Academic dishonesty by the teacher

[Cgiff94]

So kind of a long story. I am a senior in college about to graduate. One of the classes I'm in assigns a 7+ page paper every week. After a while of getting mediocre grades, I wanted to see if the teacher was actually reading my work. So I wrote 5 lines in one of the papers explaining I was a dog. Literally. And the teacher just checked it off and surprisingly gave me the second best grade he has given me in that class. It is very obvious he did not read the work I turned in, and probably hasn't to many other students. I brought this up to the head of the department and nothing has and probably will come of it. Do I have a case of I was to sue?

 

[Proserpina]

So kind of a long story. I am a senior in college about to graduate. One of the classes I'm in assigns a 7+ page paper every week. After a while of getting mediocre grades, I wanted to see if the teacher was actually reading my work. So I wrote 5 lines in one of the papers explaining I was a dog. Literally. And the teacher just checked it off and surprisingly gave me the second best grade he has given me in that class. It is very obvious he did not read the work I turned in, and probably hasn't to many other students. I brought this up to the head of the department and nothing has and probably will come of it. Do I have a case of I was to sue?

Tell us where you're located, and tell us the damages you have incurred.

 

[Zigner]

So kind of a long story. I am a senior in college about to graduate. One of the classes I'm in assigns a 7+ page paper every week. After a while of getting mediocre grades, I wanted to see if the teacher was actually reading my work. So I wrote 5 lines in one of the papers explaining I was a dog. Literally. And the teacher just checked it off and surprisingly gave me the second best grade he has given me in that class. It is very obvious he did not read the work I turned in, and probably hasn't to many other students. I brought this up to the head of the department and nothing has and probably will come of it. Do I have a case of I was to sue?

Sorry, this forum is for US law only.

Here in the US, you don't have a case to sue.

 

[Cgiff94]

Tell us where you're located, and tell us the damages you have incurred.

I am located in Massachusetts. And I am afraid of Failing the class and having to repeat it in order to graduate because of the unfair grading I have suffered

 

[Zigner]

I am located in Massachusetts. And I am afraid of Failing the class and having to repeat it in order to graduate because of the unfair grading I have suffered

What did the Prof say when you discussed this with him (politely)?

 

[Cgiff94]

What did the Prof say when you discussed this with him (politely)?

He lied right to my face. He said he read it but didn't know what to do with it so he just checked it off. I've seen him put question marks in papers, or you know he could have circled it. He did neither and when I confronted him about it he lied. I immediately went to the head of the department who basically only said "I'll talk to him about it".

 

[CdwJava]

While that is professionally lazy on the professor's part, and the college could suffer some problems if professors are not actually doing their jobs adequately, I don't see grounds to actually sue. I'd say you have taken the steps you can take so far. Until you have actually suffered damages, you have no grounds to sue. Even then, you may well have an uphill climb in order to prove that you deserved a better grade than the one you got.

Grading can often be a subjective matter. If there is no objective rubric that he is required to abide by, then his subjective opinion may be all that you can expect from him.

 

[Cgiff94]

While that is professionally lazy on the professor's part, and the college could suffer some problems if professors are not actually doing their jobs adequately, I don't see grounds to actually sue. I'd say you have taken the steps you can take so far. Until you have actually suffered damages, you have no grounds to sue. Even then, you may well have an uphill climb in order to prove that you deserved a better grade than the one you got.

Grading can often be a subjective matter. If there is no objective rubric that he is required to abide by, then his subjective opinion may be all that you can expect from him.

But hypothetically speaking of I don't do well enough to earn a passing grade, and thereby forces to retake the class, could I sue?

 

[CdwJava]

Maybe. It might be hard to prove that you were given an unfair grade. Just because he did not appear to evaluate the paper properly does not mean that you deserved a better grade than you received. Heck, it could be that you got a better grade than you might have otherwise deserved.

I'd consider working with the professor and ask what you could to improve your grade. Certainly there are other graded projects or activity that you could also focus on.

