To be gutted at this grade for my dissertation proposal?

[goodgradeshavewine]

I'm in my third year at uni and worked so hard at my research and inquiry module, I worked really really hard and found it fairly easy because I'd been putting in the work for it.

Anyways I submitted my dissertation proposal 4 weeks ago and got results back this morning. I thought I would at least be mid 60s as I truly thought it was a well put together and thought out dissertation plan. I only got 60 %.

I'm totally gutted, I know that still leaves me in the 2.1 range but only just. I'm frustrated because my other module that I didn't follow nor understand I got higher results for both my assessments in that. Overall for this term I am sitting at 63 percent.

I'm just so upset and like demotivated now. At one point in the feedback he says I spoke in a detached manner and that it must have been difficult for me to write in the third person. I literally have an email from him confirming I was to write in the third person...on top of that my friend that really rushed hers got a first. We have different markers but the marking just seems so random at my uni.

AIBU to be so gutted about my grade? Am I being pathetic?

*Some of their friends seemed to, or claimed to, or actually did, less work but did better than them^

I think there's also a culture of students claiming to have just dashed something off, they don't revise, yeah, they don't care, and all the rest of it, but in private also working hard.

I’m a last minute to the deadline person. Stuff I plan is fine but my best work is done under pressure. This is now ideal for my career choice which would be a stressful nightmare for some. I find writing easy, especially under pressure. I recently wrote a job application and read it back 2 days later. It was very impressive and there were bits I didn’t even remember writing that sounded very professional. It’s really strange. Comparing to others and the time they spent is unhelpful.

I’d ask for additional constructive feedback but it sounds like writing in the third person didn’t come easily and didn’t flow as well as it could for the reader and the expectations at degree level.

Yes to ThumbWitches - with the caveat that excessive use of the passive voice can make the writing sluggish and contorted. You can get round that in different ways (e.g. 'Collation of results proceeded via...').

@MitheringSunday

Yes to ThumbWitches - with the caveat that excessive use of the passive voice can make the writing sluggish and contorted. You can get round that in different ways (e.g. 'Collation of results proceeded via...').

Yes, absolutely. Practice (and reading others' papers) will help enormously!

Honestly this is good feedback which can be used to get a really good mark if you work on the areas that have been suggested. I know it’s disappointing when the hard work has not resulted in as good a grade as you’d like, but your tutor has given you really useful feedback. They clearly think it’s a good proposal and the research idea shows promise so far - but that there is plenty of room to develop it from ‘good’ to ‘great’.

If i’ve read correctly this is your first degree and first ever dissertation so this is a very encouraging place to start - don’t forget this is a proposal, the development of the research comes while actually implementing your ideas into solid research. Don’t lose heart, to me that feedback shows you’re on the right track.

OP, don't compare yourself with your friend.For a start, people often say they rushed something they actually spent time on. Also, lots of people work out complex ideas in their heads and only commit them to paper when pushed. She may have rushed the submission but spent hours refining her ideas in her mind.

And finally - 63% is a respectable 2.1. If you come out of uni with a 2.1 you've done well. No one knows if you scraped it or got a borderline first.

I don’t know why you are moaning about alleged differentiation in marking criteria btw, it stood you in good stead when you got a higher mark than you expected for the assignment you ” didn’t follow nor (sic) understand”.

My son was on track for a First, and ended up with a 2-2, because a project was adversely impacted by a 3rd party. It's beyond frustrating but I've no idea whether you can challenge it.

you have been given very detailed and helpful feedback by the marker. Next you need to make an appointment with your tutor to discuss it & decide what to do to improve next time.

The aspects of the proposal that were missing or weak (limitations / stats / ethics etc) will have had a much bigger impact on the mark than the grammar of 1st / 3rd person.

From the point of view of an academic (who has supervised and marked far too many dissertations and student projects over the years).

In my school, dissertations (first degree or masters) usually include a plan type assignment. Just so you can make sure students actually HAVE a plan, and have something you can give feedback on. Usually of low weight, but high enough that they actually DO it, else you won't realise they're crap at writing (say), until you get the first draft a week before the submission deadline.

In my school, the mark scheme for the plan and for the final dissertation is set by the school, and available to students.

I have seen many students who were excellent at the research write a terrible dissertation. I have also seen students with weaker research write it up really well. The key is LISTENING to your supervisor, although some people, it didn't matter how many times I told then what they needed to do, they still didn't do it.............

