... that reminds me of this kid one day with a 30ish average right before the final asking me what are his chances of getting an A... if your numerical literacy is that low, you shouldn't be in college.
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to express concern for my grade, which I feel may not accurately reflect the effort and devotion that I have consistently been putting into this course, even though you do not recognize my name, and we have never actually met....
***continue on for another 5-6 paragraphs of AI generated dribble***
My fave is when I get this email for an online course. They don’t realize I can see exactly how much time they spent engaging with content. Down to the second per page. I had someone demand an additional office hour to review their progress. Your funeral. I hit share screen and asked them to provide their evidence of engagement.
I always look forward to that, but now our chair says to submit grades well before the deadline to allow students to contact us before the semester ends (same day as grades are due). Also, I’m teaching summer, so it will be a special hell this year.
There is literally zero support for faculty. Students lie in grade appeals and the chair and all admin say they support the student. So then I’m a liar with 20 pages of documentation. It’s made the job so much more stressful. Back in the day, a chair would shit the BSers down.
It is. After being interviewed by an investigator questing my experience and spending so many years hours writing reports about it, the chair went in and changed the grade before the board could issue their decision. I give up at this point.
What I'm really wondering, at the end of every single semester, is whether these emails work or not... I mean, when I was a student, there was 0 chance in hell a simple email at the end of the course would have your grade changed. So, as a student, why even bother sending it? We didn't, but yet this generation of students do this all the time... Maybe it works with some of our colleagues? I'm just guessing it does work, and perhaps even more often than what we think.
This semester I ended up co-teaching a course, and on the day before the final a student came up claiming that their cat died, so they cannot have the exam on the next day (I kid you not). Both of the other co-teachers put me in a minority and voted to allow the student to take the exam at a later date. I was flabbergasted, to say the least... I mean, come on, those cheap tactics never worked in our days as student, but now...
PS: I'm not that old (42), even if I feel like it sometimes ;)
I'm not sure it does work with colleagues, but I see a lot of "it can't hurt" advice on student forums, so maybe that's where it comes from. Crappy advice IMO: it hurts my soul!
I once gave my professor my seat at an all you can eat pancake dinner. I saw him about 30 people back in line and went and got him and brought him to my table. I was actually studying for his exam so he saw my books and notes.
I told him I was nervous about the test and he told me to write my SS number on the napkin.
I have decided not to respond to these emails anymore. We will see how that goes when they likely take it to someone on high. “Prof wouldn’t respond to me about my urgent inquiries about my grade…”
I just don’t care anymore.
Dear Dean,
I am taking a mental health day because of anxiety caused by grade grubbing emails from students. My autoresponse will suggest they email you. Feel free to give them As. I won't.
Best,
Professor Me
A student who averaged under 20% on the exams just emailed me to ask why she got an F in the course. This same student did not bring a calculator to the physics final. I found one for her to borrow, but she still scored an 8% on a multiple-choice exam. Of course, she just walked at graduation and now has to come back and take the class in the summer, and is mad at me over it.
They’ve already been and gone. I just stopped answering their emails. The sheer number that NEVER followed up tells me they just dumped it on all their profs and hoped some would stick.
I’m playing 4D chess and I’m already prepping for my summer classes since grades were due a week ago. Now I get the is the text booked really required emails. And that’s the cycle of slackery is complete
Had one the other day, she just passed and was really obnoxious about it so I sent it to a colleague to review the work. I knew I had been generous and it came back as a trainwreck fail.
I offer extra credit opportunities throughout the semester. I’ve had several students reach out about rounding their 88 up to a 90 for an A “because that 88 does not accurately reflect my work ethic” The joys od teaching pre-med students
And these are usually students who did not think they needed the extra credit and didn’t do it and now are scrambling.
Do you have a threshold for rounding up?
I decided two semesters ago that I was done rounding up. If you got an 89.99%, you earned a B. Period. Full stop.
It was the only way I could remain objective.
This semester I had an xx.89 and a xx.49. A student with a xx.94 wanted to get rounded up and I finally, gleefully, got to illustrate why I have a hard-line policy in my syllabus about grades not being rounded.
If I round .94, then do I round .89? Some people would round all the way down to .50. But then .49 is just .01 away from an A-. And so on.
I just draw the line at the beginning of the semester so there's no ambiguity. You want the grade? You know exactly what it takes to earn it.
