18/05 -"Worst teacher I have ever had. Completely closed-minded and too radical in her philosophy. She imposes her beliefs on students and if you disagree, she tears you apart. Even ridiculizes you in front of the rest of the class at times" 11/9/06 (soci498) -"Class i took with her is called "Sociology of Emotions" She is amazing, she loves talking and we have great discussions. One, maybe, the best teacher ive had in Concordia so far (3 yr student here)" 11/14/06 (soci498) -"Not every academic is meant to teach...this is one of them. Stay away at all costs!" 12/26/03 (soci498) -"She's nice, but not a fair grader..." 9/11/07 (soci498) -"This woman is the pits! Kind of interesting class discussions and great articles. Really stimulating readings, but as a teacher she's terrible! Kind of vague and just plain lousy. Buy her coursepack but avoid her like the plague." 8/11/08 -"She is the worst teacher at ConU. She's very biased and feminist, which doesn't help because she doesn't see where the students are coming from. Never clear on what she wants. She even suggested her students to picket with the part-time profs. She cancelled last class due to that reason. NEVER TAKE HER CLASS!!!" 9/5/08 -"One of the best professors i have had. You don't have to agree with someone's politics in order to appreciate their intelligence. For those complaining about her vagueness, this isn't elementary or high school, ts university and don't expect to be spoon-fed. Fair grader and approachable." 1/7/09 -"Was a hard marker, can be very opinionated. Really nice to talk to when she has the time. Seen her publicly humiliate a student for doing a paper which didn't reflect her opinions of the topic. Personally would stay away." 12/8/09 -"I'm not crazy about her. She can be rude and opinionated and she's not very helpful. She can be interesting at times but the way she organizes her class is odd. We all have to present and half the time, we can't understand anything. Her assignment guidelines are also unstructured. Also, she has favourites which is annoying." 4/5/10 -"Great prof. You can learn so much if you are ready to listen. Some students are unhappy with her because they are used to special treatment, not with her. If you are there to learn you will. If you are there to whine and complain without hard work you will have hard time. She is one of the best professors I have ever had." 4/7/10 (this is the following comment to the previous review) -"as a woman I feel very insulted when i'm in her class even though I share many feministic views, she makes students uncomfortable and scared to ask her something or her temper starts kicking in. She gives Concordia a bad rep I have never had such a terrible experience with a "professor". She must have wrote the last comment, we were all terrified!" 6/6/10 -"Everyone takes her classes expecting easy As but that's just not the case. I've heard so many complain about the grades they've gotten with Glick but these are people who don't work and half-ass everything. She has been one of the BEST professors I've had at Concordia." 6/30/10 -"This Prof. is not fit to teach, she as unresolved personal issues, If she has guts she sould print these comments and give it to her class at each term, or maybe show it to her friends and family!! If she has any!! I wish I knew about this site before, DONT TAKE HER CLASSES you wil regret it. she is clearly not happy being a female. STAY AWAY!" 7/1/10 (my personal favorite) "I passed her class with good grade, still doesn't change the fact that she has an ungly personality, she should live in a cave, and ironically she teaches sociology, she possess no values, even animals have better qualities than her, for those who failed her class you fail a subject she is faliure in life, if you still want to take her class, Well!"
Overall Rating: 2.8 76 reviews from 2002 to the present In the past 6 months she has 4 "good quality' reviews for Soci300 & 376, though none of these suggest that she is "easy" Best of luck in talking with the Chair of the department or Dean.
p.s. last I checked you are at 32.32 posts/day,
I have her in 376 as well, she has a teacher's assistant and he corrected most of my shit. Praise the Lord.
Wow, the mental illness thing, that is just incredibly unprofessional and I probably would have dropped the class right then and there. If anyone has failed here, its your professor in how she handles this course. No giving papers back or letting your students know their grades, shes just not doing her job. She isn't do much teaching it seems. Thats a piss poor syllabus.
Has she taught this specific class before? Is she teaching more classes this semester than usual?
Something definitely seems off here. Good luck with your appeal.
Yes, we only have your take of the situation but I would definitely send in an appeal and it sounds like she was passing a lot of judgement on you. When you go against the grain especially with a paper they have every reason to fail you on it because you didn't do what they asked you to do no matter how revolutionary it is.
