Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 751
Submitted: February 2, 2015 at 5:03:33 PM
First Name: Kajsa
Last Name: Cuthbert
Student Number: 10008362
Email: 0kc36@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: ECON, PSYC
Level of Study: 4
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Code: PSYC 251
Term: Fall
Year: 2014
Petition Category: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Instructor's Name: Beth Kelley
Component: Final Exam
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: The reason I have decide to appeal my final exam mark in PSYC 251 is because of the events prior to the exam and because of the content and criticism of my exam.
My final grade consist of 3 midterms and 1 final exam essay. The exam essay questions were given to us ahead of time therefore we could essentially write an essay ahead of time, memorize it, and rewrite with no aids or resources during the examination time. Through out the course we wrote 4 midterms and the Professor took the best 3 of them to total 60 of our grade. The first two midterms I did not do well one receiving a C on both of them due to my studying regime (purely from the textbook see that most psychology courses that I have taken this method works well for). But after receiving the second C I went in a discussed with Dr. Kelley my study regime and she corrected me to study mainly from my lecture notes. After changing the way I studied, I then received A-s on my next two midterms. This lead me going into the exam with a B. For this reasons it is even more bothersome that I end up with a C overall in the course after dedicating substantial efforts to bring up my marks from the midterms and thinking that I was properly prepared for the exam.
More so on my preparation for the exam, I went a saw Dr.Kelley twice in her office to discuss the content and layout I was planning for my exam essay. She gave me great insight in what topics to cover and how to cover them through out my essay. Sadly after my efforts in extreme preparation, I received a devastating mark on my final essay that caused my to drop 5 grade points from a B down to a C. When I saw this I immediately went to Dr.Kelley to discuss my final essay. The TA who marked my exam jotted down some notes as to where I lost marks but every time Dr.Kelley read out one of these notes to me I was able to go into my essay and show where I covered the material. It was thought that maybe I misinterpreted(I explain later on) the actual essay question but when I explained it to Dr. Kelley how I interpreted it she was able to see it from my view point and offered to re-read my essay. I was very hopeful that my mark would change to that of a better one seeing that Dr.Kelley seemed genuinely interested in my essay and knew the time and effort I put into it from my multiple visits to her about it.
Here is what the question was:
Essay 4: Development in certain domains of development (e.g. motor, cognitive, language, and socio-emotional domains) have clear effects on other areas of development. Discuss in depth at least four instances in which you can clearly see the effect of one domain of development on another, and use research findings to back up your argument. What effects would delays in one area of development that you have discussed have on the second area (i.e., would another pathway be found, would development in the second area never occur, etc)
Here is how I interpreted it:
-Show how one domain of development (Vision) effects the development of 4 other domains (Motor, Cognitive, Social, and Self-concept...I am pretty sure these were the ones I chose seeing that it was so long ago that I wrote it I don't exactly remember).
-I discussed how the domain of vision develops, then went on to discuss how it interacts with the development of each of the other domains I listed.
-I then showed how the absence of vision would impede the development of the motor domain.
Therefore I feel I was spot on with my interpretation but the TA said that I should have focused on the development of a domain affecting the development of other domains. Whereas I focused on the effect of one domain of development on the development of another domain which I took directly from the question above.
For these reasons I was very shocked when she e-mailed me back saying she was not going to change my mark. In her e-mail it seem she attributed many issues to grammatical and spelling errors (which were not detrimental to my essay) and considering it is a live, timed essay with no resources I would expect some forgiveness in that department (she also did not mention that spelling and grammar would be a big influence on our overall mark). It also seemed her other critiques were based on me using knowledge not necessarily learned in the course (but learned from the numerous other psychology courses I have taken) even though the information was still applicable and useful. I find this disturbing seeing that I feel I was docked marks for using advanced knowledge. I think her main critique might have been my interpretation of the question, but I find this bothersome seeing that I went and saw her about this before preparing for the exam and explained it to her in our meeting afterwards.
