Business Math Exam Fiasco: Lessons Learned?

[1MileCrash]

For a math elective. Our exams are online.

I did very poorly on the first exam because I wrote almost all of my answers that warranted it in scientific notation purely out of habit, which were all graded as incorrect.

I of course emailed the professors protesting, they will meet and talk about it apparently.

Moral:
Don't take business maths.

 

[lisab]

Dang! Maybe the exams were graded by TAs who didn't know better...?

 

[1MileCrash]

No, it is "auto-graded," I received my score as soon as I hit submit. Usually it's pretty intelligent at grading, there are multiple ways an answer can be typed out and still be correct.

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

Did it explicitly say which format was required ?

 

[gb7nash]

For a math elective. Our exams are online.

I did very poorly on the first exam because I wrote almost all of my answers that warranted it in scientific notation purely out of habit, which were all graded as incorrect.

I of course emailed the professors protesting, they will meet and talk about it apparently.

Moral:
Don't take business maths.

Not really much to do with business math, but that sucks. Hopefully you'll get it sorted out.

 

[1MileCrash]

Not really much to do with business math, but that sucks. Hopefully you'll get it sorted out.

I don't see why a superior way of writing large or small quantities (of whatever that may be) shouldn't be used across all maths.

 

[gb7nash]

I don't see why a superior way of writing large or small quantities (of whatever that may be) shouldn't be used across all maths.

That's just it. It just depends what you're doing. If you deal with large/small numbers a lot, I agree. A lot of people don't like getting used to scientific notation though. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone write in scientific notation. I saw it more in physics than math classes, where significant figures are very important. Just realize this issue isn't limited to business calculus. It could happen in any class.

 

[lisab]

If your instructor won't budge on this point (which would be silly but it happens), you might make the argument that you made one mistake - not using the proper number format. While it's true that that one mistake is evident in many of the problems, it's still basically just one mistake. I'd argue that you shouldn't be marked down more than once (if at all).

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

I agree with lisab but if it was explicitly mentioned that you should write your answers in a specific format, you might not have a case.

Sometimes an answer simply is not enough unless expressed in the "appropriate format".

I have gotten nabbed for silly things like this.

 

[gb7nash]

I agree with lisab but if it was explicitly mentioned that you should write your answers in a specific format, you might not have a case.

Even so, if the professor is nice enough, (s)he'll let it slide once. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a talk with the professor.

 

[1MileCrash]

I agree with lisab but if it was explicitly mentioned that you should write your answers in a specific format, you might not have a case.

No, it's a very simple and basic system. It's on "mymathlab.com." I'm sure many of you have used it before. Nothing is really mentioned, you just log in and take your test.

It is textbook based, the instructor does not make the test. It is randomized questions based on the chapter's subject matter.

 

[gb7nash]

No, it's a very simple and basic system. It's on "mymathlab.com." I'm sure many of you have used it before. Nothing is really mentioned, you just log in and take your test.

I would fight it then. If there's nowhere on the site that specifies and the professor didn't tell you, you should get the credit back.

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

I don't mean to discourage you but typically you are expected to be familiar with the system prior to major exams.

Anyway, I wish you the best on your case.

 

[1MileCrash]

I don't mean to discourage you but typically you are expected to be familiar with the system prior to major exams.

Anyway, I wish you the best on your case.

I've had it in other classes. In what way have I demonstrated a lack of familiarity?

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

I've had it in other classes. In what way have I demonstrated a lack of familiarity?

Well, I figured you should have been aware of how the answers are usually entered and acted accordingly.

If you were familair with the software, you should have known that the answers required are usually not entered in scientific notation i.e I had an online assignment for first year physics and we were required to enter angles. After my first use of the software I found out that the program only accepted degrees and not radians. Hence, my next answers where all in degrees.

 

[1MileCrash]

They decided to give me full credit for all answers, whew.

 

[JaredJames]

It is textbook based, the instructor does not make the test. It is randomized questions based on the chapter's subject matter.

I would fight it then. If there's nowhere on the site that specifies and the professor didn't tell you, you should get the credit back.

I would note here, that if it is based on textbooks and the textbooks have a specific notation, that should be all you need.

If for example, the textbooks have always written 1,000,000 instead of 1x10⁶ then you should be aware what format they are expecting.

 

[lisab]

They decided to give me full credit for all answers, whew.

I'm glad your instructors are reasonable!