However, she never gave you any proper feedback and as you said. She always appeared to be very hostile to you so I question her bias.
On April 28 2012 21:19 StarStruck wrote: Yes, we only have your take of the situation but I would definitely send in an appeal and it sounds like she was passing a lot of judgement on you. When you go against the grain especially with a paper they have every reason to fail you on it because you didn't do what they asked you to do no matter how revolutionary it is.
However, she never gave you any proper feedback and as you said. She always appeared to be very hostile to you so I question her bias.
I find this so retarded with education nowadays. But whatever, anyway. She seems crazy.
I've never had a professor this bad, but I had one where I felt like I was getting poor grades on papers becaues she wasn't clear about what she wanted, and she was especially peculiar about that to the point I felt like she wanted a cookie cutter answer that matched her ideas/thought process. I'd do terrible on papers, but get straight up A's on all her quizes/tests. I got A's on every non-science paper I had in college except in this class, so I felt like the writing quality was probably not the issue given 1. I generally do quite well on papers 2. Her tests were not at all a challenge to me.
I just sucked it up and dealt with it. I decided to take another class by the professor because the topic interested me, but when the next term started the same way, I dropped the class pretty quickly. I never really felt better talking to this professor, if anything talking to them made me feel worse about what I had to write and made me uneasy. Nothing obvious like "do you have a mental illness," but just the general vibe of the situation.
Hope you can appeal successfully, but seems pretty late in the game to be doing it. :/
On April 28 2012 21:19 StarStruck wrote: Yes, we only have your take of the situation but I would definitely send in an appeal and it sounds like she was passing a lot of judgement on you. When you go against the grain especially with a paper they have every reason to fail you on it because you didn't do what they asked you to do no matter how revolutionary it is.
However, she never gave you any proper feedback and as you said. She always appeared to be very hostile to you so I question her bias.
I would definitely aim for an appeal.
Except I redid the paper as she asked and in fact, she accepted the subject and new topic.
On April 28 2012 15:50 jmbthirteen wrote: Wow, the mental illness thing, that is just incredibly unprofessional and I probably would have dropped the class right then and there. If anyone has failed here, its your professor in how she handles this course. No giving papers back or letting your students know their grades, shes just not doing her job. She isn't do much teaching it seems. Thats a piss poor syllabus.
Has she taught this specific class before? Is she teaching more classes this semester than usual?
Something definitely seems off here. Good luck with your appeal.
Perhaps, 400-level courses come and go because the material always changes. Yes, I am in her other class as well.
I read every posts you wrote here and I will be honest. Your posts are all over the place and it makes it hard to piece together anything. I think everyone who posted just skimmed through your posts and just got out that you failed and your professor asked if you were mentally ill and its obvious everyone's first reaction will be to say shes in the wrong and sympathize with you cause everyone has had their experiences with terrible teachers.
From what I got I think you are at fault just as much as her. Its your responsibility to keep track how you will be graded and your current grades, figuring out where you stand. You did not, thus you are surprised at what you got. A student should never be surprised of their final grade if they make an effort to keep track of their grades. You were surprised and you admit you didn't take part in it as much as you should. You should have done something earlier to have prevented failing the class.
I think you should make your case to someone higher up. It something you should have handled a long time ago and there is still a chance you can get your grade changed but more than that its to get someone else involved to sort things out. You're a bit too unreliable for me to really conclude anything from your posts besides that something is wrong. I do think your professor made some mistakes too so she should at least be aware of what she did wrong too and its important to hear her side too.
On April 29 2012 03:59 Ilikestarcraft wrote: I read every posts you wrote here and I will be honest. Your posts are all over the place and it makes it hard to piece together anything. I think everyone who posted just skimmed through your posts and just got out that you failed and your professor asked if you were mentally ill and its obvious everyone's first reaction will be to say shes in the wrong and sympathize with you cause everyone has had their experiences with terrible teachers.
From what I got I think you are at fault just as much as her. Its your responsibility to keep track how you will be graded and your current grades, figuring out where you stand. You did not, thus you are surprised at what you got. A student should never be surprised of their final rade if they make an effort to keep track of their grades. You were surprised and you admit you didn't take part in it as much as you should. You should have done something earlier to have prevented failing the class.
