Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 547
Submitted: November 24, 2014 at 10:07:15 PM
First Name: Taylor
Last Name: Pender
Student Number: 10054977
Email: 11tlp2@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: POLS
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Code: FILM 240
Term: Fall
Year: 2014
Petition Category: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Instructor's Name: Sidneyeve Matrix
Component: Video Listicle Assignment
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: I am appealing the decision of Professor Sidneyeve Matrix, particularly her refusal to grade an assignment for her FILM 240: Culture and Media course, despite the proof of its completion before the due date and time.
On Monday, November 3rd, I had a FILM 240 ¿video listicle¿¿ assignment due at 8PM, which was to be submitted by embedding the link of the assignment onto a Moodle forum. Since I am unfamiliar with embedding links, I made sure that I watched the Webinars, podcasts and the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video on this process, well in advance.
At approximately 7:30 I logged onto Moodle to upload my assignment. At this time I watched the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video again to refresh my memory and to ensure that I was able to upload my assignment properly. I followed the instructions of Professor Matrix, which, in summary, stated to publish the listicle created on Piktochart, copy the link that this in turn provided and then paste it into the ¿html¿¿ option provided on Moodle. Unfortunately, this did not produce my listicle, but rather the link itself. I attempted to complete this process two more times, with no avail.
After multiple failed attempts, I decided the best thing I could do was to email Professor Matrix to show her that my assignment was in fact completed by the submission time. In my email I stated my specifoc difficulties, noting the fact that I had watched the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video twice, also providing the link to my completed listicle, ensuring her that the assignment was in fact completed on time before the deadline. I was aware that in other circumstances Professor Matrix had been able to upload my peers¿¿ assignments, so I was confident that she would provide assistance in some way or another. I did not want all of the time and effort put into this assignment to be wasted.
The next morning, November 4th, I received an email from Professor Matrix in which she said that she hoped that ¿¿all had worked out¿ for me, suggested that I had read the instructions and watched the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video, and ultimately stated if I had not come to a solution, I would not be graded on the listicle. In her response she also made it clear that she had been online until 5PM on November 3rd to handle technical problems, stating that if any technical problems arose between 5 and 8PM I would be out of luck.
Overall, I was left with no suggestions or solutions other than to read the instructions, which I had already done. I then requested to meet with her in person to discuss the circumstances and to possibly show her the difficulties I was facing in the flesh. At this time, she refused to meet with me, stating she had ¿¿course business¿ that she had to deal with. Seeing as there was nowhere else for me to go, I made the decision to contact the Department Head of Film Studies, Susan Lord, to explain my situation, hoping for further assistance. The following day, November 5th, Professor Lord indicated that she stood by Professor Matrix¿¿s decision, reiterating the point that I should have had the assignment done by 5PM in order to receive support for technical problems.
However, I did not assume that I would have technical difficulties and therefore did not feel any reason to have the assignment done by 5PM, when the deadline was 8PM. I had taken the time to review the instructions and ¿¿walk-thru¿ video provided explaining the submission process. I had completed the assignment by the deadline, however was faced with unforeseen circumstances that were beyond my control. I took the steps to demonstrate to my professor that the assignment was completed by the deadline, however am being penalized as if I had not completed it at all.
Not only will this affect my FILM 240 grade significantly, this will follow me throughout the rest of my studies here at Queen¿¿s as well as my future endeavours. Prior to this assignment, I had received an A, A, and a B- on all other assignments for the course, which I pride myself in. By receiving a near zero on this assignment, my grade will be detrimentally affected. This will in turn affect my overall GPA, which I have put a lot of time, effort and hard work into achieving and attempting to raise. I plan on going to law school, which for most schools requires having an average of a 3.7 GPA. This FILM 240 grade will lower my GPA considerably; ultimately negating the hard work that I have put in, in hopes of attending law school along with accomplishing the goals that I came to Queen¿¿s University to reach.
