Korean Job Discussion Forums

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Anyone else get this crap?

I get as my complainers who are upset they got an "A" instead of an "A+" as I do people who got a very low score, and want something better.

One kid wrote me questioning my decision, and wants to know how many A's I gave out in his class. Like it's any of his damn business. He did a very good job in my writing class, but he always wrote 10 pages when I needed 2. I told the class over and over again that a quality 2-page paper is better than a mediocre 3 page paper.

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Tell 'em to shove it. It's the "western" way... or "american" "canadian" etc....

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

Depending on school policy, it could be his--and every other student's--business. Some places actually have a distribution matrix for numbers of A+ and A grades permitted per class. Personally, I think such a policy is a load of manure, but apparently it has some kind of merit to it.

The best defense, I guess, is to clearly describe the grading policy for your class in the written syllabus to be delivered to each student during the first session of each term. If your school does not have the above policy, include in the syllabus the following statement:

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Our uni has a standard grading pattern, and the students know it, but they tend to "unlock it" in the computer for certain classes. This means I am allowed to give as many A's/B's/etc., as I like. I gave a few more A's than I normally would, because of this.

I'm pretty picky about giving A+ grades, though. I had a class of 22. If memory serves, I gave four A's, and three A+ grades. So 7 out of 22 students were in the A to A+ range.

We had several students from other universities take courses with us this semester. One girl was the most annoying. The very first day, she made it a point to tell me that she needed a good grade in the class, or it would be a waste of her time. She said it to me as if she expected me to give her a good grade. I tried not to chew her out, and simply said, "Then you need to earn it." When she got her score at midterm, she was upset, and reminded me that she wouldn't have bothered taking my class if she had known she couldn't get a "good score." She finished with a B+, and wrote a complaint to me that she would never have taken my class if she knew she was going to get that for a grade.

Give me a break, girl.

We had a Korean professor who would announce at the beginning of the semester, "If you challenge your grade, and have a good reason, I may help you. If you don't have a good reason, I will drop your grade 1/2 step."

I think I'm going to adopt the same policy.

wesharris · Joined: 10 Oct 2008

Just drop them a grade level if they complain. You gave me a B teacher. Now it's a C sorry.
Stops complaining quickly probably.
Wootooo

-=-
Wes

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

hellofaniceguy · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: On your computer screen!

I'm going to be a wise ass and say this.....real teachers don't give grades....students earn them. And that's the way it should be.....you earned an "A" not an "A+."

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

hellof, I really want that corvette!

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

If you can't document why the student got the grade, you're gonna get a lot of whining. I only get complaints and only change grades when I've been lax in giving students data on their grades. It motivates me to be caught up on grading at all times.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

jackson7 · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Kim Jong Il's Future Fireball

I get the same complaints, but this past term I did a better job of laying out my expectations in a syllabus written in English AND Korean, as well as detailed documentation. None of my A+ seekers were able to ask for an increase in their grades IN ENGLISH, I should note.

All the undeserved got the gifted-Bs and A-s that is in line with Korean grading "curves," so were quiet, and the stubborn plus-seekers were met with a copy of the syllabus and a, "Did you do ALL of this?"

sobriquet · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Location: Nakatomi Plaza

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Milwaukiedave · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Location: Goseong

I have gotten emails after posting grades as well and find them utterly disgusting. This happened after my Fall term classes in December. Since then, I have taught a Winter break class and just posted grades this week for that class and haven't received a complaint (knock on wood). I was firm with them and told them that I didn't want to get any emails complaining about grades.

The policy for our school is no more then 75% A+, Ao and B+ in the department as a whole.