Foo - Minor Rant: How Can you Lose 25 points on a term research paper?

For being too technical and in depth?

Yeah, I kid you not! I got gigged for 25 points on a research paper for Oceanography on Freshwater Fish Parasitic Diseases. That was my assigned topic. I approached it from an Epidemiological perspective, utilizing study resources from well documented studies in SE Asia, The US, and Africa, and even tied it up neatly with long term effect of undiagnosed parasitic infections in US immigrants. Blahhhhrg!:notamused:

Still a very solid A, but I really feel like I got gigged just for the sake of getting gigged for points. :(

Boo for gigging points just to gig points!

When I kept tropical fish they would sometimes get Ichthyophthirius multifilis.

I should clarify, the paper was on human health risks associated with freshwater fish parasites (Tapeworms and Flukes) and consumption of raw fish.

By the way, the definition of irony......going out several times for Sushi and Sashimi during the process of researching and writing this paper.

You should have waited to post this until after you give Luddite the go-ahead with her paper.

did ya talk to the teacher?

That makes no sense, Tom. +1 to cohophysh. I'd find out exactly what was done wrong. Make sure it's precise and not vague at all.

For being too technical and in depth?

Yeah, I kid you not! I got gigged for 25 points on a research paper for Oceanography on Freshwater Fish Parasitic Diseases. That was my assigned topic. I approached it from an Epidemiological perspective, utilizing study resources from well documented studies in SE Asia, The US, and Africa, and even tied it up neatly with long term effect of undiagnosed parasitic infections in US immigrants. Blahhhhrg!:notamused:

Still a very solid A, but I really feel like I got gigged just for the sake of getting gigged for points. :(

what did they say they gigged you for?

If you're adamant on the point loss, consult the professor. They'll either fold like a crappy lawn chair or give you a good case of BS. Either way, you'll at least have closure on it.

Three questions:
- How do you get an A with 25 points off?
- Was "too technical and in-depth" the actual comment explaining the point deductions?
- Can you appeal?

And two conditions under which it might be justified:
- "Too technical" is code for "badly written" (unlikely, I'm thinking)
- You went way over a word limit (even in the case of an excellent paper, it could be argued that you did not fulfill the requirements of the assignment)

Three questions:
- How do you get an A with 25 points off?
- Was "too technical and in-depth" the actual comment explaining the point deductions?
- Can you appeal?

And two conditions under which it might be justified:
- "Too technical" is code for "badly written" (unlikely, I'm thinking)
- You went way over a word limit (even in the case of an excellent paper, it could be argued that you did not fulfill the requirements of the assignment)

I was inside the word limit, no issues, there. I lost 25 points out of 300 possible for the paper. I know, I'm a grade grubber. ;) I didn't lose any points on the structure or grammar of the paper. It was a grade by committee from the TA's, though, and one of them hates to give perfect scores, period. He was the one that said it was too technical.

I was inside the word limit, no issues, there. I lost 25 points out of 300 possible for the paper. I know, I'm a grade grubber. ;) I didn't lose any points on the structure or grammar of the paper. It was a grade by committee from the TA's, though, and one of them hates to give perfect scores, period. He was the one that said it was too technical.

Appeal that! If it's perfect, it's perfect, regardless of who doesn't like to give out perfect scores.

Man, if I got an A on the Evil Anth Assignment due this week, I'd kiss your cat.

it was the russian judge

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569670,00.html?test=latestnews

My math professor is a jerk and will mark points off for doing extra work, which I find ridiculous.

My math professor is a jerk and will mark points off for doing extra work, which I find ridiculous.

Weird.

May seem a bit inappropriate at the moment, but the first thing that came to mind:

http://www.last.fm/music/Johnny+Cash/_/Don't+Go+Near+the+Water

I'd ask about it Tom. Just so that you will satisfied with knowing and so they know that you are genuinely concerned. Perhaps some kind of better conclusion can come out of this.

Oh and congrats on the A

I was inside the word limit, no issues, there. I lost 25 points out of 300 possible for the paper. I know, I'm a grade grubber. ;) I didn't lose any points on the structure or grammar of the paper. It was a grade by committee from the TA's, though, and one of them hates to give perfect scores, period. He was the one that said it was too technical.

That's silly! Definitely appeal.

i think professors get bored and decide to use students as their amusement objects... :notamused:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569670,00.html?test=latestnews

Oh geeze. If the first impression I got is right, that's such a terrible way to kill oneself...attempting to lay the guilt for one's troubles on a another person by doing the deed in front of them.

My wife's students complain to her about grades all the time. She always says "Well, my office door is always open if you want to talk about it." They never show up.

Tom, show up.

I should clarify, the paper was on human health risks associated with freshwater fish parasites (Tapeworms and Flukes) and consumption of raw fish.

