Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tiger Beer]

Well, the story goes that you shouldn't 'fail' them as then they might not be able to graduate if they don't have the minimum credits required.

Anyways.. i have one particular class.. with a senior.. she attends all the classes and she does all the homework assignments.. except she does them poorly.. and her exam score was the lowest in the class. If she were in my freshman classes, i'd fail her.

I'm also trying to keep in mind that her English abilities are quite low.. so its hard to punish her entirely on that as she is attending and doing the assigments (even if quite poorly).

There is also the possibility of a 'D'.. but from some sources, I've heard a 'D' is actually worse than a 'F'.

Anyways.. so what would you give? and why?

I already have something in mind.. but interested in others different perspectives and how others distribute grades in these types of situation.

[Lemonade]

Give her what she earned. If she earned a D, then give her a D. I don't see the point of giving an F if she earned a D. That doesn't make any sense. She can always take the class over again for a better grade. In the case that the student has earned an F and she is close to a D, you might ask her to do extra credit to earn the D. I know of professors who give mercenary Ds just so the student doesn't have to take the class again and more importantly, so we don't have to put another professor through the same problem. I have some students (real losers) who get all excited when they get a D, believe it or NOT. All they want to do is pass and they aren't concerned about their grade.

[ontheway]

I agree. Give her what she earned: an F.

[desultude]

What did she earn?

The answer, to me, is not how well she did compared to other students who may have arrived to the course with a higher level, but, based on her efforts and advancement, what did she earn?

I take effort and improvement into account, as I have seniors from the English Department take courses in my department (American Studies) so they can get the easy A. Compared to non-English majors, they shine. Should the grade for my course reward them for what they learned in other courses?

There is not an easy answer to this, but, if a student attends, does the work, and improves, I would give a C.

[jacl]

I would give a C for effort. D is for low attendance and at least something useful learned. F is for outright stupidity. After all, the student is paying the tuition. Making a complete mockery out of it all is an F. I mean, really. D is 50%. C is 60%.

[inkoreaforgood]

C for effort as well. English will always remain beyond the reaches of some students. Considering how often the average student will give up in the face of mild difficulty, I'd say that a strong effort like hers does not deserve to be shat upon. She worked hard but could not manage to lift that load.

[Woland]

Desultude's right that there's not an easy answer to this because there are values in conflict here. On the one hand, we wish to maintain standards and integrity in our evaluation of student performance. On the other hand, we don't want to cause possible negative consequences to a student who has shown diligence and effort at their level of ability, which may be below the intended level of the class.

Because this student is a senior, will giving her an F result in her not graduating, perhaps not being able to move on to a job or further eduㅊㅁtion? Is that a proportional consequence? The answer to that depends on a lot of stuff that only TB knows - is the student an English major? has she made an effort in the class (you've answered yes), has she been a positive influence on the class (or at least, not a negative one)?...

Since we're talking about a senior here, the question of a D being worse than an F because it wouldn't allow her to re-take the class and get a better grade is probably moot. So, what would the consequences of a D as opposed to a C be? I don't know that; again it would depend on stuff that TB knows. I would think again about the proportionality of consequences in relation to the student's actions (the question, what did she earn?) and make my decision based on that.

As an aside to all of this, I think one thing that frustrates many of us (I know this frustrated me when I taught English in a university here) is how the system here isn't structured (with prerequisites and the like) to protect us from situations like the one TB describes. It also doesn't protect students from ending up in classes that are above their heads and where they may not learn as much as they can. If we're really going to complain about anything, it's this curriculum issue that should be our target.

[Lemonade]

[jacl]

Unearned B's or higher are more serious since these types of marks qualifiy the student for higher studies.

[Lemonade]

[jacl]

[Percy Nickets]

[swade]

I took a 4 credit Bio class once. My grades were probably the worst in the class. I spoke to the professor and told him that I was having problems. I was always in class and did my best with each assignment. At the end, I got a C in the class. I think if the professor had graded me solely on my test scores, I would have gotten a D or an F. But, I know he saw how hard I tried.

Give her a C, not because she is the best student but because she tried her best. It wouldn�t help her as much as it could hurt her.

[Lemonade]

[Lemonade]