I think you should make your case to someone higher up. It something you should have handled a long time ago and there is still a chance you can get your grade changed but more than that its to get someone else involved to sort things out. You're a bit too unreliable for me to really conclude anything from your posts besides that something is wrong. I do think your professor made some mistakes too so she should at least be aware of what she did wrong too and its important to hear her side too.
On April 28 2012 06:00 Torte de Lini wrote: I'm the only one to have failed my class...
Sad to say, it's probably all on you. Having taught at the tertiary level in a number of institutions, I can say it's pretty troublesome to fail people. You have a whole bunch of paperwork presentations to do in order to justify this person failing, not to mention having to put them through a retake of the module or remedial classes or whatever it is that needs to be done. If the prof is bad in the sense that they are incompetent or simply don't care, you would typically get a 'C'. This is the grade that is by far easier to fit into the prescribed bell curve and results in no extra overhead.
This means either your paper totally missed the point, was just plain wrong, or she simply hates your guts. All of this can be solved simply by communication. Not hostile communication ala demanding a grade, but genuinely trying to understand how she thinks and where she's coming from. This is much the same in working life. You always meet with more success giving people what they want, rather than what is clearly right or superior in your mind. Of course, they will never tell you exactly what they want because most of the time, they have no freaking idea what that is either. (Can't make things too easy)
By going through the "channels", you might get what you want, but if you simply connect with people and learn to understand them better, the path thereafter will be much smoother and may even yield unexpected benefits.
On April 28 2012 21:19 StarStruck wrote: Yes, we only have your take of the situation but I would definitely send in an appeal and it sounds like she was passing a lot of judgement on you. When you go against the grain especially with a paper they have every reason to fail you on it because you didn't do what they asked you to do no matter how revolutionary it is.
However, she never gave you any proper feedback and as you said. She always appeared to be very hostile to you so I question her bias.
I find this so retarded with education nowadays. But whatever, anyway. She seems crazy.
I was one of those people who walked on a thin line trying to break borders and boundaries especially when it came to my writing. It was a total nuisance for many of my teacher's, but I always met with them beforehand to let them know what I wanted to do and they would let me submit a sample to get their approval to make sure I was on track.
Can't wait to see what happens. If you have to go through SS then that will suck. I've yet to fail a class except for once but my teacher bumped up my grade to a D because she liked me overall, it was just my work ethic that sucked at the time. But with a teacher that doesn't already like you you'll need to really look at things from her point of view. Also, remember to stay calm. Good luck, I fear you may need it.
On April 28 2012 06:00 Torte de Lini wrote: I'm the only one to have failed my class...
Sad to say, it's probably all on you. Having taught at the tertiary level in a number of institutions, I can say it's pretty troublesome to fail people. You have a whole bunch of paperwork presentations to do in order to justify this person failing, not to mention having to put them through a retake of the module or remedial classes or whatever it is that needs to be done. If the prof is bad in the sense that they are incompetent or simply don't care, you would typically get a 'C'. This is the grade that is by far easier to fit into the prescribed bell curve and results in no extra overhead.
This means either your paper totally missed the point, was just plain wrong, or she simply hates your guts. All of this can be solved simply by communication. Not hostile communication ala demanding a grade, but genuinely trying to understand how she thinks and where she's coming from. This is much the same in working life. You always meet with more success giving people what they want, rather than what is clearly right or superior in your mind. Of course, they will never tell you exactly what they want because most of the time, they have no freaking idea what that is either. (Can't make things too easy)
By going through the "channels", you might get what you want, but if you simply connect with people and learn to understand them better, the path thereafter will be much smoother and may even yield unexpected benefits.
I didn't know that part [the extra steps to fail me]. I might just ask her why I failed, but I don't want her lamblasting me.
I dunno, Torte. You are not a bad guy, but everyone you got to read that first paper was not impressed. It didn't give me the impression you even knew how to write a paper. You can't complain about StarCraft or whatever keeping you busy either, because 'being proactive' is a matter of spending 2 minutes after the class talking to the prof. Matters such as how well you are doing in the class, the exact nature of an assignment etc are things that take 30 seconds to reply to. Heaven forbid, if you got warning signs in those 2 minutes you could go to her office hours for help.
