What do I do if my group has given me an unfair participation mark?

This is for psych 1xx3. I've tried talking to my tutorial TA but he says he can't do anything and that he just forwarded the evaluations to the senior TAs. He told me to email Julia Riddell but I still don't have a reply yet. I emailed Dr. Kim just now. I found out pretty late...didn't check marks until the day before exams on the 15th.

Any help is appreciated.


Thanks,
A Desperate.

Like, I-might-actually-fail-this-course-desperate.

I'm pretty sure you're set now. That's really all you can do until you get a reply.

I'm not sure if they have TAs in the Psych lobby this time of year (probably not), but it wouldn't hurt to stop by for a sec to check and ask.

I hope you really did participate fairly, and that it works out for you.

I've read on the discussion boards that what your group members gave you as a partcipation mark cannot be changed after they send your TA the emails. Sorry to say, but I don't think much can be done.

its subjective... i doubt the TA will change it.. being that the TA has no idea of what went on in the group

sucks if u really did deserve more tho

They gave you whatever they gave you for a reason. For some reason, I'm not surprised

Why would they give you a bad mark if you did good work? :S

And that's wierd that you can see what they gave you, in all feedback I've had we don't see the mark.....that would be silly. How awkward would that be....for the rest of university if I ever grouped up with those students I would give them shit marks every time.

Originally Posted by mOeeOm

Why would they give you a bad mark if you did good work? :S

You'd be surprised how vindictive people can be. I heard a group of people talking about a girl in their group, who did all the work she was asked to do, but just wasn't a good writer. They were all going to give her 0 in the participation mark. Without telling her. They thought it was hilarious.

I understand it can be frustrating to work with somebody whose writing/work is low-quality. That sucks, a lot. But they were going to destroy her mark without even telling her that there was a serious problem. People do things like that.

:O

^That's so cruel! Seriously! Ugh. I'm disgusted.

To the OP, definitely explain things, and I hope things work out for you. I don't think you would've posted if you felt you /didn't/ deserve the mark, and I don't think people should bring in biases for whatever reasons when giving grades like these. University marks are not a joke, and people should stop treating them as such, especially when it's not only theirs on the line, but others' as well. I've heard about so many bad groups from my friends, and it really sucks, because even if your part is perfect, if the others' is not, you're more negatively affected. It's absolutely horrible.

Your situation was similar to what I had to deal with, however it was one of our group members who thought the mark we had given her was unfair. She talked to the TA's but I don't think they could do much as it's pretty much submitted. The only way to have that change is to have a conference with Dr.Kim - which is what our group had to do. So as long as you're able to show that you don't deserve that mark and able to show that your group members marked you unfairly, he most likely will change your mark.

Originally Posted by shurlee

Your situation was similar to what I had to deal with, however it was one of our group members who thought the mark we had given her was unfair. She talked to the TA's but I don't think they could do much as it's pretty much submitted. The only way to have that change is to have a conference with Dr.Kim - which is what our group had to do. So as long as you're able to show that you don't deserve that mark and able to show that your group members marked you unfairly, he most likely will change your mark.

10/10 if shurlee was the one to Desda a shitty mark.

They do make it very clear that your final mark for the project can't be changed once classes end. Your mark is your mark.
That being said I would go to the admin office for the course (can't remember the room # but it is right across from the stairs on the 4th floor in the psych building) and make sure it was not an input error.

You might need to take a look at how you interact with a group. Group work is a skill like anything else. If you suck at writing essays don't expect to get a good structure/grammar mark on a paper. I am normally very generous with group marks but I have screwed people. One group member did not show up to 1/2 the meetings, submitted his/her stuff late and we had to totally redo the entire things anyways. Me and the 3rd member stayed up all night working and he/she couldn't make it.

Sorry to go off on a tangent but if you got a below average group mark consider it a sign that you need to work on that particular skill. Maybe join a group study session next year?

You people are wierd who give others less than perfect...

I just give everyone perfect for group evaluation, and if I didn't like em I just avoid grouping up with with them. Why burn bridges? :S

Originally Posted by mOeeOm

You people are wierd who give others less than perfect...

I just give everyone perfect for group evaluation, and if I didn't like em I just avoid grouping up with with them. Why burn bridges? :S

It's not a question of liking them or not, when somebody quite literally does no work (or work that's so bad/late they might as well not have done any work) they really don't deserve they same mark as the rest of the group that's forced to put in more work to make up for it.

Considering for 1XX3 you have a perfect default group mark, and your group members had to go out of their way to mark you down I am inclined to believe that you may have done something(or rather, not done) to earn this mark. Anyway, good luck trying to get it changed.

Originally Posted by Joey

You might need to take a look at how you interact with a group. Group work is a skill like anything else. If you suck at writing essays don't expect to get a good structure/grammar mark on a paper. I am normally very generous with group marks but I have screwed people. One group member did not show up to 1/2 the meetings, submitted his/her stuff late and we had to totally redo the entire things anyways. Me and the 3rd member stayed up all night working and he/she couldn't make it.

Story of my life.

Please pull your weight people. You can't expect other people to make up for your lazyness. Not all of us will tolerate this shit.

If you did pull your weight, there is no reason why your group members should give you poor participation marks.