Ask HN: If you got this assignment back, what would you do?
It would have been a 150%, but the grander marked me down to a 70% because I typed it instead of writing it by hand. I showed all my work. A friend of mine literally wrote down everything I did in pen and got full credit. I'm a computer science major, and my handwriting is illegible.
Do I:
* Talk to the prof, who marks me as a troublemaker for the next ~7 months I'll be in his class?
* Print out all my homework in a font of my handwriting (almost legible, few points knocked off for neatness, somewhat "dishonest")
* Actually write everything out (quality varies greatly, points knocked off for neatness)
* Appeal to some higher power
As a reference point, I have about a 95% average in the non-homework grades in this class. This type of homework is worth about 15% of the final grade, which would push me down a letter grade.
11 comments
[ 0.24 ms ] story [ 10.5 ms ] threadIf the grader gives you a reasonable answer, accept it. If not, go to the professor and repeat what you explained to the grader.
You won't be labeled a "troublemaker" unless you make trouble, usually... so just be honest and courteous. Profs and graders get students all the time that have questions about their grades.
Lastly, in the grand scheme of things, an A vs a B doesn't matter all that much when you're getting a job. All the companies I interviewed with at my college's job fair were more interested in my projects and extra-curricular stuff than my GPA. I wish I had been on some open-source project that I could've put on my resume, because that would have opened many more doors than a 0.01 GPA bump.
I try not to care too much about grades, but a B in this class runs me a serious risk of losing a sweet scholarship (much more than I make interning in the summer). Sucks, but that's the way the world works.
I would comply with his wishes even if you don't see value in it. I've forced myself to work on paper even though I am a computer nut and I absolutely beleive it is a good habit to have. It engages a different part of your mind, and is very valuable even when you do go back to computer-based work.
The best you can hope for when paying through the nose for college is that some prof you run into will have some subtle but deep insight that you couldn't, or wouldn't have stumbled on through self-directed learning. Those gems are rarely intuitive and never make sense on face value. True, this guy may turn out to be just a kook, but to me, it seems worth humoring him because who knows, you may find out there is real value in it.
It's not going to be the typing of your solutions, it's the impression that you've used something other than paper and approved calculator. And now you've created that impression, it may be too late to correct it.
It's your responsibility to make it absolutely obvious.
My handwriting use to be atrociously bad. I worked on it a little and it got to the point where what I write is legible (though, not neat).
It's a useful skill to have, writing on paper.
In the short term, just talk to the professor.... what's hard about this? Also, DO NOT "appeal to a higher power". The prof will find out about it, and the higher power will say "talk to your damn professor". Now you ARE the troublemaker.
If this was either in the syllabus or otherwise discussed, then it's your bad, and you have to eat it.
Otherwise, it's outrageous that rules are made up on the fly, and you should appeal to the professor.
Appeal to the professor first; don't go over his head.
Your argument should emphasize fairness: rules are being made up on the fly.
Don't print out your homework in a font of your handwriting. You won't fool anyone, and you'll be rightfully nailed for quibbling.