By the way, the definition of irony......going out several times for Sushi and Sashimi during the process of researching and writing this paper.

You need to invite your prof out for some sushi.....maybe some puffer fish for him :innocent:

hang on a second. let's take a break from the pity party.

tom gets an A and is whinging? oh please stop. you're breaking my heart!

Sometimes, while a report may contain accurate information, it may convey the information in a manner that makes it a challenge for some readers to wrap one's head around. Writing to one's audience is sometimes a bit of a crap shoot. You don't want to talk down to them, but you also don't want to presume they understand things that they don't. Possibly you aimed a little high, or a little low with the paper.

Sometimes, while a report may contain accurate information, it may convey the information in a manner that makes it a challenge for some readers to wrap one's head around. Writing to one's audience is sometimes a bit of a crap shoot. You don't want to talk down to them, but you also don't want to presume they understand things that they don't. Possibly you aimed a little high, or a little low with the paper.

I wrote the paper, assuming an educated and knowledgeable reader, in form of a professor and Graduate Student TA Grading committee.

I'll be talking to the professor tomorrow, not so much because I am trying to crank up the points, but because if I did miss something I want to improve on it the next time.

I was inside the word limit, no issues, there. I lost 25 points out of 300 possible for the paper. I know, I'm a grade grubber. ;) I didn't lose any points on the structure or grammar of the paper. It was a grade by committee from the TA's, though, and one of them hates to give perfect scores, period. He was the one that said it was too technical.

It sounds like some TA is wagging his wang around just to prove that he has one.

You deserve the score you earned, not some made up score because the TA doesn't believe in perfect scores. Go in there with the requirements of the paper and demand that you hear specifics about what you could improve upon. Use those words, "improve upon." Then, when you are told you are too technical, ask specifically where and how you could correct it.

If the TA cannot offer any constructive feedback, your TA is full of it.

I remember doing "the term paper" my freshman year in college. My teacher said we didn't need to provide pictures, it was "above and beyond" so she would not take points off if we did not properly label them (MLA format).

I'd already had some issues with this prof, so I ran the paper by another english prof I'd had the previous semester. That teacher told me, "if she doesn't give you an A, you come and see me".

I did the best paper ever in my life. There was no maximum length (I asked). My paper was probably nearly double the minimum length. It was about 27 pages (probably 5 of which were pictures and references).

I get the paper back with an A-. The only points she could find to take off were for not properly labeling the pictures in MLA format. You know the ones she said we didn't have to worry about MLA format for? I purposely didn't try to MLA format them because she said that.

She was just a pisser.

I remember doing "the term paper" my freshman year in college. My teacher said we didn't need to provide pictures, it was "above and beyond" so she would not take points off if we did not properly label them (MLA format).

I'd already had some issues with this prof, so I ran the paper by another english prof I'd had the previous semester. That teacher told me, "if she doesn't give you an A, you come and see me".

I did the best paper ever in my life. There was no maximum length (I asked). My paper was probably nearly double the minimum length. It was about 27 pages (probably 5 of which were pictures and references).

I get the paper back with an A-. The only points she could find to take off were for not properly labeling the pictures in MLA format. You know the ones she said we didn't have to worry about MLA format for? I purposely didn't try to MLA format them because she said that.

She was just a pisser.


turned in a paper for a college class that I had written in high school. Got an A in college, the teacher in HS had given me a D. I made no changes to the paper. Still pisses me off about that battle axe of a teacher.

turned in a paper for a college class that I had written in high school. Got an A in college, the teacher in HS had given me a D. I made no changes to the paper. Still pisses me off about that battle axe of a teacher.

:roflmao:

For being too technical and in depth?

It wasn't a 'scientific writing for public information' type of assignment right?

1. Did you lead with an executive summary that outlined all the major conclusions briefly and understandable by a lay person?

2. Sometimes people try to include tons of details and data in lieu of substantive content and conclusions...perhaps the prof felt you may have been doing this?

3. Seriously, in the grand scheme of things, nobody but you will care about your final grade or how many points you earned on a specific paper. ;)

turned in a paper for a college class that I had written in high school. Got an A in college, the teacher in HS had given me a D. I made no changes to the paper. Still pisses me off about that battle axe of a teacher.
Maybe the requirements of the assignment were different?

My wife gets several papers that are great quality but the student put their (arrogance?) confidence ahead of the requirements of the assignment and therefore she can't give a high grade.

He was the one that said it was too technical.

Set him on fire.

Couch

Maybe the requirements of the assignment were different?

My wife gets several papers that are great quality but the student put their (arrogance?) confidence ahead of the requirements of the assignment and therefore she can't give a high grade.

nope. Similar assignments....both were English Lit classes and it was an analyis of a story that we had to read for class....can't remember which one though. HS teacher didn't like my analysis, college prof loved it. I'd say something bad about the HS teacher, but she's no longer alive, so it would be pretty disrespectful.