You don't appeal marks at uni, usually. As long as things are marked according to the mark scheme (for example, if two marks were assigned to your consideration of ethics, and there was no such mark given, not even saying 0/2, then possibly an appeal because correct process not followed. BUT marker thinks it was only worth 0.5/2, and you disagree? No dice, because as I keep telling students, lecturers ARE the authority when it comes to judging matters within their subject.

As regards final dissertations, usually marked by two people. In my school, the supervisor, and a second marker who also marks a whole bunch of others. And then the two markers have to try and agree a joint mark and explain why blind marks were so divergent (if they were). If they can't agree, then gets passed on further up the chain.

At the end, external examiners mark a selection of dissertations, and some times give advice such as overall, they think our marking scheme is too generous or needs to be adjusted for next year.

And very finally, students are anyway told that they may still get a first, even if their final mark is 68 or somesuch. The rules on exactly how this is decided vary between schools and unis. But it is all down there in the academic regulations on assessment.

Listen to your supervisor, and pay attention to the marking scheme, and do what you are TOLD will get you marks if you want the marks.

Here endeth the rant!

Wouldn't be disappointed op, I'd be happy with 60, still a 2.1 with loads of feedback for improvement. If you implement it then you will get high 60s easy for dissertation.

Focus
Alcohol is a drug that hardly ever gets the attention or headlines that other problematic drug use can generate. An interesting focus for research in that is seeks to update our understanding of the condition as well as to examine potential failures and problems in support.

Justification
Clearly defined terms and scope of the research, as well as establishing why this is important. With the current lockdown approaching an end, it is timely to consider these matters. You have also expanded on the elements to be researched and this is justified in reference to other earlier research that needs updated.

Research Design
Good grasp and description of some of the issues surrounding this approach. Would have liked more barriers and weaknesses identified that would have added marks for criticality.

Sampling and Data Collection
Excellent resource with the facebook group. However, some thought needed as to how you will encourage participants to take part.
The questionnaire element was competent in its description but perhaps not the most effective way to achieve your aims. Pople in this group may not have the technical and personal skills necessary to outline their feelings in writing. Perhaps a consideration of face to face or online interviews might have been better. Questionnaires if they are too lengthy tend to get a very poor response or people quit before the end.

Data Analysis
Good analysis that is let down by unclear writing on the inferential statistics element and some lack of understanding about what this can actually achieve. Please review carefully the statistics sections.

Ethical Considerations
Covered the basics here. Need to be clearer regarding some jargon used and explain more fully how ethical disputes can be resolved. Lots of other stuff regarding destroying the data, GDPR rules and access were not included.

Self Comment
Very good balanced self awareness shown here. You identified a number of issues that either you chose nto to address or ran out of time to address them. Most of them would have added to your proposal if they had been added in. I take on board the commitment to furhter reading over the summer to get you off to a flying start...

Writing
Minor issues with in text referencing that will be sorted! Your writing style was very third person but in a sort of detached manner - it must have been hard to write She will instead of I will, or perhaps more correctly the research will...This is not a major problem for writing your dissertation as you will have corrected for that as well.

The bits in bold are where you lost marks. It's actually really good feedback and a tutor/advisor who clearly read your proposal and gave time to delivering constructive feedback.

Unfortunately when it comes to academic grades, the amount of effort put kn doesnt necessarily equal a better grade..its about the content. I can understand why you're disappointed given how much effort you put in, but effort in itself is not enough if the idea is not as good as it could be, or isnt articulated in the best way. I think you need more specific feedback on the content rather than just focussing on how you spoke in the third person..

[quote goodgradeshavewine]@PurpleyBlue no but it is a bit demoralising when you have spent weeks on something and tried your absolute hardest and your friend hasn't and she gets much higher grade. It's okay for me to be disappointed at that. [/quote]
There it is 😂

This is a perfectly natural, valid feeling, OP. I'd feel the same. But I wouldn't go on to think that she didn't deserve a better grade than me because she rushed and I took my time. I'd think she either wrote a better proposal than me or the person marking gave her a higher score than she deserved, maybe because they were rushing/fancy her or something (I'd only think the latter if I'd seen examples of her work previously and thought it was sub par). Either way, I wouldn't think it was any of my business. Instead I'd think about incorporating the feedback into my future work to get the best grade I possibly could. Don't compares yourself to others.