In closing, I do not believe that I should be penalized for technical difficulties, when I took all of the correct steps in attempting to come to a solution on my own, and when that was not an option I made sure to demonstrate to Professor Matrix that the assignment was in fact completed. Her refusal to mark my assignment is extremely unjustifiable, and has been unlike any other treatment that I have been faced with throughout my experience here at Queen's.
On Monday, November 3rd, I had a FILM 240 ¿video listicle¿¿ assignment due at 8PM, which was to be submitted by embedding the link of the assignment onto a Moodle forum. Since I am unfamiliar with embedding links, I made sure that I watched the Webinars, podcasts and the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video on this process, well in advance.
At approximately 7:30 I logged onto Moodle to upload my assignment. At this time I watched the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video again to refresh my memory and to ensure that I was able to upload my assignment properly. I followed the instructions of Professor Matrix, which, in summary, stated to publish the listicle created on Piktochart, copy the link that this in turn provided and then paste it into the ¿html¿¿ option provided on Moodle. Unfortunately, this did not produce my listicle, but rather the link itself. I attempted to complete this process two more times, with no avail.
After multiple failed attempts, I decided the best thing I could do was to email Professor Matrix to show her that my assignment was in fact completed by the submission time. In my email I stated my specifoc difficulties, noting the fact that I had watched the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video twice, also providing the link to my completed listicle, ensuring her that the assignment was in fact completed on time before the deadline. I was aware that in other circumstances Professor Matrix had been able to upload my peers¿¿ assignments, so I was confident that she would provide assistance in some way or another. I did not want all of the time and effort put into this assignment to be wasted.
The next morning, November 4th, I received an email from Professor Matrix in which she said that she hoped that ¿¿all had worked out¿ for me, suggested that I had read the instructions and watched the ¿¿walk-thru¿ video, and ultimately stated if I had not come to a solution, I would not be graded on the listicle. In her response she also made it clear that she had been online until 5PM on November 3rd to handle technical problems, stating that if any technical problems arose between 5 and 8PM I would be out of luck.
Overall, I was left with no suggestions or solutions other than to read the instructions, which I had already done. I then requested to meet with her in person to discuss the circumstances and to possibly show her the difficulties I was facing in the flesh. At this time, she refused to meet with me, stating she had ¿¿course business¿ that she had to deal with. Seeing as there was nowhere else for me to go, I made the decision to contact the Department Head of Film Studies, Susan Lord, to explain my situation, hoping for further assistance. The following day, November 5th, Professor Lord indicated that she stood by Professor Matrix¿¿s decision, reiterating the point that I should have had the assignment done by 5PM in order to receive support for technical problems.
However, I did not assume that I would have technical difficulties and therefore did not feel any reason to have the assignment done by 5PM, when the deadline was 8PM. I had taken the time to review the instructions and ¿¿walk-thru¿ video provided explaining the submission process. I had completed the assignment by the deadline, however was faced with unforeseen circumstances that were beyond my control. I took the steps to demonstrate to my professor that the assignment was completed by the deadline, however am being penalized as if I had not completed it at all.
Not only will this affect my FILM 240 grade significantly, this will follow me throughout the rest of my studies here at Queen¿¿s as well as my future endeavours. Prior to this assignment, I had received an A, A, and a B- on all other assignments for the course, which I pride myself in. By receiving a near zero on this assignment, my grade will be detrimentally affected. This will in turn affect my overall GPA, which I have put a lot of time, effort and hard work into achieving and attempting to raise. I plan on going to law school, which for most schools requires having an average of a 3.7 GPA. This FILM 240 grade will lower my GPA considerably; ultimately negating the hard work that I have put in, in hopes of attending law school along with accomplishing the goals that I came to Queen¿¿s University to reach.
In closing, I do not believe that I should be penalized for technical difficulties, when I took all of the correct steps in attempting to come to a solution on my own, and when that was not an option I made sure to demonstrate to Professor Matrix that the assignment was in fact completed. Her refusal to mark my assignment is extremely unjustifiable, and has been unlike any other treatment that I have been faced with throughout my experience here at Queen's.