Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the office of the Associate Dean,

I am deeply disappointed with my comments on my regression analysis and final exam in Quantitative Approaches to Political Studies (POLS 385). I had worked on the regression analysis for over a month and put in a lot of effort. I think this was visible as I went to my professor, Kyle Hannimans¿¿, office hours multiple times, got an external tutor and also was in contact with my TA to review my assignment. While I understand that success is different for each and every student, I also know that in part of being successful, some students have to work harder than others. I believe this to be true with my work ethic. I work incredibly hard in school and deeply care about my grades.

While looking over an assignment that I put endless amounts of time and effort into that was to mention 30 of my grade, I received only 3 ¿¿side note¿ comments from my TA. Whether or not these comments intended to be helpful, the manor in which they were written and handed back to a student such as myself is not okay. I truly believe in improvement and that one of the most beneficial and crucial ways in which students can improve is if there is proper criticism. The 3 comments that were left on my paper were vague, unclear and provided no reference to paper whatsoever. I find this very concerning as Teaching Assistant¿¿s (especially those as reputable as in the political science department) are suppose to provide students with the resources to improve and learn from their mistakes. Additionally, I went to see my TA before my assignment was due, to specifically ask him about one section of the assignment titled ¿¿Overall Style and Impression¿, this section was worth 20 of the assignment grade. My TA told me that it looked ¿¿great¿ and ¿¿not to change anything¿, and yet gave me a C- on that specific section and yet left no comments of as to why.

One of the three comments left on my paper includes: ¿¿Writing needs work¿. While this paper may not be my best work in the eyes of one TA, a reference of to the paper would be needed. This type of comment suggests that there are perhaps mistakes with the writing, and in which case, a professional answer would indicate how it needed work and more specifically where.

The second comment that was left on my paper includes: ¿¿Not really clear what¿¿s going on in theory section, appears to be what should be in operationalization and data section, and is no experimental vs. observational note in model and data.¿ Again, is there a specific reference to my work that is unclear It¿¿s really hard as a student to comprehend feedback on lack of clarity, when the question and/or comment itself lacks clarity. On a side note, my paper does include experimental vs. observational data. Referenced as followed: Using observed data models of corruption allows this study to compute estimates about the precision of corruption within the countries under observation. As a result, the unobserved data is contingent upon the observed data models and together they represent a conditional mean (weighted average) of the distribution (Gerring and Thacker, 20, pp. 330), and so forth. However, if this does not suffice, then a greater explanation of as to why would be needed.

The third comment left on my paper includes: ¿¿Interpretation missing some required elements¿. This comment lacks clarity and professionalism. What section of the paper is this seen in What interpretation And most importantly, what specific required elements. As these questions have not been addressed in no more than 5 words, the validity of the comment is concerning.

Additionally, my TA proceeded to mark my 45 exam with similar, if not less clear criticism. The essay section, that is totaled 22.5 of my final grade, has no comments whatsoever. I do however understand that second section based on the math components does not need comments simply because your answer is not subjective, but rather wrong or right. I¿¿m deeply concerned for the effort that went into the assignment of my grade. There are no comments on 45 of my grade except for the grade itself.

The reason I am writing this is not to explain that my work warrants an A+, however, after reading the 3 ¿¿side note¿ comments spanning the remaining 72.5 of my final grade, which displays a lack of clarity, a student such as myself can only wonder how it warrants a C+. I also believe that professionals at Queen¿¿s University, and many in which I regard highly, formal and professional feedback. I find this very upsetting, as Queen¿¿s is such a reputable University that cares about its student¿¿s success. I have finished looking at my exam and my regression analysis, and have decided that I will be appealing my grade due to a concerning lack of clarity and feedback upon 72.5 of my grade. In the attached document that will be provided with my formal appeal, I hope you will find a course syllabus, an outline of the assignments, my original assignment (submitted via Moodle), a copy of the graded assignment and as well as my final exam (although, it does not have comments).

Additionally, I would like my re-read to be as objective as possible. From my perspective, Professor Hanniman has been very dismissive in terms of the fluctuation of my grade and has knowingly handed back the assignments to me in the unprofessional state that they currently rest in. I¿¿m unsure if his subjectivity could be an issue throughout this appeal process simply because I worked closely with him and expressed deep concern for my grade. However, I entrust that your office will be a better judge of such a process than a student such as myself who does not go through this process as frequently.