 

[Cgiff94]

Maybe. It might be hard to prove that you were given an unfair grade. Just because he did not appear to evaluate the paper properly does not mean that you deserved a better grade than you received. Heck, it could be that you got a better grade than you might have otherwise deserved.

I'd consider working with the professor and ask what you could to improve your grade. Certainly there are other graded projects or activity that you could also focus on.

Well I as thinking of asking my friends in the class to slip in a sentence or 2 of nonsense into one of their assignments. To collect more evidence. I would rather have somebody else grading my work, I do everything he asks and get mediocre grades. He provides no feedback, just check marks. And Idk if I mentioned this but he gave me the second highest grade I've gotten in that class on that assignment. So me saying I'm a dog gets me more points than normal

 

[tranquility]

Well I as thinking of asking my friends in the class to slip in a sentence or 2 of nonsense into one of their assignments. To collect more evidence. I would rather have somebody else grading my work, I do everything he asks and get mediocre grades. He provides no feedback, just check marks. And Idk if I mentioned this but he gave me the second highest grade I've gotten in that class on that assignment. So me saying I'm a dog gets me more points than normal

Reread CdwJava's post. How would your plan "prove" there was an "unfair" grade given. You path is through the college's complaint system.

 

[TheGeekess]

Well I as thinking of asking my friends in the class to slip in a sentence or 2 of nonsense into one of their assignments. To collect more evidence. I would rather have somebody else grading my work, I do everything he asks and get mediocre grades. He provides no feedback, just check marks. And Idk if I mentioned this but he gave me the second highest grade I've gotten in that class on that assignment. So me saying I'm a dog gets me more points than normal

Does the instructor have a rubric that is used for that class? Or is it 'Here, write an essay about this, that and the other', with no guidance other than 'it has to be this many pages/words and cited this way'?
I'd do the work to the best of my ability and stop trying to play games. Instructors read a lot of essays, whether they are teaching online or in a classroom setting. Their job is to make sure you understand the material you are presented. Not every instructor will give feedback, either. Is your ego that weak?

 

[Cgiff94]

Reread CdwJava's post. How would your plan "prove" there was an "unfair" grade given. You path is through the college's complaint system.

Is it not enough to show he gave me a better grade on something with nonsense In it compared to normal assignments without nonsense? Would it not be enough to catch him not reading multiple people's assignments and instead just giving out grades?

 

[Cgiff94]

Does the instructor have a rubric that is used for that class? Or is it 'Here, write an essay about this, that and the other', with no guidance other than 'it has to be this many pages/words and cited this way'?
I'd do the work to the best of my ability and stop trying to play games. Instructors read a lot of essays, whether they are teaching online or in a classroom setting. Their job is to make sure you understand the material you are presented. Not every instructor will give feedback, either. Is your ego that weak?

He actually has a specific rubric unique to every assignment saying specifically what he wants. So I do specifically what he asks for. I do all the work to the best of my ability. My ego isn't weak at all, my GPA is a 3.3 and I don't want to have to retake a class where I wasn't graded fairly. This is for incase I do have to retake the class

 

[quincy]

Well I as thinking of asking my friends in the class to slip in a sentence or 2 of nonsense into one of their assignments. To collect more evidence. I would rather have somebody else grading my work, I do everything he asks and get mediocre grades. He provides no feedback, just check marks. And Idk if I mentioned this but he gave me the second highest grade I've gotten in that class on that assignment. So me saying I'm a dog gets me more points than normal

The problem I see with this plan of yours is the professor can point to the paper where you wrote you were a dog, and can point to any other paper where you have inserted nonsense sentences, and any failing grade he gave you becomes justified.

The best way to get feedback from any professor is to make an appointment to speak with him during his office hours. Go through one of your papers with the professor and have him tell you where he thinks you fell short.

In other words, I would concentrate less on "collecting evidence" and more on improving your relationship with the professor and learning exactly what he expects from his students. I think going to the head of the department was probably not your best action.