UniTutors/Professors I have an ethical dilemma for you!

[BloodyConscience]

I am a mature student and in one class I have been struggling. I am supposed to write a paper that will make up the entirety of my grade. I'm struggling with this kind of paper. It's the only bloody time I will need to write it in uni as far as I know and I was struggling with child sickness and child care to make all my seminars. The class is over now and I'm just afraid I will fuck it up massively.

I thought I could send a rough draft to one of these online tutors and have them give me some feedback (projected grade) and pointers on where I am going wrong.

I wrote to two and one has said it wasn't ethical and likened it to plagiarism. She was very polite and didn't quite say it like that until I asked her to elaborate. I asked as I obviously don't want to do anything that will leave me on dodgy ground. One has offered to help me though.

I only saw it as someone tutoring me and help I might have got if I had been able to attend office hours or more seminars.

I won't do it if it's shaky morally. I really didn't think it was.

Thank you in advance.

I’m a university lecturer and we would not be able to provide feedback on a late draft piece of work for summative assessment for one student as it would be disadvantageous to the other students. However if there was an option to provide a draft and you were unable to do this initially due to extenuating circumstances then I would expect my student to contact student support, acquire an approved extension and then I would be happy to provide feedback.

OP you REALLY need to reach out to your study skills /academic support services and your tutor.

Is your tutor aware that the reason you’ve missed tutorials/seminars is childcare/personal circumstances? They NEED to know otherwise it just looks like you aren’t bothered. When you missed the tutorial that was focussed on the essay prep did you reach out and ask your tutor for notes or if you could meet at a different time to get the info?

If you can’t attend the scheduled teaching then you need to be REALLY proactive in communicating your reasons why and also in asking for support in a timely manner.

Your OP reads like you’ve missed quite a lot of scheduled teaching, not communicated or asked for support and now with a deadline looming are starting to panic. Your tutor may be able to extend the deadline or offer support but only if you reach out!

Can you tell us what you're struggling with? Is it the content of the course itself or something more generic that we could possibly advise on (e.g. essay structure)? There will be many helpful books in your library on how to write an essay- check if any of these are available online if you're struggling to travel to uni.

Content and this specific essay. I don't really understand what they want from me even though they have given us two samples of what is considered good and what is considered less good.

Peer feedback is usually encouraged- can you meet a friend on the same course and go through each others' drafts?
I literally wouldn't know anyone's name from the class, let alone phone number. I know it's not great. I don't live near the uni and I literally only go to go to seminars. I can't afford childcare beyond that. Other than that I's stressed up to here> You'd never realise I was a student.

My dp is a uni lecturer, the uni isn't closed, there are no lessons on, but tutors are in as are support staff. I'd expect your uni is similar. I would call and speak to anyone from the department, they are there to help you!

So, do you think you can manage an email to the course leader? You really do need it if you can't understand what's wanted.

Btw, it's not important but just so you know for that email - in the UK, most of us are 'Dr So-and-So' not Professor. If your course leader is a Prof, it'll say so on their university web page.

Sorry if that isn't helpful but I found the etiquette of academic emailing a real minefield when I was studying and sometimes no one tells you things!

OP you REALLY need to reach out to your study skills /academic support services and your tutor. Is your tutor aware that the reason you’ve missed tutorials/seminars is childcare/personal circumstances?
I always messaged the individual tutors when I couldn't make it. They know I try and I always come prepared having read the material, I'm just feeling a bit swamped at the moment.

If you can’t attend the scheduled teaching then you need to be REALLY proactive in communicating your reasons why and also in asking for support in a timely manner. Your OP reads like you’ve missed quite a lot of scheduled teaching, not communicated or asked for support and now with a deadline looming are starting to panic.

Pretty good assessment of the situation. I was hoping to get some work done over Christmas but obviously that didn't happen.

Btw, it's not important but just so you know for that email - in the UK, most of us are 'Dr So-and-So' not Professor. If your course leader is a Prof, it'll say so on their university web page.

I'll email, I always use whatever title is listed on their uni bio.

Thing is, if you had the chance to submit a draft, and didn't, you would gain an advantage.
can you put in for extenuating circumstances for the draft piece? You would need to do that within 14 days where I work and you'd ned evidence eg doc letter.

Anyway, I better get off MN and do some work. I really appreciate everyone's input, so thank you.

If you had a chance to submit a first draft, but you were unable to, could you see if you could get extenuating circumstances to allow you to submit that draft now? (Does that even make any sense?).

It may be too late now, or may not be possible retrospectively but it's perhaps something to investigate or bear in mind for the future.

Otherwise, this is just one bit of coursework for one module, right? If you work out the actual percentage it'll contribute to your overall grade it's probably