Imagine showing up for class expecting to receive an "A" or "B"on a test you took a week ago. Instead, you are floored when yousee the failing grade of 24/50. As you wonder how this couldhappen, you look around at your classmates and see that they havethe same puzzling look on their face and the same low grade.
This is what happened to me and about 50 other students Feb. 16.Further evaluation of the problem revealed that there were as manydifferent tests as there were students. The first test was gradedand used as the answer key from then on. This would explain why oneperson in the class scored higher than a 50 and everyone elsescored lower.
Here is the solution the teacher proposed. The class was given achoice to re-take the test in a week or to not take it over andhave a zero as the grade. If we choose to take the zero, the testwill not count against us because we will be able to drop thelowest test grade. This is where many students became upset.
Why should we have to re-take a test or take a zero at the handof our professor's mistake? Nobody wants to re-take a test, but atthe same time, nobody wants to take a zero and waste an opportunityto drop their lowest grade. The problem is that we don't even knowwhat we really made on the original test (and don't have theopportunity to keep that grade) and could very possibly do worse onthe re-take than on the original.
Some may argue it is more than fair for the professor to let ushave a second go or just drop the grade. I do not find this a goodway of dealing with the problem. This solution may seem fair tosome, but the original problem is still present. The student issuffering because of the teacher's mistake.
Many people have better things to do (not to mention other teststo study for) than to spend time studying for a test that theyalready took a week ago. The fair solution for this situation wouldbe for the professor to grade the tests accordingly, as opposed tomaking the students take their time to study and re-take the test.I am not sure if anything positive will come of this letter, but Ifelt people needed to be made aware of this problem in case theyever have to re-take a microeconomics test.
Carter Wray
Sophomore, Business
