Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 3234
Submitted: April 5, 2017 at 7:57:16 PM
First Name: Karim
Last Name: El Gohary
Student Number: 10127461
Email: 13keg3@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: ECON
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Code: ARTH 272
Term: Winter
Year: 2017
Petition Category: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Instructor's Name: Gauvin Bailey
Component: Final Essay
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: I am appealing my instructor¿¿s decision on the grading of my term paper worth 40 of my final grade, on which I received a grade of a C-. I would like my paper to be re-graded by somebody else, or at the very least by another party in addition to my professor.
In my educational experience I have learned the foundational aspect of essay writing to be the tackling of a problem or question with a well-supported thesis. A good essay brings in a variety of evidence that is reflected upon and includes an analysis of different perspectives in a well-structured, cohesive and comprehensible manner. Upon receiving my essay for ARTH 272 back and my grade, I felt that little to few of these key aspects were even considered by my instructor (Gauvin Bailey) and TA. The comments in the paper pertained primarily to the formatting and the fact that I was missing a printed appendix. In regards to the formatting, I used footnotes instead of endnotes ¿¿ a minute mistake to be significantly deducted for. As for the appendix, I had emailed the professor the day the paper was due with a copy of the essay that contained the appendix as my printer had run out of color ink. Although I did not mention the inclusion of the appendix in the email, I assumed that my professor would at the very least open the document and see that the appendix was there.
However, more than my frustration and disappointment in losing marks for these lesser errors, is my anxiety in not knowing the structural, grammatical, and ideological errors that I have made. I did not know what I did wrong nor what I could have done to improve. Thus, I emailed my professor asking him for a rubric in order to help me understand the reasons for such a low grade so he told me to visit him during office hours.
After flipping through what appeared to be only the last 3 pages of my essay, he told me that he would have given me a C+ had I included the appendix and proper formatting. I had asked the professor to give the paper a look as I felt that I covered all aspects of the question in an efficient and cohesive way, he did not shed light on any of these aspects and instead chose to criticize my inability to include an appendix, and my inexperience in using endnotes as opposed to footnotes. I felt therefore not only that his feedback was irrelevant to my questions, but that he had something against me and had made his mind up before I even walked into the room.
Moreover the professor condemned my use of ¿¿Janson¿¿s History of Art¿ as a source even though it is he who incorrectly labels it ¿¿Janson¿¿s Survey of Art¿ on the assignment, something I assumed to be different. It is also important to mention that I only cite the book once in a total of 19 citations. The assignment states that a minimum of 5 bibliographic entries are required, of which I have 18 (excluding Janson¿¿s History of Art) ¿¿ a clear indication of the intensive research done for the assignment. Given the vagueness of the assignment to begin with and the selectivity of the feedback I received, I feel that this professor perhaps has something against me. Considering also he amount of time I dedicated to this essay in terms of research, writing and editing; and considering that I covered all aspects of the research question at hand in my essay, I do not think that a grade of a C- is fair, nor was it justified upon confronting my professor. I feel that he has chosen to focus more on the appearance of my essay than the content and this sentiment is furthered by his avoidance of further explanations on how I could have improved.
This event has encouraged me to consider my future execution of such assignments, when given a vague outline for requirements I will now directly ask my teacher for a rubric or more specific set of rules needed in order to meet their expectations. I should have, and will from now on, always ask my professors for more detail prior to working on the assignments.
In my educational experience I have learned the foundational aspect of essay writing to be the tackling of a problem or question with a well-supported thesis. A good essay brings in a variety of evidence that is reflected upon and includes an analysis of different perspectives in a well-structured, cohesive and comprehensible manner. Upon receiving my essay for ARTH 272 back and my grade, I felt that little to few of these key aspects were even considered by my instructor (Gauvin Bailey) and TA. The comments in the paper pertained primarily to the formatting and the fact that I was missing a printed appendix. In regards to the formatting, I used footnotes instead of endnotes ¿¿ a minute mistake to be significantly deducted for. As for the appendix, I had emailed the professor the day the paper was due with a copy of the essay that contained the appendix as my printer had run out of color ink. Although I did not mention the inclusion of the appendix in the email, I assumed that my professor would at the very least open the document and see that the appendix was there.
However, more than my frustration and disappointment in losing marks for these lesser errors, is my anxiety in not knowing the structural, grammatical, and ideological errors that I have made. I did not know what I did wrong nor what I could have done to improve. Thus, I emailed my professor asking him for a rubric in order to help me understand the reasons for such a low grade so he told me to visit him during office hours.
After flipping through what appeared to be only the last 3 pages of my essay, he told me that he would have given me a C+ had I included the appendix and proper formatting. I had asked the professor to give the paper a look as I felt that I covered all aspects of the question in an efficient and cohesive way, he did not shed light on any of these aspects and instead chose to criticize my inability to include an appendix, and my inexperience in using endnotes as opposed to footnotes. I felt therefore not only that his feedback was irrelevant to my questions, but that he had something against me and had made his mind up before I even walked into the room.
Moreover the professor condemned my use of ¿¿Janson¿¿s History of Art¿ as a source even though it is he who incorrectly labels it ¿¿Janson¿¿s Survey of Art¿ on the assignment, something I assumed to be different. It is also important to mention that I only cite the book once in a total of 19 citations. The assignment states that a minimum of 5 bibliographic entries are required, of which I have 18 (excluding Janson¿¿s History of Art) ¿¿ a clear indication of the intensive research done for the assignment. Given the vagueness of the assignment to begin with and the selectivity of the feedback I received, I feel that this professor perhaps has something against me. Considering also he amount of time I dedicated to this essay in terms of research, writing and editing; and considering that I covered all aspects of the research question at hand in my essay, I do not think that a grade of a C- is fair, nor was it justified upon confronting my professor. I feel that he has chosen to focus more on the appearance of my essay than the content and this sentiment is furthered by his avoidance of further explanations on how I could have improved.
This event has encouraged me to consider my future execution of such assignments, when given a vague outline for requirements I will now directly ask my teacher for a rubric or more specific set of rules needed in order to meet their expectations. I should have, and will from now on, always ask my professors for more detail prior to working on the assignments.