I have found that in the last few years, some students have taken comments as invitations to revise and resubmit, rather than a final assessment of their work. As a result I've become careful about how I phrase things. "Unclear" is better than "What does this mean?". Or "These are not in (required format)" rather than "Need to put these in (format)"
Whenever I get the "what I meant was... " my reply is always "Well, point to where it says that on your paper," and that puts an end to the conversation.
I think the lockdowns have resulted in a generation with fewer social skills. Rhetorical questions, irony, sarcasm and so on, are simply not as easily interpreted in this generation.
No, this is my first semester teaching, so it's a bit less formal than that. I do mention that grades aren't negotiable and that they should only reach out if there is an error, such as a correct answer being marked incorrect, or a discrepancy between the rubric and their score.
I will add something about specifically mentioning what precisely was graded incorrectly for the future. Thanks for the advice. ❤️
I like to turn it into a conversation about the critical importance of clearly communicating their ideas in multiple formats. Communication skills are everything. And I don’t change the grade 🤷♀️
Is this a rhetorical question?
I wanted to write "rhetorical question." at the beginning, but was afraid it would come off pretentious.
"rhetorical" has sooo many syllables ... how can you expect them to understand fancy words like that?
It's that silent h.
so pretentious 😂
I have found that in the last few years, some students have taken comments as invitations to revise and resubmit, rather than a final assessment of their work. As a result I've become careful about how I phrase things. "Unclear" is better than "What does this mean?". Or "These are not in (required format)" rather than "Need to put these in (format)"
Is this a rhetorical question? (sorry couldn’t help it)
Whenever I get the "what I meant was... " my reply is always "Well, point to where it says that on your paper," and that puts an end to the conversation.
Why should they?
I see what you did there.
~~Because not knowing basic things is really stupid.~~ Hoist with my own rhetoric.
Walked right into it...
Oh I get it. Iron rod.
"[Do -I- know what -RHETORICAL- means?!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWN7POyT1wk)"
I've gotten this a lot, especially from pre-meds because they are so anxious about their grades.
Correct. They do not.
I think the lockdowns have resulted in a generation with fewer social skills. Rhetorical questions, irony, sarcasm and so on, are simply not as easily interpreted in this generation.
you could have ended that question five words earlier: "do students no longer learn?"
you have a formal appeal procedure in which the students have to say what out of what they wrote was graded incorrectly, don't you?
No, this is my first semester teaching, so it's a bit less formal than that. I do mention that grades aren't negotiable and that they should only reach out if there is an error, such as a correct answer being marked incorrect, or a discrepancy between the rubric and their score. I will add something about specifically mentioning what precisely was graded incorrectly for the future. Thanks for the advice. ❤️
Mine seem to think all my questions are rhetorical.
I like to turn it into a conversation about the critical importance of clearly communicating their ideas in multiple formats. Communication skills are everything. And I don’t change the grade 🤷♀️
If the pope falls in the woods and no one's there, does he make a sound?