Changing Marks?

sponsoredwalk · 16-05-2014 04:16PM #1

Hey guys, this may be petty but I got 68% for a JS essay I put my heart and soul into, I biasedly think the paper was at least of the quality of the research papers I read/referenced (though the writing style was deficient at times, so I deserved to lose marks sure), so I still presumptuously think it deserved a first

If I moan to the lecturer and (s)he would I officially be able to get it up to a 70 or are there rules in place to stop that? It really annoys me now that I got 70 for a, quite frankly, horrendous (rushed, 1/2 the designated length) essay in a different course, (though I'm secretly really happy

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yes there · 16-05-2014 04:20PM

If it was written in the same style as your post and you got 68 for it, then the content must of been very good. Replace biased with delusion

Mr Pseudonym · 16-05-2014 04:30PM

yes there wrote: »

If it was written in the same style as your post and you got 68 for it, then the content must of been very good. Replace biased with delusion

Must of been good? Replace an adjective with a noun?

Someone told me there is a policy of not giving a mark of 69 so as to avoid people quibbling. So, potentially the OP was only a single mark off a First. I'd write a short, bullet-pointed summary of why I think it warrants an upgrade. Remain entirely amicable and polite, even if refused: I once requested a piece of work (albeit while in secondary school) be recorrected; the teacher refused to increase the grade, but came back to me the next day, apologised, and bumped up my A2 (:p)!

Anita Blow · 16-05-2014 04:49PM

I'm 99% sure they won't recorrect it. If you got 68% it's because that's what the piece deserved. Lecturers don't bump up grades for the sake of it.

Mr Pseudonym · 16-05-2014 04:53PM

Anita Blow wrote: »

If you got 68% it's because that's what the piece deserved.

Surely you don't believe that?! Some of the nonsense I've had get a 2.1!!

galwayjohn89 · 16-05-2014 04:58PM

I don't see why someone who gets a 68% should be 'bumped up'. Same reason I don't see why in a few of my modules on borderline cases (38%-39% etc) they check your attendance, bumping you up if you attended regularly. If 68% get bumped up where do you draw the line?

sponsoredwalk · 16-05-2014 05:26PM

Thanks guys, I read everything in the field - there is literally nothing I didn't say in the essay. One of his/her red-pen criticisms in my paper (that I didn't mention the alternatives) was actually referenced in my paper at the beginning of the paper, mentioning there were no alternatives, and I even quoted a paper which explicitly says this, and how they all get subsumed into what I was speaking about (predicting exactly that red pen criticism...). Their criticism is a criticism of the field, not my essay: right there I have a 2% increase... :cool:

Has anybody done it, can it be done, and how do I do it?

stealinhorses · 16-05-2014 06:18PM

just deal with it, happens all the time

Grolschevik · 17-05-2014 11:16AM

68 was deliberately chosen to say "this is a high 2.1 but not first quality."

Don't think in terms of percentage numbers; the numbers merely represent where in the class the piece of work falls.

On the downside, one lecturer may say "high 2.1" with 67 rather than 68, which could cause an issue if overall results are calculated by simple arithmetic average rather than grade profile. A bit of both is usually used in courts of examiners.

languagenerd · 17-05-2014 02:22PM

It's unlikely, OP. TCD don't really do mark changes as a rule.

I know it's frustrating - I once got an essay back with "68 - you didn't translate the quotes from your sources, therefore not 70" written on it even though the sources were all in French. No other lecturer in 4 years ever asked for the quotes to be translated and the majority of published work on the subject area (incl our core textbook) doesn't have translated quotes. But it's just tough luck.

I did get a minor mark change once but it was because of an error the corrector made.

You can try, but be very careful how you phrase any request and don't expect too much. As Grolshevik said, it's not really done in terms of percentages anyway, more about where they think it fits into a scale.

lfqnic · 20-05-2014 07:23PM

I'm not sure I'd recommend it either. I do know of one man in our class who wasn't happy with a high 2.1 and didn't quibble the grade, but did contact the lecturer to ask for specific pin points so that he would get a first next time around. If your lecturer is willing to spend the time to give you personalised feedback like that (and many of them wouldn't be), it might be worth more than the grade bump-up.

I suppose the only thing that would tip me over the edge into taking the risk of quibbling is if I had a strong intention/expectation of getting a gold medal and that messed up my chances, but you'd be very unlucky if one 2.1 was able to scupper the whole shebang.

20-05-2014 07:36PM

If your results count towards your degree, and this essay counts towards those results then the essays will likely be sent to an external examiner. You can ask your lecturer to make sure that your essay is one of those sent.

In the past I was unhappy with a mark and went up from a II:1 to a good I after the essay was sent to an extern.

Bottleopener · 21-05-2014 04:28PM

sponsoredwalk wrote: »

Hey guys, this may be petty but I got 68% for a JS essay I put my heart and soul into, I biasedly think the paper was at least of the quality of the research papers I read/referenced (though the writing style was deficient at times, so I deserved to lose marks sure), so I still presumptuously think it deserved a first If I moan to the lecturer and (s)he would I officially be able to get it up to a 70 or are there rules in place to stop that? It really annoys me now that I got 70 for a, quite frankly, horrendous (rushed, 1/2 the designated length) essay in a different course, (though I'm secretly really happy )

If I recall correctly from seeing other posts of yours on here, you're from a maths background. The maths department is quite unique in that its one of the few departments that marks out of 100. In general from my experience (TSM Maths) a 68 in an arts subject is around the same as approx getting 80% in maths {roughly speaking!}. 68 is very good for an arts essay, and my guess is that even the writing style being deficient would be enough to bring you down below 70!

innad · 24-05-2014 09:27PM

I tried to get an assignment re-marked once. I got deducted marks for things like not mentioning the IVs and DVs, even though the relevant sections of the assignment actually explicitly stated "the independent variable was...". Unfortunately by the time I got the feedback, the postgrad who had marked the paper was gone and no one else cared. Still annoys me over ten years later!

Changing Marks?

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