Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 11040
Submitted: October 13, 2023 at 1:23:26 PM
First Name: dani
Last Name: birenbaum
Pronoun: she/her
Preferred Name: Dani
Student Number: 20402778
Email: 22ggr@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSH
Plan: NA
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Code: BIOL 102
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Petition Category: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Instructor's Name: Ashley Elizabeth Sydney Grew
Section/Class Number: 67
Component: lab assignment
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic),
Re: Petition of 30% Grade (due to penalty) in Biology Lab for Course Biol101, Section 67
Request for Reinstatement of 80% Grade
I am a first-year student in sciences, with a view to specializing (after first year) in Biology and Psychology.
I was very excited to choose Queen’s as my school and am fascinated by neuroscience.
I am a serious and diligent student, and I have been spending hours in the library since the very first week of class, making sure I’m ahead on my readings. I have an accommodation related to anxiety and depression, and so I try really hard to be ahead (and not get behind), which is not only good for my studies but also my health. The issue of anxiety/depression is relevant to this request for a petition, in terms of Queen’s being serious in its efforts to support students’ mental health, especially in the first year and in the first few weeks of school.
I am appealing/petitioning a zero grade that I received in my very first biology lab in the last week of September, which grade was then adjusted to 30% after I requested a review. Were it not for the academic penalty that I am appealing, the grade was assessed at 80% (which I understand is lower than the biology lab’s grades course-wide marked by TAs other than Ashley Elizabeth Sydney Grew).
What happened to was as follows.
On September 28, 2023, my lab section in Biol101 had our first biology lab. We were required to work as a group, and our group was not planned (it was just whoever was sitting at the table grouping on that date). I did not know anyone in my group.
My group completed the work in-class. A requirement of the lab was that it had to be submitted by one student only, and on one student’s computer only. One male student in our group said he would assume that role, and working as a group generally means allowing others to take the lead sometimes, even if you want to be the one to do so. In any event, at the end of class, when the work was completed, and it was time to submit, I specifically asked, and my other group members asked the student words to the effect of, “is it done” and his answer is “it’s good” and he closed computer and we all left class. In the context of this exchange, it was clear that what we were asking, and what he had confirmed, was that the lab that we had all just completed, was submitted at the end of class.
As far as I’m aware, there was no way for me to go on-line to ensure our confirm that the student did what he said he had done, which was click “submit” on the lab we had all worked hard on. Certainly there was nothing explained at the beginning of class for how we could do that, and I’m still not clear on how or whether I could have done that. As well, although Queen’s requires the group of students to rely on one student to correctly submit, there’s no system that, for example, sends us all an email, confirming that the submission is complete.
The work was done on time, and especially given that this one student’s mistake happened in the first assignment in the first weeks of class (in first year of university!) I would have thought that there might be some leniency or understanding.
Instead, we were first given a zero. I complained to the TA, Ashley Elizabeth Sydney Grew by email the very next day, September 29, 2023. After I complained to the TA, the TA reinstated the grade (of 80), but then, after review by the supervisor, the grade was downgraded on October 4, 2023, to a 30% due to it being late – even though there was evidence (and I don’t think this evidence was disputed by anyone) that the work was in fact completed on-time in class, but inadvertently submitted late without the knowledge of the group members.
This experience has been very distressing. I had to manage panic and anxiety and I have tried to stay positive and not let this experience demoralize me and impact my motivation and commitment to this class and other classes, but it’s been hard.
I spoke to the biology professor, Professor G Dicenzo. He was sympathetic and called the situation unfortunate but said he had no control over the labs. He told me to directly email Dr. B Vanderbeld, who is the instructor in the department of biology. When I addressed the issue (immediately) with Dr. Venderbeld on October 4, 2023, she refused to change the grade. I can provide her email to you.
On October 4, 2023, I was told by Dr. Vanderbeld that it “it is every group member’s responsibility” to ensure that assignments are uploaded properly – but how? We took more than reasonable steps, standing next to the student with his open, to confirm verbally that work we all knew was completed was submitted. We had no way in that moment of going on-line to confirm it was done properly (unless there was a method that wasn’t explained to us). Were we supposed to demand that student’s computer? The lesson to me seems to be, contrary to the Queen’s student working in groups policy, that I should trust no one and always insist that I be the ones to take the lead and submit the work. Is this the lesson?
The supervising lab professor also suggested that the reason for not giving us leniency on this first assignment was that other groups might run into the same problem in the next labs. But for approximately ten minutes at the start of the next lab, the TA spent time emphasizing and explaining the importance of submitting the lab at the end of class and the process for doing so. This kind of time and explanation was not given at the start of the first lab.
In sum, I can’t see how in the circumstances of my group’s experience, giving first year students a zero or a 30% in their first lab, which counts significantly to our final grade (there are four equally weighted labs and a final exam), is healthy or supports learning. It is arbitrary and unfair.
Given that my lab work was in fact completed on time, the work was worthy of an 80% when graded, and it was not at all clear to me how I could have reasonably ensured that the “responsible” had done what he had said he had done (and/or hadn’t made a mistake), I am requesting that my lab mark of 80% be reinstated.