The part about claiming you have a mental illness was inappropriate, we pretty much unanimously agreed, but if that is your usual output of work and your professors think you're a genius there is something seriously concerning with your faculty.
ratemyprofessor.com comments sound like typical intelligent-prof is liked by intelligent students, loathed by slackers and egoists alike. In my first year classes I'd always loved it when there would be a really dumb student with OPINIONS ABOUT STUFF who would get shot down by the prof. Now I realise that these students never actually learn, they just write angry reviews on ratemyprof.
On April 30 2012 05:10 Chef wrote: I dunno, Torte. You are not a bad guy, but everyone you got to read that first paper was not impressed. It didn't give me the impression you even knew how to write a paper. You can't complain about StarCraft or whatever keeping you busy either, because 'being proactive' is a matter of spending 2 minutes after the class talking to the prof. Matters such as how well you are doing in the class, the exact nature of an assignment etc are things that take 30 seconds to reply to. Heaven forbid, if you got warning signs in those 2 minutes you could go to her office hours for help.
The part about claiming you have a mental illness was inappropriate, we pretty much unanimously agreed, but if that is your usual output of work and your professors think you're a genius there is something seriously concerning with your faculty.
ratemyprofessor.com comments sound like typical intelligent-prof is liked by intelligent students, loathed by slackers and egoists alike. In my first year classes I'd always loved it when there would be a really dumb student with OPINIONS ABOUT STUFF who would get shot down by the prof. Now I realise that these students never actually learn, they just write angry reviews on ratemyprof.
The first paper was new ground, rough draft and done from a new idea. I can write adequate papers or my track record in my other sociology classes or any awards I've done in Creative writing in addition to getting into my professional writing minor says nothing at all. I'm not Hemmingway, but I can write something remotely better than a failing grade.
and I was proactice with the teacher in that sense: I asked for two clarifications on the assignment before I wrote the first paper and I also told her it was new theorectical stuff to which she said it was ok (and that she'd need to see it before-hand). Well, I gave it to her before-hand but then I get shit on for it despite still having a week to rewrite before presentation (and thus 4 weeks before it's actually due). Even if my paper was shit and I totally slacked on it, I wrote the whole thing weeks before the presentation (It's 11 pages, so I must be trying really hard to slack off -- the minimum was 4). Most people were unfinished by the presentation date and thus finished it in the following weeks. Doing all my shit before knowing errors would come in addition that more work would swing by is just smart planning (though in the end, I still crumbled).
The office hours was the "help".
That's how I view ratemyprofessors. I still do in a way, that only angry people write those reviews and by default, it's bias (if you had an ok class, would you go out of your way to write a good review on another site than in the school's evaluation survey? I don't think so).
I'm not a slacker and only a comparison between how I was in high-school and its grades to my university grades can attest for that.
It doesn't really matter if I am wrong or right, you have to consider the following: 1. I have to instill doubt that her grading methodology could be faltered or bias towards her personal view of me, 2. Her remarks adds doubt that how she graded was fair and thus a re-evaluation of my papers with another teacher following her grading sheet will give me another chance
Regardless whether I pass or fail after the second re-evaluation hardly affects me anyways. I would let this go given I have the time to redo the class anyways, but it doesn't hurt to try and change it.
If this makes you feel any better torte, I think I'm gonna fail a course tomorrow. There's a very high chance I will and unlike with you, this is entirely my fault. I didn't hand in any problem sets except the first which I did horribly on. Problem sets are worth 30%. I slacked off too many days where I did nothing this semester when I had things I could have been doing. Some people are ok with slacking off because they still get what they need to get done, done, on time. I can't.
And I don't think I can repeat the course either. I doubt it's offered in the summer so I'd have to take it in fourth year. But I can't overload on classes. So then I need an extra year to graduate. That or I can try to take an arts and science course over the summer if any of them are being offered, and then take this course next year. But then I have to stay here for a summer. Or I can try to retake the course during my Professional year if I find a job near my University then. Or I can try to find an equivalent course offered at another university over a summer but that's practically impossible. It also means I can't take human nature. A course I really wanted to take -_- Or I can take an arts and science course over the summer and try my best to take the course I failed next year.
