Received a bad grade, Second Year

Hi, I recently received a third for one of my essays. In the comments of my essay the lecturer told me I had not understood the question and not engaged with module materials well. This is unfortunate because I had attended all my seminars and lectures prepared. I had also attended module support hours, stayed back with my seminar leader, and stayed behind in lectures to ask my lecturer more about the essay. The lecturer even knows my name but obviously they do not know the student behind the number. I had asked him if I was able to do this in my essay in real life and he said yes and he also said on the discussion board to another student that it is up to them to decide if they would like to do that in their essay - which is what I did. However in my essay he asked why I did that etc. The average of the class was about 52%, and so not many people did well. I know this because he had sent a lengthy email out saying all the things he did to help us get a good mark. What shall I do? I have emailed my personal tutor to speak to him.

Reply 1

cheadle

17

Yes, that's tough when you went to so much trouble.
I wonder how you would have done if you had just written the essay wthout any help.
Is it possible that you would have failed the essay without this extra effort? In whch case, your extra effort was worthwhile.
The fact that the average was 52% is important, that is rather low and so you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Lots of people will have got grades in the 40s.
Regarding possible contradictory advice (saying something is OK then criticising you for it in the feedback), you could ask for clarification on this from the tutor but I don;t think it's worth challenging your mark unless you believe that the essay has been incorrectly marked according to the assessment criteria. Perhaps ask around to see if anyone else has an issue with this - it may be something that the class rep can raise at the staff student committee.

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 2

University of Huddersfield

Official Rep

16

Original post by Anonymous #1

Hi, I recently received a third for one of my essays. In the comments of my essay the lecturer told me I had not understood the question and not engaged with module materials well. This is unfortunate because I had attended all my seminars and lectures prepared. I had also attended module support hours, stayed back with my seminar leader, and stayed behind in lectures to ask my lecturer more about the essay. The lecturer even knows my name but obviously they do not know the student behind the number. I had asked him if I was able to do this in my essay in real life and he said yes and he also said on the discussion board to another student that it is up to them to decide if they would like to do that in their essay - which is what I did. However in my essay he asked why I did that etc. The average of the class was about 52%, and so not many people did well. I know this because he had sent a lengthy email out saying all the things he did to help us get a good mark. What shall I do? I have emailed my personal tutor to speak to him.

Anon,

It makes complete sense if you are hurting right now and feeling fed up! I would definitely feel annoyed and angry, but it sounds like considering the lengthy email that your lecturer sent and in general the low grades across the class that the lecturer is feeling disappointed with the way he taught the module.

You can be thankful for small wins! You passed and hopefully there is another part to the module where you can make up marks. Is there an exam at the end of term? Is it more weighted than the essay? If you are doing okay in your other modules then this will also help to push up your overall marks, so try not to lose heart! You know that you did your best and put in the work. It would be worse if you hadn't tried and got a bad score because you'd blame yourself for not trying enough, but as it is, you know did what you could.

Put it behind you. It's unfortunate, but there's still time to make it up!

All the best,

Oluwatosin – 3^rd year student – University of Huddersfield

Original post by Anonymous #1

Hi, I recently received a third for one of my essays. In the comments of my essay the lecturer told me I had not understood the question and not engaged with module materials well. This is unfortunate because I had attended all my seminars and lectures prepared. I had also attended module support hours, stayed back with my seminar leader, and stayed behind in lectures to ask my lecturer more about the essay. The lecturer even knows my name but obviously they do not know the student behind the number. I had asked him if I was able to do this in my essay in real life and he said yes and he also said on the discussion board to another student that it is up to them to decide if they would like to do that in their essay - which is what I did. However in my essay he asked why I did that etc. The average of the class was about 52%, and so not many people did well. I know this because he had sent a lengthy email out saying all the things he did to help us get a good mark. What shall I do? I have emailed my personal tutor to speak to him.

HI there,

Sorry to hear you have received a mark that you aren't happy with. It sounds like you have put a lot of effort in so to not be rewarded for this is really frustrating.

I would definitely set up a meeting with your personal tutor and try and go through it with him and see what his opinion is on it and if there is anything he thinks you could've done to improve your grade.

It sounds like it was something that the whole class struggled with so I wouldn't be too disheartened as it seems as though most people didn't get the grade they may have been hoping for. I would also try and speak to your tutor again to see if he ca go over the feedback with you and see if there is anything you could've done better.

I hope this helps,

Lucy -SHU student ambassador.

Original post by Anonymous #1

Hi, I recently received a third for one of my essays. In the comments of my essay the lecturer told me I had not understood the question and not engaged with module materials well. This is unfortunate because I had attended all my seminars and lectures prepared. I had also attended module support hours, stayed back with my seminar leader, and stayed behind in lectures to ask my lecturer more about the essay. The lecturer even knows my name but obviously they do not know the student behind the number. I had asked him if I was able to do this in my essay in real life and he said yes and he also said on the discussion board to another student that it is up to them to decide if they would like to do that in their essay - which is what I did. However in my essay he asked why I did that etc. The average of the class was about 52%, and so not many people did well. I know this because he had sent a lengthy email out saying all the things he did to help us get a good mark. What shall I do? I have emailed my personal tutor to speak to him.

Hi there

I understand that it can be disappointing to receive your mark after putting in a lot of effort and work. However, I think it is important to know that there is still room to improve and pull up your grade.

It can be discouraging to look at the feedback, but I strongly recommend reading your essay work again and compare it with the feedback. Does the feedback make sense, is there anything that does not make sense to you? It is important to get further feedback from your seminar leader too. Feedback is the main way of improving and the key thing is to take the marker's comments and not make them again.

Sometimes, there is a difference between understanding the module content, and doing well on the assignment- so perhaps looking at the mark scheme could be a way of moving forward. I think going to your personal tutor for advice is a good idea. Do not be too disheartened by this essay, keep going. :smile:

I hope this helps.
Chloe
University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 5

gjd800

20

The average of 52% is a concern for me and actually might indicate a poorly-designed assessment where LOs have not been made clear to andor understood by students. Don't panic about this.

(edited 2 months ago)

Received a bad grade, Second Year

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