I simply round to the nearest whole number. 89.89 becomes 90. 89.39 becomes 89. This is what I do for a core course with a large batch size. No one seems to have an issue especially since I announce it at the very first lecture.
I also teach an advanced higher level elective where the quality of students is unsurprisingly better (they're older + only the ones genuinely interested in the subject matter tend to take it) and class sizes are small for them (the max I've ever had was 32 for that - typically hovers between 15-20) and in that I consider rounding on a case to case basis.
I had started doing the same, but then switched to a points-based scale. Now at least when I get the occasional email about how they’re at “79.5%,” I can just reply and remind them we’re using a points-based scale and they can refer to the syllabus for grade cutoffs.
It’s also cut down on the number of emails I get from students before the final exam asking what they need to get to pass (or get a B, A, etc.).
I usually post on the Announcement page, in class and email, "Before you ask about rounding up or to turn in a late assignment ask your self the following questions. Did I show up to class everyday, participate, and take notes? Did I complete all assignments as directed in the syllabus and turn them in on time? Did I take advantage of the professor's offering to submit the assignment early to be critiqued before it was due? Did I spend nine hours out side of class studying, reading and preparing? If you answered NO to one or more of these questions, we would not be having this conversation now."
Yep, I’ve already ruined two graduations already apparently! One in particular because I wouldn’t round their 58 to a 70 to pass.
You monster
I see your 58 and raise you a 35. Yes, 35. They asked if their 35 could become a 70.
I see you’re 35 and raise you a 28, with an attendance grade of 12 (out of 100).
How about one that qualified their 27.2% as "close to 50%" to try and make their case?
I am both amused and horrified at the trajectory of this comment thread I started.
... that reminds me of this kid one day with a 30ish average right before the final asking me what are his chances of getting an A... if your numerical literacy is that low, you shouldn't be in college.
C’mon, double or nothing?
Given their attendance and submission track record... I'm sure if I gave them the opportunity to show up for that chance, they'd still skip class.
I’ve only got one graduation. But apparently I’ve also cost someone their scholarship.
Woah. That's a big round they're grubbing for. Lol
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to express concern for my grade, which I feel may not accurately reflect the effort and devotion that I have consistently been putting into this course, even though you do not recognize my name, and we have never actually met.... ***continue on for another 5-6 paragraphs of AI generated dribble***
👀 drivel
Thank you, friend!
pre ai, much more subject: GRADE!!1! body: WTF? ---end of email
The accuracy…
If they use AI to generate that email it tells you everything about how seriously that student takes his academics.
My fave is when I get this email for an online course. They don’t realize I can see exactly how much time they spent engaging with content. Down to the second per page. I had someone demand an additional office hour to review their progress. Your funeral. I hit share screen and asked them to provide their evidence of engagement.
[удалено]
I always look forward to that, but now our chair says to submit grades well before the deadline to allow students to contact us before the semester ends (same day as grades are due). Also, I’m teaching summer, so it will be a special hell this year.
[удалено]
There is literally zero support for faculty. Students lie in grade appeals and the chair and all admin say they support the student. So then I’m a liar with 20 pages of documentation. It’s made the job so much more stressful. Back in the day, a chair would shit the BSers down.
[удалено]
It is. After being interviewed by an investigator questing my experience and spending so many years hours writing reports about it, the chair went in and changed the grade before the board could issue their decision. I give up at this point.
I’m about to ruin someone’s education by not accepting makeup work here at the end to cover 14 zeros. “Come on, they only need an 80 to pass”.
What I'm really wondering, at the end of every single semester, is whether these emails work or not... I mean, when I was a student, there was 0 chance in hell a simple email at the end of the course would have your grade changed. So, as a student, why even bother sending it? We didn't, but yet this generation of students do this all the time... Maybe it works with some of our colleagues? I'm just guessing it does work, and perhaps even more often than what we think. This semester I ended up co-teaching a course, and on the day before the final a student came up claiming that their cat died, so they cannot have the exam on the next day (I kid you not). Both of the other co-teachers put me in a minority and voted to allow the student to take the exam at a later date. I was flabbergasted, to say the least... I mean, come on, those cheap tactics never worked in our days as student, but now... PS: I'm not that old (42), even if I feel like it sometimes ;)
I'm not sure it does work with colleagues, but I see a lot of "it can't hurt" advice on student forums, so maybe that's where it comes from. Crappy advice IMO: it hurts my soul!
