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I take a course of which the remarking policy requires students to point out why their marks of exam or assignments are wrong, or they cannot request for a remarking. The professor said it can stop students to ask for more marks for no reason. It is like the markers don't need to tell you why you are wrong, but students should tell why they are correct. Is this appropriate for remarking?

Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩
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Rapidturtle
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    The markers already marked it, so they told you why you are wrong. Usually in remarking, students try to show why they are not wrong, although the marking person thought so. And yes, you would have to point that out in detail, otherwise, there is no chance to discuss it. – skymningen Jul 03 '17 at 09:25
  • I'm frankly amazed - in what way could this requirement of minimal effort on the student's part (effort which they've presumably already mostly put forth if they've decided they deserve a regrade!) possibly be inappropriate? (Incidentally, think about the asymmetry here: the time it takes for a grader to write a sentence of explanation for each student is much,much more than the time it takes a student to write a paragraph of explanation for the grader. Asking the student to show some basic engagement is entirely appropriate.) – Noah Schweber Jul 05 '17 at 04:24

3 Answers3

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Before I devote time and effort to re-marking a paper, I would want to have some reason for thinking that the original marking was incorrect. Usually, that reason would be that the student tells me what (s)he thinks is wrong with the original marking. Other reasons are imaginable, for example I might find out that an assistant who did the grading was confused about what answers are correct, or I might find out that the assistant was angry with a particular student and allowed that to influence the marking. But these other reasons occur very rarely. In the vast majority of cases, a student who wants a paper to be re-marked must point out an error in the original marking. (Of course, a student can also simply ask me to explain the original marking, not asking for a better grade but trying to understand what (s)he did wrong.)

Andreas Blass
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  • Would you let the marker to handle students' issues? – Rapidturtle Jul 04 '17 at 05:06
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    @Tony No, if students have complaints about the marking of their papers, I would handle those complaints myself. In my department, graders are usually hired only to grade homework, not to hold office hours or otherwise interact with students, and I try to avoid any situation where graders would have to do more than the homework marking that they are being paid for. In fact, I usually don't even tell the students who the grader is, so student complaints must come to me, not to the grader. (The situation would be different if the grader were a teaching assistant who also holds office hours.) – Andreas Blass Jul 04 '17 at 08:45
  • So students cannot just come to meet you and ask for regrading? – Rapidturtle Jul 05 '17 at 02:12
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    @Tony Students can come to my office hour and ask for regrading, but if they do, the first thing I'll do is ask them which problem(s) they want regraded and why they think the original grading is wrong. – Andreas Blass Jul 05 '17 at 02:23
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Just as there can't be a presumption in an exam that a student has answered all questions correctly, there can neither be a presumption that any request for regrading is well-founded. The onus in both cases is on the student to show that she deserves a good grade. This is simply a matter of consistency.

henning
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Your question is a bit difficult to understand. I believe you are saying that your course's policy on remarking (which other users, like me, may know as "grade appeal") requires students to explain why they believe the initial marking was incorrect, so that students don't appeal every mark that they are unhappy with. The professors, however, don't tell you why you received the initial mark, and you wonder if this is an appropriate policy, given the apparent double standard.

Assuming this understanding of your question, I say that yes, it is appropriate, but not optimal (on the professor's side). When students do not get a perfect grade on an assignment, professors should, ideally, tell students what they did wrong and what got them penalized. However, professors (or whoever is grading the assignments) are often very busy and may have too much work to spend time giving personalized feedback on what students did wrong. So while it's not ideal, sometimes professors just can't give reasons for the grades they give due to time or work pressures. Students, on the other hand, usually don't have the same workload as professors, even if their days are also busy. Therefore, they can spend more time giving a good explanation for why they do not believe this grade is appropriate.

There's also a second reason, which may actually be stronger than my first one. Every assignment that a student submits for credit in a class must be graded, whether by the professor or another person. That's a routine task. A remarking or grade appeal is not. Students should not have to appeal every grade. It should be an uncommon occurrence, because professors should take enough care with grades so that they are fair and accurate. So since an appeal is not a routine task, the student should have to justify their request for one - as your professor said, this prevents anyone from submitting an appeal without a good reason.

Neal Cruco
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    There are some markings on the exam papers, so I think the markers told students what they did wrong. I am just talking about remarking, the students can still come to ask about the marking issues if they have questions. – Rapidturtle Jul 01 '17 at 18:51