Unfair grading and favouritism

doctorg

I'm currently pursuing a course in UCD and I strongly feel that the head TA is unfairly marking assignments.

There are certain students (girls) to whom the TA helps alot and gives information which would make assignments easier for them. The TA marks assignments without any feedback or breakdown of marks, just the grade.

He is quite rude and very easily gets offended. What can I do about this? He has even mentioned once that he will mark assignments down if he has to do extra work like verifying the work.

C14N

doctorg wrote: »

I'm currently pursuing a course in UCD and I strongly feel that the head TA is unfairly marking assignments.

There are certain students (girls) to whom the TA helps alot and gives information which would make assignments easier for them. The TA marks assignments without any feedback or breakdown of marks, just the grade.

He is quite rude and very easily gets offended. What can I do about this? He has even mentioned once that he will mark assignments down if he has to do extra work like verifying the work.

The only thing I can think to do would be to talk to the professor about it. The TA reports to them so if the professor listens to your problem then the TA will have to as well.

convert

You need to talk to the module co-ordinator in the first instance, and if you're not happy then go to the lecturer in charge of teaching and learning. Most schools have one. You could ask in the school office and they should be able to tell you who it is.

Do the female students (who you claim the ta helps more than you) ask for help? Do you ask similar questions? And does he help you? If you don't ask, do you think he would if you did ask? Does he give them assistance in class or directly after class? I'm just asking in case it may be that they approach him after class with their queries and he answers them, in which case he's not being unfair and may actually give you some direction if you asked?

doctorg

convert wrote: »

You need to talk to the module co-ordinator in the first instance, and if you're not happy then go to the lecturer in charge of teaching and learning. Most schools have one. You could ask in the school office and they should be able to tell you who it is.

Do the female students (who you claim the ta helps more than you) ask for help? Do you ask similar questions? And does he help you? If you don't ask, do you think he would if you did ask? Does he give them assistance in class or directly after class? I'm just asking in case it may be that they approach him after class with their queries and he answers them, in which case he's not being unfair and may actually give you some direction if you asked?

They don't ask for help. They would just be talking and if they mention any assignment he would start dropping tips. He is basically listening to conversations and they can occur before class, during breaks and after class. Never happens when prof is around. I've tried asking but he didn't give the same focus or attention, just says its easy. Another time, he called a student stupid and annoying cause he asked to repeat something and would get rude with anyone who tells him to calm down. He marks a number of classes and approaching him would be like getting 0 on every assignment there after so if there is anyway to combat this anonymously it would be best.

C14N

doctorg wrote: »

I've tried asking but he didn't give the same focus or attention, just says its easy. Another time, he called a student stupid and annoying cause he asked to repeat something and would get rude with anyone who tells him to calm down.

If he's calling students stupid and annoying then you definitely should bring that up with the module co-ordinator.

I Am_Not_Ice

doctorg wrote: »

Another time, he called a student stupid and annoying cause he asked to repeat something and would get rude with anyone who tells him to calm down. He marks a number of classes and approaching him would be like getting 0 on every assignment there after.

The guy sounds like a complete twerp. Report him ASAP.

doctorg

I Am_Not_Ice wrote: »

The guy sounds like a complete twerp. Report him ASAP.

To whom and is it possible to do it anonymously ?

convert

doctorg wrote: »

To whom and is it possible to do it anonymously ?

I mentioned it above: 1. module co-ordinator; 2. School's Teaching and Learning Lecturer; 3. School Office/Head of School

You could always write a letter and say you're doing it anonymously. But in most cases Schools like to receive feedback from students and won't 'black list' a student because they've made a complaint.

Is there any way you could change class to another TA's group?

doctorg

convert wrote: »

I mentioned it above: 1. module co-ordinator; 2. School's Teaching and Learning Lecturer; 3. School Office/Head of School

You could always write a letter and say you're doing it anonymously. But in most cases Schools like to receive feedback from students and won't 'black list' a student because they've made a complaint.

Is there any way you could change class to another TA's group?

He is the only TA for multiple classes...

C14N

doctorg wrote: »

He is the only TA for multiple classes...

Talk to the co-ordinators for multiple classes or at least for the relevant ones. You can email them and tell them not to bring up your name, you should be able to find their email address on Blackboard or even just by googling their name.

ZorbaTehZ

I'm a tutor in the faculty of science. If you want to do this anonymously, then I would be willing to raise it with the relevant lecturer in charge of tutorials on your behalf. Let me make it clear that the lecturers in charge of tutoring make a very big deal out of the standard of teaching that tutors offer, and have e.g. unscheduled checks on tutors to ensure that they are doing things well. So it is not the case that the behaviour as described would be taken lightly, and would certainly be investigated.

Having said that, things would be dealt with a lot sooner if you went to a relevant lecturer at office hours and voiced your concern.