›
To take part in discussions on talkSFU, please apply for membership (SFU email id required).

I feel like dropping out of arts

randomuser
edited December 2007 in General
I'm not pleased with some of my marks, I feel like Im getting ripped off having my essays and projects being marked by TA's, Im not saying TA"s are dumb but do they honestly have the knowledge profs do and the level of understanding of the topics?

Whenever I write creative or try to be innovative, keep in mind Im not going off topic, I get lower marks (should I have to write stupidly obvious and structured like a grade 8 essay?)...I even brought an essay I got a low mark on to the actual prof and then it was given 3 grades higher from a c+ to an A-, should I really have to do that with every essay? I mean sure not everything I write is going to be a masterpiece due to time or effort constraints (I know i've written pure shit before that deserved c or c+), but the subjectivity is alarming sometimes, and the lack of TA's in the knowledge of the class sometimes, even if they mean well.

If I werent in my third year already I'd seriously change departments and go into biochem like I originally wanted to. I looked at the requirements and it'd take me an extra year and a half to grad If I switched now which is not an option.

I feel like I'm not getting what Im paying for in the lecture/tutorial format, when TA's are involved.

My rant for the day

Comments

  • Morro
    edited December 2007
    I switched from English to biology and have yet to look back. I remember some of what was going on back then and I just laugh.
  • randomuser
    edited December 2007
    :( what year did you switch? I've lost all motivation to finish this last year and a half
  • Ether
    edited December 2007
    Not all the TA's mark the same way... but what else would you expect from a faculty that values subjectivity?
  • cassie1013
    edited December 2007
    I agree. I have several examples of night before crap that's earned A-, B+, A.. :\ And then this one paper I spent a week on, I got like a C LOL. It's so weird. I never know what I'm going to get anymore
  • baby e
    edited December 2007
    It all depends on who is marking your stuff. Every semester, i get different TA's giving me different marks because they have their own "marking style". You have to go to talk to them. Thats the only way really.
  • randomuser
    edited December 2007
    I get what youre saying about their individual subjectivity but I dont think its fair, it is true I could kiss some ass and go to office hours with my draft and have them tell me exactly what needs to be done and what to change for it to be an A with them, I just dont like the fact I have to take time out of my busy schedule to do it.

    Im not used to this cause at my college every class I was in was seminar there was never any third party marking my essays, well there was a few times but very rarely
  • JayDub
    edited December 2007
    Welcome to Simon Fraser... as you see... it is not a seminar college...
  • randomuser
    edited December 2007
    Quite aware of that but for the price i pay I figure I should get something out of more than just a piece of paper when I grad and headaches debating the validity of my marks. I mean all I really want is the piece of paper end result, I guess my conception of profs and teachers is wrong, as they seem to just be strictly lecturers here in many cases.
  • Insatiable
    edited December 2007
    The arts will drive anyone crazy, but this is why you must stay ahead of the competition by knowing what standards your TA marks on. What criteria are used in marking essays? Make sure you find out because differnt profs/TAs have different marking standards. This was the first thing I would ever find out when writing my essays--clear it up before you begin writing and it becomes a problem.

    As arbitrary and subjective as the arts are, I'd still rather write essays than study formulas for exams.
  • Kevin M.Kevin M.
    edited December 2007
    Insatiable nailed it. You have to know what you're TAs (and Profs) expect from you in your writing and research. That's why its so important to go to lecture and tutorials because you get a sense of what they are looking for and how they will be marking - stuff that isn't in the notes!@

    And I'd rather write an essay than an exam any day of the week. It's a more stable output than an exam which has too many factors that need to be right to do well. But that's a topic for a nother day
  • Insatiable
    edited December 2007
    True story: there was a multiple-choice exam in a first-year crim class. It was worth 40% and I thought I'd cruise through it (since I was getting As and A+s on my assignments in the class). Well, more than half the class had failed it (according to the TA) because almost all of the questions were on topics neither in the textbook nor discussed in lecture. I tried to make a complaint but the TA discouraged me: "He's a tenured prof, you know. Complaining will do you little even though I know the exam was unfair [the TA herself told me the exam was unfair!!!]". So she added a few marks to an assignment I did earlier to take me to the next letter grade.

    Shows you how fair exams in arts can be, right?

    Essay > exam any day of the week!

Leave a Comment