I... am very very stupid. This sort of thing happens too often. >.> I've got to start reading everything on syllabi. Test dates. % mark on every assignment/lab/test and to keep this information on my PDA and in my head. I've got to stop slacking off on other things too. It's not even a hard course given 30% assignments. QQ
On April 30 2012 05:10 Chef wrote: I dunno, Torte. You are not a bad guy, but everyone you got to read that first paper was not impressed. It didn't give me the impression you even knew how to write a paper. You can't complain about StarCraft or whatever keeping you busy either, because 'being proactive' is a matter of spending 2 minutes after the class talking to the prof. Matters such as how well you are doing in the class, the exact nature of an assignment etc are things that take 30 seconds to reply to. Heaven forbid, if you got warning signs in those 2 minutes you could go to her office hours for help.
The part about claiming you have a mental illness was inappropriate, we pretty much unanimously agreed, but if that is your usual output of work and your professors think you're a genius there is something seriously concerning with your faculty.
ratemyprofessor.com comments sound like typical intelligent-prof is liked by intelligent students, loathed by slackers and egoists alike. In my first year classes I'd always loved it when there would be a really dumb student with OPINIONS ABOUT STUFF who would get shot down by the prof. Now I realise that these students never actually learn, they just write angry reviews on ratemyprof.
I think for the first time in history, I agree with Chef
In my four years of college, I had some really really terrible professors. I had one professor for a business class (back when I still thought I had a chance of getting into the Business School), Management and Human Resources 300: Organizational Behavior. Literally all he did through lecture was shout buzz words at us. His explanations of things like management models were simplistic and vague, and at review sessions when students would ask him to further explain things; he would simply repeat the exact same simplistic and vague explanation from lecture. We had one lecture on "cutting the fat", which is of course about increasing organization efficiency. The lecture consisted of him bringing a steak into class, cutting the fat off of it, throwing the fat into the air, and kicking it into the corner (seriously not joking about this). Even stranger, the book we had (which was written by him) didn't seem at all to match course material.
Going into the first exam, I didn't think it would be so bad given that his lectures were simplistic and vague. Holy motherfucking shit was I wrong. The test was filled with in depth complicated questions of these business management models, things he never even mentioned in class were on there. There were also written questions giving specific situations asking how you would respond based on X management model. And there were a ton of these stupid management models.
I can't remember if there were 2 or 3 exams in the class, all I remember is that I did horribly on the first one. Like a CD or something. Even though the exam was stupid hard, all of the exam questions were answered in his rather thick book. When the final came, I buckled my ass down and studied. Hard. One of the few times in college that I actually did that. (lol) I ended up doing pretty well on the final, I think I got an AB or something, and ended up with like a B or a BC in the class. Not great, but still managed to pass.
The lesson here is, even with a horrendous profession; one who is insane, weird, and everything that comes out of his mouth was utterly useless; if you bust your ass you can still manage to do okay. Obviously everyone else in the class managed to pass, so clearly it wasn't impossible. Even assuming you were correct and she graded you more harshly that the other members of the class, do you really think she would take you from a C to an F? In my experience, faculty normally want their students to succeed, not the other way around. If you really feel like she graded you unfairly, by all means go through the process to have other faculty review your work. If anything, more feedback on what you did wrong/could have done better is always good; that's how we get better at things.
Believe me, I've been there. As I said before I failed a class where the TA could barely speak English, the book was horrible, and the professor spent half of lecture telling bullshit stories (like the time she was living in the Bahamas 20 years ago and she fell off her moped and her skirt got ripped off. Yeah, great, that's really helping me learn ). I get it, your first reaction seeing the grade is anger, after all she was a shitty professor. That's normal. But eventually you have to realize that ultimately your failing was your fault. No one else. My advice is to accept that and move on. It's unlikely challenging the grade will get it changed anyway.
Hm I know its already been asked but you should 100% post one of your papers on the board lol (sorry if you already did, couldn't find it)
I'd like to know what you mean by
"My papers were always the White Rabbit of Wonderland, obscurely running away from the actual point as if I need to say everything that needed to be said in order for you to get my point of view and yet to deny its validity is to question your own understanding of material as if you trust my judgement of the subject (an illusion of how I word paragraphs and thesis?)."
super super interested xD
From your posts that i've read (admittedly, two :p), it certainly doesn't come off that way, you seem fairly eloquent and concise.
