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WARNING: This is a rant. I was going to just deal with it, but it's really starting to bother me now. I'll try my best next term, as I will no long work full-time anymore! Holy cow it sucks.
I am a student who is frequently haunted by losing stupid marks.
Not because of my stupid mistakes (well ocassionally), but merely for stupid guidelines.
Here are some examples of what I lost marks on...
Calculus Assignment - I lost 8% on my overall assignment because when asked whether or not a funtion is continuous at a certain point, and I argued that it was not because it is not defined there, which means it does not follow the definition of continuity. Yet, I lost marks because I did not show that it was not defined there! For god sakes, it's ****ing a number over zero! What's to show! I LOST 8% DAMMIT!
Calculus Assignment - I lost about 5% for an unknown REASON! The question shows a check mark showing that its correct, followed by 7/10. WTF?!
Calculus Midterm - I lost a mark for something half way through my solution. I was ok with that. I didn't do it wrong or anything... I just didn't generalize, but then I lost a mark AGAIN at the end of the question.
Note: I'm getting the mark back for the one on the midterm because the professor himself was the one who pointed it out, so I'm going to go see the TA in a bit.
Linear Algebra - I lost marks because I used a principle of Linear Algebra I (currently in II). I used the idea that... det(kA)=k^ndet(A). I had to explain why that is! WTF?!
Linear Algebra - I lost marks because when showing that the matrices are not orthogonal I did not explain that it didn't equal the identity, but that's the definition of being orthogonal! I'm assuming the TA knows the definition.
Linear Algebra - I lost marks because when I arrived at an inconsistent linear systerm... I stopped and said it wasn't possible because the system was inconsistent, so I lost marks because I didn't explain why it is inconsistent!
The list goes on.
Note: I lost marks because I differentiated log(n^2) with respect to n directly instead of simplifying log(n^2) = 2 log n then differientiating! They have the SAME solution.
What's up with that?
I try and justify everything I can, but damn even definitions! That's like an english student justifying the use of word by explaning it's definition in the middle of his essay.
I'm doing great in all my classes, but assignments seem to be killing me really badly over stupid stuff.
I just hope I get to do my Honours project next term, so I can hopefully throw a good presentation. Because currently, I look dumber than I really am, when for the most part, I am amongst the few students who actually understand what's going on, but getting marks along with those who don't.
(Students who don't know what they are doing get grades up 85% because assignments are worth so damn much, hence easily killing my grades. My average on my midterms was like 95%, but my assignments... well let's not talk about it. Like I mentionned earlier, I will do my best next term to put every darn detail in it. Also, to make the TA's life hell, I will try to throw higher mathematics in the mix to solving simple problems.)
Note: I agree with the grading system Paul S. Halmos has devised for smaller classes or in general. I will post a photocopy of it sometime in the future hopefully.
I am a student who is frequently haunted by losing stupid marks.
Not because of my stupid mistakes (well ocassionally), but merely for stupid guidelines.
Here are some examples of what I lost marks on...
Calculus Assignment - I lost 8% on my overall assignment because when asked whether or not a funtion is continuous at a certain point, and I argued that it was not because it is not defined there, which means it does not follow the definition of continuity. Yet, I lost marks because I did not show that it was not defined there! For god sakes, it's ****ing a number over zero! What's to show! I LOST 8% DAMMIT!
Calculus Assignment - I lost about 5% for an unknown REASON! The question shows a check mark showing that its correct, followed by 7/10. WTF?!
Calculus Midterm - I lost a mark for something half way through my solution. I was ok with that. I didn't do it wrong or anything... I just didn't generalize, but then I lost a mark AGAIN at the end of the question.
Note: I'm getting the mark back for the one on the midterm because the professor himself was the one who pointed it out, so I'm going to go see the TA in a bit.
Linear Algebra - I lost marks because I used a principle of Linear Algebra I (currently in II). I used the idea that... det(kA)=k^ndet(A). I had to explain why that is! WTF?!
Linear Algebra - I lost marks because when showing that the matrices are not orthogonal I did not explain that it didn't equal the identity, but that's the definition of being orthogonal! I'm assuming the TA knows the definition.
Linear Algebra - I lost marks because when I arrived at an inconsistent linear systerm... I stopped and said it wasn't possible because the system was inconsistent, so I lost marks because I didn't explain why it is inconsistent!
The list goes on.
Note: I lost marks because I differentiated log(n^2) with respect to n directly instead of simplifying log(n^2) = 2 log n then differientiating! They have the SAME solution.
What's up with that?
I try and justify everything I can, but damn even definitions! That's like an english student justifying the use of word by explaning it's definition in the middle of his essay.
I'm doing great in all my classes, but assignments seem to be killing me really badly over stupid stuff.
I just hope I get to do my Honours project next term, so I can hopefully throw a good presentation. Because currently, I look dumber than I really am, when for the most part, I am amongst the few students who actually understand what's going on, but getting marks along with those who don't.
(Students who don't know what they are doing get grades up 85% because assignments are worth so damn much, hence easily killing my grades. My average on my midterms was like 95%, but my assignments... well let's not talk about it. Like I mentionned earlier, I will do my best next term to put every darn detail in it. Also, to make the TA's life hell, I will try to throw higher mathematics in the mix to solving simple problems.)
Note: I agree with the grading system Paul S. Halmos has devised for smaller classes or in general. I will post a photocopy of it sometime in the future hopefully.