One of my colleagues, who Worries Too Much, came to see me last week and asked if I would give a second opinion on a student essay she had marked. The student was extremely disappointed with the grade, and Worries Too Much was worried that she had been overly harsh because she has been stressed, ill and overworked recently. I said I would happily look at it, but that she Worries Too Much, and I was sure there was nothing wrong with her marking. We had moderated essay grades to make sure we were marking along the same lines, so I didn't think there would be too large a discrepancy between what I would give it, and what she did. The powers that be in the Department decided this re-mark was a bad idea. It will open the floodgates for all percentage-dissatisfied students to demand a second opinion. They suggested 'go through your comments with the student again'. In the end, the problem was resolved. The student had gone away, re-read the essay, thought about the comments on it and decided that it wasn't an unfair grade.
I sympathise with her to an extent. No one likes to do worse than they expect. And I remember an undergraduate essay that was the lowest mark I've ever got. I was disappointed. I went to ask the tutor to tell me how to make it better. I did not ask him to change the grade (although, after speaking to him I did feel that the essay topic we were set did not co-incide with the answer he had expected us to give, and that this was slightly unfair, but I accepted the grade and did better next time).
I've been returning essays to my students today. Some of them are very pleased with their grades; some are extremely disappointed. I try to put a positive spin on it - 'this is how you could improve it...' etc - but they don't really care. Not just now, anyway. (although some of them might when the shock has worn off). And their complete disappointment makes me wonder, was I too harsh in my marking? Should I get a second opinion?
I feel responsible for their disappointment. And then I think, it's not me, it's them. I didn't write the essay...
2 comments:
Yes, this is a hard thing about teaching. Grading, in the first place, is hard, and then feeling responsible for students' feelings. I sympathize!
Thanks!
Where I used to work, we didn't hand the essays back individually, and although they could come and talk to me about their grades, very few of them did. Here I have to see all of the students and talk about their essays. It's great handing back the good ones to students who are worried and did well, but the not so good ones...
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