On April 30 2012 07:06 Half wrote: Hm I know its already been asked but you should 100% post one of your papers on the board lol (sorry if you already did, couldn't find it)
"My papers were always the White Rabbit of Wonderland, obscurely running away from the actual point as if I need to say everything that needed to be said in order for you to get my point of view and yet to deny its validity is to question your own understanding of material as if you trust my judgement of the subject (an illusion of how I word paragraphs and thesis?)."
super super interested xD
From your posts that i've read (admittedly, two :p), it certainly doesn't come off that way, you seem fairly eloquent and concise.
On April 30 2012 07:06 Half wrote: Hm I know its already been asked but you should 100% post one of your papers on the board lol (sorry if you already did, couldn't find it)
I'd like to know what you mean by
"My papers were always the White Rabbit of Wonderland, obscurely running away from the actual point as if I need to say everything that needed to be said in order for you to get my point of view and yet to deny its validity is to question your own understanding of material as if you trust my judgement of the subject (an illusion of how I word paragraphs and thesis?)."
super super interested xD
From your posts that i've read (admittedly, two :p), it certainly doesn't come off that way, you seem fairly eloquent and concise.
On April 28 2012 10:04 ninjafetus wrote: Do you have any more info on your grade breakdown? Specifically what you got in each category? You have a right to know what grades you got on the different categories. Ask her. She's bound to the syllabus as much as you are.
With rewriting papers multiple times, nagging for clarification, etc. you should (hopefully) have a high grade for participation. If not, ask her what her judging criteria was. Ask if other students were judged on the same criteria. Let's even assume you have a lower grade... it probably shouldn't go below 50% if you did that much.
Even if you got 5/10% on participation, 20/30 on the research paper and take home exam, SKIPPED the seminar, and got 10/20 on the film review, you should have a D in the class by her scale.
For your appeal, you need to GET ORGANIZED. Records of everything!
Do you have email records, any other info where you've recorded that you asked for clarification on things? Has she ever handed back graded work? Has she ever given indication on how she judges the categories? How did other students do in the class? If you have some friends in the class, maybe you can dig up evidence that the teacher is judging inconsistently. Not necessarily because of bias, but because of laziness or just "winging it" for the grade.
SHOW that you made an effort. SHOW that you turned in work. I have a feeling that she has a 0 in some category that's unjustified (maybe she lost something, it happens!). Because otherwise I have no idea how you could do so bad to get a 0 unless her grading is extremely harsh.
If she is missing records, then dispute that you're punished because of it. If she can, and she just grades that harshly, well... you probably should have been more tenacious getting feedback. But usually harsh grades have to be justified by some concrete reasoning. If she can't justify her grading, and never gave stuff back, and is inconsistent, you can probably show you were a victim.
Good luck.
No, there is no more about the grade breakdown or how she really corrects them. The syllabus is not as relevant as it was before because some of the things on there were never graded or used, she changed it a little I think due to time.
Records of emails: yes No other record of me asking to clarify things, just three copies of work with corrected shit on it. She's never handed back graded work, no indication on how she judges the categories, maybe verbally. I have the grade spread if you want it, I'm the only one that failed, which is 100% surprising.
My only thought right now is that I handed in the work for the assignment at 5PM of the day it was due. But she never specified what time it was due and thus that shouldn't be an issue. Plus, I saw a lot of other papers were handed in as well at the same time, so she must have not picked them up.
Thanks for the tips.
Yeah, absolutely check to see if that assignment was counted. If not, find out why. If others who turned it in at the same time were accepted, you have something you can fight with.
Also, if she changed the syllabus, was a new scale given? Was it clear? I don't know about your university, but at the one I taught at, the syllabus was a big deal. You had to follow the grading scale you gave, or give very clear notification of the change. The reason for this is that it makes the grades objective, and a teacher can't just decide they "don't like you" at the end of the semester and fail you.
FIRST THING TO DO: Request all your grades from the teacher. Ask for your whole personal gradebook. She should have this. Tell her you're surprised at the failure and want to make sure something didn't get missed, or forgotten to put in the book. Also, check your university policies before this conversation... she probably HAS to give you the grades.
