Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Student Evaluations, Grade Changes, and Oh, the Humanity!

Moebus teaches Discrete Mathematics at the college level. She recently received a very good evaluation from her boss, but one of the students' evaluations said

  • she was a "HORRABLE" teacher.
  • Gives us test questions that she NEVER TOLD US HOW TO DO.
  • Does not tell us what will be on the tests
  • Expects us to study everything.
This tickled my fancy, since I'm in the middle of setting midterm exams, and the drop date is fast upon us. So the calls for "extra credit" assignments, makeups, and so on has begun. My friends know that I usually deal with stress by making a joke. In case you need a laugh (or something to post on your door, if you're an academic) I have a copy of a "universal grade change form" that I used to give to my students. It begins by stating that it's intended to save time - if their reason for requesting a grade change is listed, they can make their (and my) lifes easier by checking the appropriate box. It starts out:

I think my grade in your course,___________________, should be
changed from ______ to _______ for the following reasons:
A few personal favorites are:

6. I'm on a varsity sports team and my tutor couldn't find a copy of your exam.

7. I didn't come to class and the person whose notes I used did not cover the material asked for on the exam.

13. You told us to be creative but you didn't tell us exactlyhow you wanted that done.

I've been unable to link to a copy for some reason. If you want one, email me at unknownprofessor@hotmail.com -- I can't claim authorship (it was floating around the internet while I was in grad school. If you have any additions. let me know (my email's also on the main page).

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