Thank you for your help with this,
Dani Birenbaum
student number; 20402778
Re: Petition of 30% Grade (due to penalty) in Biology Lab for Course Biol101, Section 67
Request for Reinstatement of 80% Grade
I am a first-year student in sciences, with a view to specializing (after first year) in Biology and Psychology.
I was very excited to choose Queen’s as my school and am fascinated by neuroscience.
I am a serious and diligent student, and I have been spending hours in the library since the very first week of class, making sure I’m ahead on my readings. I have an accommodation related to anxiety and depression, and so I try really hard to be ahead (and not get behind), which is not only good for my studies but also my health. The issue of anxiety/depression is relevant to this request for a petition, in terms of Queen’s being serious in its efforts to support students’ mental health, especially in the first year and in the first few weeks of school.
I am appealing/petitioning a zero grade that I received in my very first biology lab in the last week of September, which grade was then adjusted to 30% after I requested a review. Were it not for the academic penalty that I am appealing, the grade was assessed at 80% (which I understand is lower than the biology lab’s grades course-wide marked by TAs other than Ashley Elizabeth Sydney Grew).
What happened to was as follows.
On September 28, 2023, my lab section in Biol101 had our first biology lab. We were required to work as a group, and our group was not planned (it was just whoever was sitting at the table grouping on that date). I did not know anyone in my group.
My group completed the work in-class. A requirement of the lab was that it had to be submitted by one student only, and on one student’s computer only. One male student in our group said he would assume that role, and working as a group generally means allowing others to take the lead sometimes, even if you want to be the one to do so. In any event, at the end of class, when the work was completed, and it was time to submit, I specifically asked, and my other group members asked the student words to the effect of, “is it done” and his answer is “it’s good” and he closed computer and we all left class. In the context of this exchange, it was clear that what we were asking, and what he had confirmed, was that the lab that we had all just completed, was submitted at the end of class.
As far as I’m aware, there was no way for me to go on-line to ensure our confirm that the student did what he said he had done, which was click “submit” on the lab we had all worked hard on. Certainly there was nothing explained at the beginning of class for how we could do that, and I’m still not clear on how or whether I could have done that. As well, although Queen’s requires the group of students to rely on one student to correctly submit, there’s no system that, for example, sends us all an email, confirming that the submission is complete.
The work was done on time, and especially given that this one student’s mistake happened in the first assignment in the first weeks of class (in first year of university!) I would have thought that there might be some leniency or understanding.
Instead, we were first given a zero. I complained to the TA, Ashley Elizabeth Sydney Grew by email the very next day, September 29, 2023. After I complained to the TA, the TA reinstated the grade (of 80), but then, after review by the supervisor, the grade was downgraded on October 4, 2023, to a 30% due to it being late – even though there was evidence (and I don’t think this evidence was disputed by anyone) that the work was in fact completed on-time in class, but inadvertently submitted late without the knowledge of the group members.
This experience has been very distressing. I had to manage panic and anxiety and I have tried to stay positive and not let this experience demoralize me and impact my motivation and commitment to this class and other classes, but it’s been hard.
I spoke to the biology professor, Professor G Dicenzo. He was sympathetic and called the situation unfortunate but said he had no control over the labs. He told me to directly email Dr. B Vanderbeld, who is the instructor in the department of biology. When I addressed the issue (immediately) with Dr. Venderbeld on October 4, 2023, she refused to change the grade. I can provide her email to you.
On October 4, 2023, I was told by Dr. Vanderbeld that it “it is every group member’s responsibility” to ensure that assignments are uploaded properly – but how? We took more than reasonable steps, standing next to the student with his open, to confirm verbally that work we all knew was completed was submitted. We had no way in that moment of going on-line to confirm it was done properly (unless there was a method that wasn’t explained to us). Were we supposed to demand that student’s computer? The lesson to me seems to be, contrary to the Queen’s student working in groups policy, that I should trust no one and always insist that I be the ones to take the lead and submit the work. Is this the lesson?
The supervising lab professor also suggested that the reason for not giving us leniency on this first assignment was that other groups might run into the same problem in the next labs. But for approximately ten minutes at the start of the next lab, the TA spent time emphasizing and explaining the importance of submitting the lab at the end of class and the process for doing so. This kind of time and explanation was not given at the start of the first lab.
In sum, I can’t see how in the circumstances of my group’s experience, giving first year students a zero or a 30% in their first lab, which counts significantly to our final grade (there are four equally weighted labs and a final exam), is healthy or supports learning. It is arbitrary and unfair.
Given that my lab work was in fact completed on time, the work was worthy of an 80% when graded, and it was not at all clear to me how I could have reasonably ensured that the “responsible” had done what he had said he had done (and/or hadn’t made a mistake), I am requesting that my lab mark of 80% be reinstated.
Thank you for your help with this,
Dani Birenbaum
student number; 20402778
Documentation
Document: October 4 Email Exchange .pdf
Documentation Detail: email with lab supervisor