If she doesn't give it, then GO THE THE DEPT HEAD and tell them the same thing. Tell them that looking at the worse-case-scenario for the breakdown on the syllabus, you have no idea how you failed, and that the teacher is refusing to give you your grades.
Your grades have to be justifiable. It's a huge problem for the department if they aren't. Get this info.
I like that in America you can just complain if your professor flunks you.
In this case, your teacher sounds like a cunt, but I don't understand why you think it's her fault.
Obviously she tried to correct you, maybe your first 2 assignments (both the 12 pages one and the 4 page one) were wrong or w/e.
To understand why I am saying this (which is basically my reason as to why should just accept it and move on), I want you to hear what others go through.
I choose my bachelor in business administration to have an IT toning. I read about the classes, I read about the content, I think, hey that sounds good. First class, professor speaks ONLY ENGLISH. No mention of this, ANYWHERE, also, he speaks bad English. Me, being raised on the internet thinks, well, as long as he speaks just somewhat understandable, he doesn't. So here I am, new class, doesn't understand anything my professor says. So even though he has 3 masters and a Ph.D, I get squat from his lectures. Good luck taking an ORAL exam with that guy..
Also, reading your posts in this blog it seems like you are much like w/e I can pass this class, I just think I am being treated unfair, life is a lot like Teamliquid.net (Your definition of fair hold no value to us)
TL:DR: Get over it, get moving and GL in your future endeavours, in SC2 and real life.
i was in a similar situation a couple of years back. i didn't fail, but as a result of 0 feedback and informal instructions i received a horrible grade on a paper worth 50% of a grade. worst of all, i ended up getting badmouthed to just about every high level administrator at the school for being lazy, immature, and disrespectful.
i let it slide. apologized when given the opportunity, and fought hard to show that i held no grudge. if you can absorb the blow, i say absorb and plan on being farther ahead of the game next time.
my only other advice is be as nice as possible to the teacher you dislike.
On May 01 2012 05:33 Grovbolle wrote: I like that in America you can just complain if your professor flunks you.
This isn't an America issue and more than your IT class was a Denmark issue. No need to be rude.
Where I taught (in America), yes, you could "just complain" but usually you got laughed out of the office. But this might not be an entitlement issue. The student might be legitimately correct in this case. And that's why I'm giving advice. It doesn't hurt me to to give the benefit of the doubt, ESPECIALLY since I've seen things like simple gradebook mistakes have big end-of-semester results (like failing or not failing!). In the end, yes, they're students, but they're also customers, and they deserve to be treated fairly. If not, they are not getting what they paid for, and it reflects badly on the school.
Of course, if they don't have a legitimate issue, and their work was worthless the whole semester, I hope their appeal fails! But I'd rather assume the best and be wrong than assume the worst and not help someone who's a victim. Sure, life isn't fair, but we can still try our best to get what we deserve.
On April 28 2012 06:00 Torte de Lini wrote: I'm the only one to have failed my class...
Sad to say, it's probably all on you. Having taught at the tertiary level in a number of institutions, I can say it's pretty troublesome to fail people. You have a whole bunch of paperwork presentations to do in order to justify this person failing, not to mention having to put them through a retake of the module or remedial classes or whatever it is that needs to be done. If the prof is bad in the sense that they are incompetent or simply don't care, you would typically get a 'C'. This is the grade that is by far easier to fit into the prescribed bell curve and results in no extra overhead.
This means either your paper totally missed the point, was just plain wrong, or she simply hates your guts. All of this can be solved simply by communication. Not hostile communication ala demanding a grade, but genuinely trying to understand how she thinks and where she's coming from. This is much the same in working life. You always meet with more success giving people what they want, rather than what is clearly right or superior in your mind. Of course, they will never tell you exactly what they want because most of the time, they have no freaking idea what that is either. (Can't make things too easy)
By going through the "channels", you might get what you want, but if you simply connect with people and learn to understand them better, the path thereafter will be much smoother and may even yield unexpected benefits.
I didn't know that part [the extra steps to fail me]. I might just ask her why I failed, but I don't want her lamblasting me.
That's honestly the only reasonable thing you wrote in the entire thread. You want to present your case and yet dont even know why you failed....