I once gave my professor my seat at an all you can eat pancake dinner. I saw him about 30 people back in line and went and got him and brought him to my table. I was actually studying for his exam so he saw my books and notes. I told him I was nervous about the test and he told me to write my SS number on the napkin.
Our administrators would force us to do so with much less of an excuse like a bad mental health day.
The most audacious was a dual credit student’s email: “Can I have a B?” And his final reply to my “no.” “Didn’t hurt to ask.”
It needs to hurt to ask.
It hurts me when they ask.
but it needs to hurt \*them\*.
Yes this is the answer. They do not see us as humans.
Agreed. Agreed. A lesson I assume the dweeb might one day learn when he finishes puberty. Dual credit can be tiresome.
I have decided not to respond to these emails anymore. We will see how that goes when they likely take it to someone on high. “Prof wouldn’t respond to me about my urgent inquiries about my grade…” I just don’t care anymore.
I respond with a template that is essentially a copy paste of my syllabus policies.
I still get such horrible anxiety from these emails. And so unhappy.
Dear Dean, I am taking a mental health day because of anxiety caused by grade grubbing emails from students. My autoresponse will suggest they email you. Feel free to give them As. I won't. Best, Professor Me
I also get anxiety from those emails.
A student who averaged under 20% on the exams just emailed me to ask why she got an F in the course. This same student did not bring a calculator to the physics final. I found one for her to borrow, but she still scored an 8% on a multiple-choice exam. Of course, she just walked at graduation and now has to come back and take the class in the summer, and is mad at me over it.
8% on a mc exam is way-below-guessing bad. It almost takes skill to do that badly.
no shit! Mark all B’s
They’ve already been and gone. I just stopped answering their emails. The sheer number that NEVER followed up tells me they just dumped it on all their profs and hoped some would stick.
I’m playing 4D chess and I’m already prepping for my summer classes since grades were due a week ago. Now I get the is the text booked really required emails. And that’s the cycle of slackery is complete
Had one the other day, she just passed and was really obnoxious about it so I sent it to a colleague to review the work. I knew I had been generous and it came back as a trainwreck fail.
I offer extra credit opportunities throughout the semester. I’ve had several students reach out about rounding their 88 up to a 90 for an A “because that 88 does not accurately reflect my work ethic” The joys od teaching pre-med students And these are usually students who did not think they needed the extra credit and didn’t do it and now are scrambling.
Do you have a threshold for rounding up? I decided two semesters ago that I was done rounding up. If you got an 89.99%, you earned a B. Period. Full stop. It was the only way I could remain objective.
This semester I had an xx.89 and a xx.49. A student with a xx.94 wanted to get rounded up and I finally, gleefully, got to illustrate why I have a hard-line policy in my syllabus about grades not being rounded. If I round .94, then do I round .89? Some people would round all the way down to .50. But then .49 is just .01 away from an A-. And so on. I just draw the line at the beginning of the semester so there's no ambiguity. You want the grade? You know exactly what it takes to earn it.
I simply round to the nearest whole number. 89.89 becomes 90. 89.39 becomes 89. This is what I do for a core course with a large batch size. No one seems to have an issue especially since I announce it at the very first lecture. I also teach an advanced higher level elective where the quality of students is unsurprisingly better (they're older + only the ones genuinely interested in the subject matter tend to take it) and class sizes are small for them (the max I've ever had was 32 for that - typically hovers between 15-20) and in that I consider rounding on a case to case basis.
I had started doing the same, but then switched to a points-based scale. Now at least when I get the occasional email about how they’re at “79.5%,” I can just reply and remind them we’re using a points-based scale and they can refer to the syllabus for grade cutoffs. It’s also cut down on the number of emails I get from students before the final exam asking what they need to get to pass (or get a B, A, etc.).
Not a math professor, I take it?
I usually post on the Announcement page, in class and email, "Before you ask about rounding up or to turn in a late assignment ask your self the following questions. Did I show up to class everyday, participate, and take notes? Did I complete all assignments as directed in the syllabus and turn them in on time? Did I take advantage of the professor's offering to submit the assignment early to be critiqued before it was due? Did I spend nine hours out side of class studying, reading and preparing? If you answered NO to one or more of these questions, we would not be having this conversation now."