I was inside the word limit, no issues, there. I lost 25 points out of 300 possible for the paper. I know, I'm a grade grubber. ;) I didn't lose any points on the structure or grammar of the paper. It was a grade by committee from the TA's, though, and one of them hates to give perfect scores, period. He was the one that said it was too technical.

Tom Sweetie... I love ya but frankly sometimes you do get too techincal. I wish my mind worked like yours but frankly I generally don't get you. That said, yu are brilliant... probably too brilliant for the room (or teacher)! ;)

hang on a second. let's take a break from the pity party.

tom gets an A and is whinging? oh please stop. you're breaking my heart!

I know its sarcasm, but in some rare cases....getting the grade you want comes down to mere points.

I know its sarcasm, but in some rare cases....getting the grade you want comes down to mere points.

+ ∞, and to get in my field for Grad School, in the line of research I want to, I'm competing with the best and brightest on the planet in behavioral sciences.

I'll be talking to the professor tomorrow, not so much because I am trying to crank up the points, but because if I did miss something I want to improve on it the next time.

Were evaluation criteria made clear when the assignment was given? Were you provided a grading rubric showing how the papers would be scored? If not, why not? If the TAs are not using a rubric, or not using the same rubric, the grading will be subjective and at least to some extent inequitable. Just depends how irked you are with the point loss whether or not you want to bring this up with the TAs and/or the professor. But for future work, by doing so you're letting *them* know that *you* know how work should be evaluated. Unless, of course, they don't care about being fair.

For being too technical and in depth?

Yeah, I kid you not! I got gigged for 25 points on a research paper for Oceanography on Freshwater Fish Parasitic Diseases. That was my assigned topic. I approached it from an Epidemiological perspective, utilizing study resources from well documented studies in SE Asia, The US, and Africa, and even tied it up neatly with long term effect of undiagnosed parasitic infections in US immigrants. Blahhhhrg!:notamused:

Still a very solid A, but I really feel like I got gigged just for the sake of getting gigged for points. :(

That's what you get for discussing probable solutions to the Square Root of - 1 being viable.

It sounds like some TA is wagging his wang around just to prove that he has one.

You deserve the score you earned, not some made up score because the TA doesn't believe in perfect scores. Go in there with the requirements of the paper and demand that you hear specifics about what you could improve upon. Use those words, "improve upon." Then, when you are told you are too technical, ask specifically where and how you could correct it.

If the TA cannot offer any constructive feedback, your TA is full of it.

Or set him on fire.

Couch

It sounds like some TA is wagging his wang around just to prove that he has one.

You deserve the score you earned, not some made up score because the TA doesn't believe in perfect scores. Go in there with the requirements of the paper and demand that you hear specifics about what you could improve upon. Use those words, "improve upon." Then, when you are told you are too technical, ask specifically where and how you could correct it.

If the TA cannot offer any constructive feedback, your TA is full of it.

My exact intent, tomorrow morning in my meeting.

That's what you get for discussing probable solutions to the Square Root of - 1 being viable.

Only in the universe known as i. :p

My exact intent, tomorrow morning in my meeting.

Keep in mind your age, experience and intellect. You are heads and shoulders above the prof/TA/whatever in so many areas...and surely he/she sees that, is threatened by it and figures he's gonna do what he can to take some wind out of your sails.

Yeah, it can be fun to confront the dude and show him who is 'really' the alpha dawg, but sometimes it's better in the long term if you just suck it up and not only take it...cheerfully overcome it. ;)

Set him on fire.

Couch

That's a pretty harsh solution.

Only in the universe known as i. :p

Smartass. What would it be in hexadecimal?

That's a pretty harsh solution.

we'll sit him in a couch first

Keep in mind your age, experience and intellect. You are heads and shoulders above the prof/TA/whatever in so many areas...and surely he/she sees that, is threatened by it and figures he's gonna do what he can to take some wind out of your sails.

Yeah, it can be fun to confront the dude and show him who is 'really' the alpha dawg, but sometimes it's better in the long term if you just suck it up and not only take it...cheerfully overcome it. ;)

I plan on being diplomatic, chip, no worries. I don't want to shoot myself in the arse, after all. I'm using the "how could it be improved approach, and show me where I diverged from the rubric requirements".

I was inside the word limit, no issues, there. I lost 25 points out of 300 possible for the paper. I know, I'm a grade grubber. ;) I didn't lose any points on the structure or grammar of the paper. It was a grade by committee from the TA's, though, and one of them hates to give perfect scores, period. He was the one that said it was too technical.

That's why you should always start and finish a technical paper with an inappropriate joke. Takes the edge off the boring middle stuff :D