ETA: I took some deep breaths. There is nothing I can do anyway. But this cannot be common practice?

[popmom]

This is totally a rant. My dd is an English major. She is a junior. She is taking this class--in her major--required. The instructor is new--a phd candidate, I believe. We aren't helicopter parents by any stretch, but this class has been so crazy that dd has been giving us updates because she has been pretty stressed about it. That and the sheer craziness of the classroom experience...

This instructor just re-weighted every category of assignments the day after the "last day to withdraw". So the original syllabus laid out each category and the percentage it counts, and she just up and decides to change it?? This teacher has been the worst teacher any of my kids have ever had--ever. I know everyone--my kids included--has had their fair share of hard a$$ profs--we’ve all been there—but this is another level entirely. She is so hostile a student has cried in class. She gives zero guidance on certain writing assignments, and then fails everyone saying "it should have been bullet points and not essay format". But she didn't give any instruction. All the students googled this “Précis”, and all of the examples were in essay format. This assignment (that everyone did bad on) was one category (the Précis) that she increased the weight from 10% to 15% of the final grade. OK so that's just one ticky example. This woman has argued with the office of accessibility over giving accommodations to one of dd's classmates multiple times this semester.  I could go on. 

The instructor is behind. She isn't going to be able to get in everything on the original syllabus. We are pretty sure this is what precipitated the change. So she (the instructor) screwed up and is punishing the students for ((her)) getting behind. The class has pdf copies of the original. 

This has been a difficult class (not a bad thing) aside from the hostility from the teacher. My daughter had a solid high B until this recent change. Now she has a mid C. Many of her fellow classmates aren't faring nearly as well. This entire semester none of them have actually known where they stand in the class because of this change. Some of them would have dropped. I've never heard of this happening before. This is my third child in college. Two have graduated. One of them is in grad school. They are incredulous, too. Rant over. 
 

serenity now! 😂 

Edited November 21, 2022 by popmom

[Eos]

So sorry this is happening, I can't imagine the frustration level.  It certainly doesn't seem to be best practice.

[HomeAgain]

This is not normal, and yet similar to what my husband is experiencing in one of his classes.  The expectations, rubric, and grading scale were so out of sync with each other that I sent my own writing professor a thank you note for having such a well run class. Dh's grades have been changed, his feedback has been changed, the rubric has been rewritten AFTER the assignments were turned in! When dh failed an assignment that met the rubric exactly, he took everything to his academic advisor: screenshots and emails from before and after, what the expectations were...he was hot.  He eventually got a resolution in the form of the professor would be held to the information given to the students, and could not change things after giving the assignment.

[lmrich]

My neice had a similar experience. The entire class banded together to file a formal complaint to the dean. Their letter was to the point and included the evidence that made it clear that the course and professor was not up to the school's standards. Their first lettter was ignored, but they persisted and every class memeber made an appointment to speak with the dean. Then change happened. I know, that not one kid failed, and, I think, my neice got her grade bumped up  to an A. The  process was not easy, but the kids  were in the right. 

 

[popmom]

Thanks for allowing me to vent! It helped me stop ruminating and go to sleep last night. 
 

@lmrich one brave soul from the class has an appointment with the dean today. We’ll see what comes of it. 

[popmom]

5 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

This is not normal, and yet similar to what my husband is experiencing in one of his classes.  The expectations, rubric, and grading scale were so out of sync with each other that I sent my own writing professor a thank you note for having such a well run class. Dh's grades have been changed, his feedback has been changed, the rubric has been rewritten AFTER the assignments were turned in! When dh failed an assignment that met the rubric exactly, he took everything to his academic advisor: screenshots and emails from before and after, what the expectations were...he was hot.  He eventually got a resolution in the form of the professor would be held to the information given to the students, and could not change things after giving the assignment.

That’s very much what is happening here. That gives me some hope for this poor class! 

[popmom]

That student did meet with the dean today, and apparently he was shocked at all that has happened. He is contacting someone else in the department to help the students file a grievance. It sounds like he took it very seriously. Hoping it will be resolved in the students’ favor.

[easypeasy]

I always wonder, with professors like this, do they really have this much free time? I mean, re-doing a syllabus isn't quick or easy and yet, they seem to make the time to jerk everyone around, but not time to grade homework or to give proper feedback in time for exams... 🙄

Each of my girls have had at least one professor situation very similar to this, with things being changed after-the-fact and after the drop date. It's infuriating. Yes, they took actionable steps to correct the situation, and always had a favorable outcome - but that is TIME CONSUMING and college students don't actually have time and energy to have to make someone do their dang job.

I hope your dd's class gets things sorted out and am sorry they're having to deal with it in the first place.

It does always seem to be the disorganized, behind profs who pull this, doesn't it?

[Clemsondana]

This is a hard thing for me because the role of the syllabus has changed so much.  When I was a student, it was more of a working plan, while now it seems to be seen as a contract.  As an instructor, I would not be OK with making a change that is to the detriment of the students, even if that meant more inconvenience for me (such as moving a test because I felt like the students needed more time, but allowing those who now have a conflict to take it early).  I don't think we necessarily want to lock instructors into a mode where they can't make changes, ever.  Some classes have a set of content that must be covered, but others could sometimes get benefit in lingering over a book that is provoking good discussion and dropping other content.  But, they need to find a way to work the assignments so that a poor grade doesn't become a higher percentage of the grade.  A much more reasonable thing would be to change the late assignments - instead of a 2 page paper over book Y that they won't get to, have a 2 page paper over new topic in book X, in addition to the presentation that they were already scheduled to do over book X.  Same point distribution, but different assignment.  When talking with administration, that's the bigger complaint.  It can be less productive to have a 'They shouldn't be able to change anything' approach since many deans can probably imagine a time when there is actually a reason to change plans mid-semester..but not in a way that causes most of the students to do more poorly than they would have otherwise.  