For all of these reasons, I feel like my final grade in the course in no way displays my efforts that I exhibited throughout it. From drastically improving my midterm marks, to going to see her numerous times I cannot think of why I received the final grade that I did. I very much appreciated her rereading my essay and giving me constructive criticism but I feel like that she does not understand where I am coming from and will continue to not understand.Therefore, this is my reasoning for an appeal.
My final grade consist of 3 midterms and 1 final exam essay. The exam essay questions were given to us ahead of time therefore we could essentially write an essay ahead of time, memorize it, and rewrite with no aids or resources during the examination time. Through out the course we wrote 4 midterms and the Professor took the best 3 of them to total 60 of our grade. The first two midterms I did not do well one receiving a C on both of them due to my studying regime (purely from the textbook see that most psychology courses that I have taken this method works well for). But after receiving the second C I went in a discussed with Dr. Kelley my study regime and she corrected me to study mainly from my lecture notes. After changing the way I studied, I then received A-s on my next two midterms. This lead me going into the exam with a B. For this reasons it is even more bothersome that I end up with a C overall in the course after dedicating substantial efforts to bring up my marks from the midterms and thinking that I was properly prepared for the exam.
More so on my preparation for the exam, I went a saw Dr.Kelley twice in her office to discuss the content and layout I was planning for my exam essay. She gave me great insight in what topics to cover and how to cover them through out my essay. Sadly after my efforts in extreme preparation, I received a devastating mark on my final essay that caused my to drop 5 grade points from a B down to a C. When I saw this I immediately went to Dr.Kelley to discuss my final essay. The TA who marked my exam jotted down some notes as to where I lost marks but every time Dr.Kelley read out one of these notes to me I was able to go into my essay and show where I covered the material. It was thought that maybe I misinterpreted(I explain later on) the actual essay question but when I explained it to Dr. Kelley how I interpreted it she was able to see it from my view point and offered to re-read my essay. I was very hopeful that my mark would change to that of a better one seeing that Dr.Kelley seemed genuinely interested in my essay and knew the time and effort I put into it from my multiple visits to her about it.
Here is what the question was:
Essay 4: Development in certain domains of development (e.g. motor, cognitive, language, and socio-emotional domains) have clear effects on other areas of development. Discuss in depth at least four instances in which you can clearly see the effect of one domain of development on another, and use research findings to back up your argument. What effects would delays in one area of development that you have discussed have on the second area (i.e., would another pathway be found, would development in the second area never occur, etc)
Here is how I interpreted it:
-Show how one domain of development (Vision) effects the development of 4 other domains (Motor, Cognitive, Social, and Self-concept...I am pretty sure these were the ones I chose seeing that it was so long ago that I wrote it I don't exactly remember).
-I discussed how the domain of vision develops, then went on to discuss how it interacts with the development of each of the other domains I listed.
-I then showed how the absence of vision would impede the development of the motor domain.
Therefore I feel I was spot on with my interpretation but the TA said that I should have focused on the development of a domain affecting the development of other domains. Whereas I focused on the effect of one domain of development on the development of another domain which I took directly from the question above.
For these reasons I was very shocked when she e-mailed me back saying she was not going to change my mark. In her e-mail it seem she attributed many issues to grammatical and spelling errors (which were not detrimental to my essay) and considering it is a live, timed essay with no resources I would expect some forgiveness in that department (she also did not mention that spelling and grammar would be a big influence on our overall mark). It also seemed her other critiques were based on me using knowledge not necessarily learned in the course (but learned from the numerous other psychology courses I have taken) even though the information was still applicable and useful. I find this disturbing seeing that I feel I was docked marks for using advanced knowledge. I think her main critique might have been my interpretation of the question, but I find this bothersome seeing that I went and saw her about this before preparing for the exam and explained it to her in our meeting afterwards.
For all of these reasons, I feel like my final grade in the course in no way displays my efforts that I exhibited throughout it. From drastically improving my midterm marks, to going to see her numerous times I cannot think of why I received the final grade that I did. I very much appreciated her rereading my essay and giving me constructive criticism but I feel like that she does not understand where I am coming from and will continue to not understand.Therefore, this is my reasoning for an appeal.