Linguistics 20 Grading: Frequently Asked Questions
Bruce Hayes
Department of Linguistics
UCLA
This web page is intended for students asking the Linguistics 20 teaching staff about their grades.
My TA added up the points wrong on my homework. Can I get my grade changed?
Yes, TA's will generally make changes of this sort, provided they are purely mechanical errors and not matters of judgment.
The homework/exam was graded using a method that I think wasn't fair. [For example: I made the same error repeatedly, and this was counted as multiple errors rather than just one. ] Can I get my grade changed?
The answer here is generally "no". This sounds harsh, but the main purpose of this FAQ is to explain why we do it this way.
The problem is that if we change the method of grading for one student, it wouldn't be fair unless we also changed the method of grading for all the students. This means that to change your grade, we would have to call in all the homeworks/exams from all of the students and regrade each one. We don't have enough teaching staff or time to do this.
Something that college teachers seldom admit (but we do!) is this: Fairness in grading takes time, and we do not have the time that would be needed to be perfectly fair. The pursuit of super-fair grading is a priority that has to be stacked against competing uses of our time, such as preparing clear lectures and well-organized section meetings. We would like you to accept our sincere efforts as representing a reasonable level of fairness.
Can you, the professor, override the grade given by my TA?
The answer is almost certainly "no". The main reason, as before, is consistency: if I were to override a TA's grade, I would need to call in the homework of every student in the class and have it regraded, which we don't have the time to do.
Also, over the years I have always had great respect for my TA's and I do not like to treat them like children.
Please note: If I ever did have a "problem TA"--as determined by multiple complaints from the TA's students--I would investigate and try to take corrective action.
I think my TA grades harder than the other TA's. What can I do about this?
We check for this at final grade time and make a statistical adjustment if the difference is large.
How can I protect myself against getting graded harshly?
When you're answering a question and things are not clear, explain your answer in prose.
I'm not asking for my grade to be changed, I just want to understand my wrong answers so I will do better next time.
Fair enough, that's exactly what office hours are for. Bring such questions to office hours and we will answer them cheerfully and as clearly as we can.
Last modified November 11, 2008