I've also seen students complain about changes that didn't need to affect them.  I have work due on Fridays every week, but one week at the request of a couple of students who had been sick I allowed the class 2 extra days, with the work being due on Sunday.  I got a lot of complaints about having to work on the weekend from students who had not been sick, even though there was nothing stopping them from turning it in on Friday like they usually do.  As I told them, I'll never do this again, but, but there was nothing requiring you to wait until the day before something is due to do the work.  The assignment has been posted, and you've known all of the information to do it, for 3 weeks.  It was bizarre, really - the students who had been sick were happy for the extra time (I would have given it anyway, but the blanket 'you have 3 extra days to do everything' was easier than them needing to contact me individually), some students turned everything in according to the usual schedule so that their weekend would be free like it usually was, and some others apparently saved everything until the weekend and then got mad.  

[regentrude]

Glad they filed a grievance. The syllabus is a binding document,  and the instructor can NOT just change it in a way that disadvantages the students ( nobody will complain about extra points). If they are unable to cover everything they had planned, which can easily happen for an inexperienced instructor,  they need to find a way to adjust the point structure so that it isn't to the student's detriment. 

This would be one of the rare situations I would recommend escalating the complaint to the department chair.

[popmom]

59 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Glad they filed a grievance. The syllabus is a binding document,  and the instructor can NOT just change it in a way that disadvantages the students ( nobody will complain about extra points). If they are unable to cover everything they had planned, which can easily happen for an inexperienced instructor,  they need to find a way to adjust the point structure so that it isn't to the student's detriment. 

This would be one of the rare situations I would recommend escalating the complaint to the department chair.

I appreciate your input! I'll pass this along to dd. 

[regentrude]

To add to my previous post: it is also not okay that the instructor does not give guidance on the assignments. She needs to make clear instructions available,  and it is best practice to include a grading rubric so students know what the expectations are.

Since this is a graduate student,  the responsibility lies partially with whoever assigns and overseas the grad student teaching assignments. They should provide more guidance for an inexperienced instructor and teach her how to teach.

[popmom]

9 minutes ago, regentrude said:

To add to my previous post: it is also not okay that the instructor does not give guidance on the assignments. She needs to make clear instructions available,  and it is best practice to include a grading rubric so students know what the expectations are.

Since this is a graduate student,  the responsibility lies partially with whoever assigns and overseas the grad student teaching assignments. They should provide more guidance for an inexperienced instructor and teach her how to teach.

Thanks. The students asked her about a grading rubric, and she responded, "Rubrics are for freshman classes!" or something along those lines. 😕 My other dd says she's had grading rubrics in grad school. 

[regentrude]

3 minutes ago, popmom said:

Thanks. The students asked her about a grading rubric, and she responded, "Rubrics are for freshman classes!" or something along those lines. 😕 My other dd says she's had grading rubrics in grad school. 

How the heck are students supposed to fulfill the instructor's expectations if those aren't spelled out? Mind reading?

If no rubric is given, then the instructor needs to at least model what level of work she expects and what details she is looking for. That can be done by providing and discussing examples. But letting students guess at the format? What's that supposed to teach?

Edited November 23, 2022 by regentrude

[popmom]

34 minutes ago, regentrude said:

How the heck are students supposed to fulfill the instructor's expectations if those aren't spelled out? Mind reading?

If no rubric is given, then the instructor needs to at least model what level of work she expects and what details she is looking for. That can be done by providing and discussing examples. But letting students guess at the format? What's that supposed to teach?

My sentiments exactly! 

[Bootsie]

The one thing that I have seen most often lead to a grade appeal in a class is a professor not grading according to what was stated on the syllabus.  I am curious when you say that everythig was reweighted.  Was it that one assignment is being dropped and the weight on every other item increased proportiionately?  Or were weights changed so that some things are now more heavily weighted and some things less heavily weighted?  

I have had times that I have had to change the number of assignments or tests on a syllabus (COVID lockdown, weather conditions, etc.)  It is not always easy to do so in a way that is neutral for all students.  If it were a minor assignment, I would say "We aren't getting to Assingment #*, so everyone will receive an A on it".    Some classes/material it is easier to plan the exact layout of syllabus and grading than for others.  As I gained more experience teaching I also learned how to develop a syllabus to minimize issues like this.  If it is a class that will have pop quizzes, for example, saying that the weight of the category  "pop quizzes" will be 15% of the final grade rather than there will be five pop quizzes worth 3% of the grade each.  I have seen inexperienced professors get themselves in a mess when they develop an overly ambitious syllabus and then realize they can't get it all done.  

[popmom]

The teacher fixed the syllabus issue, so my daughter did end up with a B in the class. 🙂 Very thankful.

[Reefgazer]

Changing the weighting on the syllabus would never fly at my school and the prof would lose a grade appeal based upon that alone.  We are allowed to change the progression of the course with notification in writing to the student, however.