I think, from the feedback, you are not fully understanding what they meant be "third person," not if you were writing "she will..."

You should be using impersonal third person language, like:

"The next stage of data collection involves...."
"Once the data has been cleaned and missing values removed....."
"There are a number of ethical areas to explore...."

[quote goodgradeshavewine]@Blossomtoes eh no, but if someone in my place of work or my professor told me to stop 'whining' I wouldn't be impressed and would certainly submit a complaint. So it's not something I need to get used to, there are far better ways of putting things whilst still straight talking. [/quote]
Oh dear @goodgradeshavewine would you really lodge a complaint against a colleague or manager who told you to stop whining? I would consider that sensitive and petty in the extreme.

As for your original question, I agree with PP saying that you are focusing on one minor bit of the feedback. This is excellent feedback that explains very clearly how you can improve, and I’m not sure what you hoped
to gain from your post when everything you need has already been provided to you.

The feedback also clearly says how you should be using the third person, so for you to say “well he TOLD me to do it like that” says to me that you haven’t properly sat down and tried to understand and digest the feedback. Because you’re disappointed - i understand that and it’s a horrible feeling. But your disappointment is yours alone and no one can do anything about it other than you.

I'm currently a very ancient mature student and the one time I've really queried an assignment mark was when the highlighted banding sheet didn't match up at all with the mark given... quick "err which one's right" email to the lecturer and it was a quirk of the wretched IT system and corrected.

I get bloody pissed off if I get a mark below 70 (I want a first damnit and I put the work in to get one in the bulk of assignments) but I do try to learn from it and move on while having a private sulk at myself.

I think the feedback ypu received is actually quite good, detailed and really tells you what you need to include in your actual dissertation. If you follow through on the feedback o think you will do really well. On a side note I got 65% on my dissertation proposal and then got a first on my dissertation. I was disheartened on my proposal results as it was lower than what I would achieve in exams tbh but I aced my dissertation. Don't lose hope. Its ok to be a bit miffed that your friend who wrote it up quickly did better but that is life, so let it go. Good luck with your dissertation.

So do you think just take into consideration the feedback and use this as a learning curve? It doesn't mean I'm not cut out to do my dissertation next year?

If you take on board the feedback and do exactly what he is telling you, then you can do really well (If there's anything you don't understand, like the third party thing, then see if you can either ask for more help, or discuss with friends until you understand it).
If you take it personally, are unable to take the advice on board, or think the feedback is wrong because you know better than your supervisor then you won't improve your mark. It's as simple as that.
Academic work involves a lot of feedback (often extremely rude!) and your response needs to be "what can i take from this to improve my work". There's no point getting offended, especially by such kind and helpful feedback as you've had. In your case you are new to the process - you will quickly learn how to write these things in the correct way, it's just a learning curve. Try and read several examples to gain a better understanding.

Sorry to be fussy and to sound like that poster, but:

Anyways and I'm just so upset and like demotivated now. At one point in the feedback he says I spoke in a detached manner and that it must have been difficult for me to write in the third person.

Makes me think you have a writing style issue.

Sounds like data collection and ethics were lacking somewhat? I'm doing a masters - it's not a competition it's a personal struggle and 60 is great. Imagine if you'd got 51?!!!!

And it's only the proposal not the dissertation itself!

As for your friend, quick work doesn't mean poor work. It's about looking at the marking criteria and hitting that.

@Cam2020 I'm obviously not going to write the same way I would on an Internet forum on an academic essay...I've never had bad feedback regarding my writing style. In fact I have received a few over 70 percents in third year for essay writing. This is my first ever dissertation proposal or anything of the sort I've done. I'm glad I posted on here because it now makes sense, his comment about the third person style, I totally understand now and can see where I went wrong there and how to rectify. As others have pointed out I have lots to concentrate on improving now, but just to assure you my writing style is not the same here as what it is in an academic piece of work.

Are you genuinely doing lots of reading outside of your own work / works you're directly citing? It seems like you were surprised by the difference between writing in third person in one sense (she rather than I) versus an academic sense (the research will investigate xyz vs I will determine xyz) which indicates you are viewing your subject through the lens of your own first hand experience of handing in work to receive marks (a sort of transactional approach) rather than wider reading that will benefit you in a myriad ways.