Pretty tough situation. I can kind of understand the lack of general guidelines and the funky syllabus if it was being treated as a grad class (I don't know if you have taken any before but generally they consist of whatever the professor feels like discussing at the time). That said, it is unusual for a professor to fail a person in a grad course unless they feel you really have a poor understanding of the topics or blow off attending the class.
It's hard to provide any advice without knowing a lot more about the situation, but it sounds to me like the teacher didn't feel that you were relating your writing/research to what was being discussed in class. It also sounds like you didn't get pre-approval of your research topic before turning in the paper the first time, which would have helped both of you become less frustrated with the project.
It really sucks that the teacher failed you for the class, but like you realized at the end you should be more proactive in a situation where you might fail a class as it is otherwise taken as a lack of effort (even though it sounds like you put reasonable effort into the project).
If the teacher is available, I would go to talk to her to find out what went wrong. Grading is actually really stressful for many teachers and I'm sure she did not want to fail you for the course. Now that it is over it will be easier to talk with her about what you could have done better (she probably has very specific reasons for giving a failing grade).
All the niceties aside, if this is a professor that is involved in your graduation (meaning you may be taking another course from her or she might review a thesis by you later on) you should take her assumption that you might have a mental illness very seriously (it means she has a poor opinion of your performance and is looking for a way to justify it). I had a professor in grad school accuse me of doing drugs (even though I've only had alcohol fewer than 20 times in my life and never done any other drugs) and this accusation went all the way up to the head of my department without my knowledge. Nothing good ever came of it. Make sure the department stands behind you on this issue and things will work themselves out.
If a professor asks you if you have mental illness that many times, I think you should report it to the Dean of whatever at your school. This teacher seems highly unreasonable.
So I saw my advisor. He's good friends with Yael Glick and he said maybe she asked out of worry or interest (which I assure you, she did not). Then he said not to interpret it too far and file a grade re-evaluation about it.
He also asked inquisitively if I did have a mental illness.
P.S: I know he's good friends with her because I had two teachers confirm it.
P.S.S: Done with this blog entry, just gonna handle it on my own. Thanks for all criticisms and suggestions.
I agree with the earlier sentiment that you claim a decent portion of the "fault" while simultaneously naming this blog "My professor failed me." However, in the next breath, I have a story. I have failed a 400 level class in my major before. I was indeed the only failure. But that was all on me, I sucked at it and didn't put in a lot of effort (passed it the next year) BUT that is not my story. But now this is: my girlfriend's brother in law took a calc class last quarter at a college. Now this guy may a brute, but he's fucking smart. A's and A-'s in everything. But his personality is controversial to put it lightly, but is sincere and respectful of "authority" and elders. Anyway, he managed to fail the class, but logged inconsistencies in grading, as well as instances where he would go to get help from the professor (one thing he does in every class) but would be met with no real help and an occasional "stealth" insult. Now this is calculus. There IS right and wrong. So this was easy for him to challenge. After a whole 1 day of official review by the dean, the prof was punished, the student passed, and he was given a full refund for the course. Wow. Anyway, the point of my story is that there is still lots of bullshit out there and it's not impossible that a professor "has it out for you."
Though this coincides with another issue brought up earlier: it is a bitch to fail students, even with emotional motivation. I've had dozens of professors that I could tell did not like me at all, AT ALL, wanted me to fuck off and all that, but kept their grading unbiased (for me) and didn't fail me. My last prof didn't respect me as a human being ffs, but I still got my B. But boy just talking to him he made me feel like a criminal I've bombed a few classes (meaning I withdrew them), but usually out of my lack of effort or inability to balance school with other aspects of my life. I'm trying to say that most emotionally stable professsors would not punish themselves by failing a student they hated only to have them return for the same course the next year. I have no doubt this prof did not respect you or your beliefs, but not to the point where you were failed out of spite. Maybe your papers were really bad in comparison to your peers. I learned the hard way not to dick around in upper-division courses (no SC, no partying, no exceptions, or else I was sunk).
EPT
). I get it, your first reaction seeing the grade is anger, after all she was a shitty professor. That's normal. But eventually you have to realize that ultimately your failing was your fault. No one else. My advice is to accept that and move on. It's unlikely challenging the grade will get it changed anyway.
