Asking for assignment to be remarked - masters level

[Supergirlthesecond]

How will this go down? Some of the comments in the feedback I have received suggest tutor didn't know of my current health problems (I have an injury and very limited mobility and am restricted to home). I have informed course leader, however. I am also on extremely strong medicine before surgery and a bit spaced out. I think I did well to write the 4000 word assignment.

I find this tutor a bit strange and a bit cavalier about things. There seems to be an inconsistency to his feedback and he wants things written in a way that seems a bit simplistic to me yet then wants complex analysis (technical field). I have kept things clear in order to avoid any ambiguous interpretation but feel that I am amending my writing style to accomodate him too much.

You should be able to get extenuating circumstances and be able to rewrite but they won't give you a different mark becuase you were ill. I've known people get a lower mark when they have asked for a remark too.

I assume they wanted you use to use more in-depth knowledge but written simply. I don't know if this is you but alot of people tend to write the simplest thing in a strung out long sentence whereas a marker would prefer you to analyse something well but in a simple way.

@Mumofone1858 Thanks. I think it said you can appeal the decision but once something has been graded there are no rewrites. It is not a UK uni.

Agree with PP, you should be able to get extenuating circumstances attached to this piece of work to acknowledge the challenges you had in writing it.

That won't change the mark but might make a difference in the overall mark later on.

Is the work summative (i.e. counts towards your final grade)? At my university, summative work can only be remarked when there is a discrepancy between the marking criteria and the way the marking has been done. In other words, if the marking criteria didn't say anything about technical content but you then were marked/got comments on technical content you might be able to ask for a re-mark.

However, my University is very strict on the conditions in which re-marking can take place and very few students are granted their request to have work re-marked.

Can you go and speak to this tutor about his feedback?

Everything about this tutor and his colleague seem strange to me. He sent me an email once that seemed half written and I replied politely saying that I didn' think I had received all of his email and would he might sending it again. He said I had received the full email he sent but he just couldn't be bothered to sign it. I don't know how to read that!

His comments to the group as a whole seemed defensive to me. None of the other tutors on courses I have completed showed the distribution of grades and explained why nobody received an 'A' and said we mark particularly hard on this course. It all seemed false.

I think he has nitpicked and been inconsistent.

@Mumofone1858

I assume they wanted you use to use more in-depth knowledge but written simply. I don't know if this is you but alot of people tend to write the simplest thing in a strung out long sentence whereas a marker would prefer you to analyse something well but in a simple way.

I didn't think I had done this as normally I am very good at writing/analysing but actually, I may have done this, this time. I am struggling with the medicine which is leaving me exhausted and completely inarticulate at times but the alternative is too much pain which also laves me exhausted.

Perhaps not quite as you have said, but I think my analysis could have been more in depth, in places.

Everything about this tutor and his colleague seem strange to me. He sent me an email once that seemed half written and I replied politely saying that I didn' think I had received all of his email and would he might sending it again. He said I had received the full email he sent but he just couldn't be bothered to sign it. I don't know how to read that!
Some academics are just fucking rude in their emails to people! However, this is a separate issue from your concerns about your mark and feedback. What I mean is that if you wanted to ask for a re-mark, don't bring in the issue that he's an oddball because it'll seem as though you've got a problem with him which will weaken your request for a re-mark. A request for a re-mark should be tied to the University policy on re-marking, not bring personal issues (i.e. that you think he's odd) into it.

His comments to the group as a whole seemed defensive to me. None of the other tutors on courses I have completed showed the distribution of grades and explained why nobody received an 'A' and said we mark particularly hard on this course. It all seemed false.
It may well be that another academic who's moderated his marking has questioned the mark distribution and asked why no-one got As. This tutor might well be getting ahead of that. Or another student might have asked him about this and he' thought it's easier just to share with everyone.

I think he has nitpicked and been inconsistent
If you're requesting a re-mark, you should make this clear and draw out examples from his marking/feedback where you believe this to be true.

Basically what I'm saying is that if you're going to request a re-mark, base the request on issues with his marking/feedback not on issues you have with him as a tutor/person.

@DirtyDennis

Thanks, you are right. I feel like I want to say, under the circumstances, this work isn't that bad ! Some of his criticism makes sense, some is helpful but overall, I don't think the grade reflects the work (part of it was building a website and I have explained some of the decisions I made and the limitations I was under with resources).

It only scraped a pass (ECTS 'E'). I wasn't expecting an A but perhaps a C, at least.

I think you need to do a bit of research before you do any more.

Your university should have set out somewhere in excrutiating detail exactly what the grounds for a remark are, and what the criteria for reaching a particular mark is.

For example

E: Attainment deficient in respect of specific intended learning outcomes, with mixed
evidence as to the depth of knowledge and weak deployment of arguments or deficient
manipulations

C: Clear attainment of most of the intended learning outcomes, some more securely grasped
than others, resting on a circumscribed range of evidence and displaying a variable depth
of understanding

Your university should also have let you know what the learning outcomes are (assuming a taught masters).

You also need to ensure you meet your universities requirements for submitting a request for remark / appeal for extenuating circumstances. Again this should be clearly set out somewhere - you should do this first as there is likely to be a deadline for submitting evidence, which is likely to require a medical note.

Your university may also have support available to help students understand and use feedback. If this is available use it - it is unclear from what you have said if your tutor is giving unacceptable feedback or not.

Essentially you need to be careful how you word a request for re-marking. At my university, there are very very clear guidelines that work will absolutely not be re-marked where a student disagrees with a marker's grade.

In your last post you said "I don't think the grade reflects the work" and "I wasn't expecting an A but perhaps a C, at least". At my university, if you said this in a request for re-marking, you'd be told in no uncertain terms that your work wouldn't be re-marked because this is essentially you having a difference of opinion from the tutor.

Instead you should look up the policy of appeals/re-marking and frame your request in that language. At my university this would primarily be around mismatches between the marking criteria and the marks/feedback. You'd strengthen your case if you picked out very specific examples from the feedback as well.

You should also book an appointment with the tutor to go through the feedback.

You also said in an earlier post that the tutor's a bit strange. If you think this has had a negative impact on your experience or on your learning, you can/should complain about this. Again, I'd recommend pulling out specific examples and highlighting the impacts of these rather than leading with a vague sense of you not liking the guy

Hope I'm making some sense here!

Yes, lots of sense! Thank you all - I really appreciate your advice. I am quite isolated due to injury so value this.

I think I did well to write the 4000 word assignment.

This is what stood out to me. Thing is though, is that they are marking it to a standard, not to a "oh they did well to hand it in at all so we'll award them for that".
I think you need to be honest with yourself, or find someone who will be honest to you. Look at what you'd written. Is it really better compared to someone else's marked the same level? Or is it similar standard, but you feel you should have got better because you feel you had to put more effort in.
If it's the former. Yes, go and discuss it. If it's the latter, then, no, that's not how it works.

As others have mentioned, extenuating circumstances and allowances will generally give you extra time, extra support etc, not change the marks.

At this level there is still a standard to be met, it’s not about lowering the standard because of your circumstances, it’s providing the time and support.

It might be that you are not clear on the criteria for this particular piece.

Look again at exactly (point by point) what was required at each level (the difference between an A and a C is usually quite distinct) and then consider exactly where you met each one of those criteria in your answer.

If you tutor gave you an E - they really felt that you missed many of these points completely.

It is likely that you won't get extra marks for meeting the set word-count. This is simply a requirement.

Sadly, there are usually no extra marks for completing the answer in pain or under pressure. However sympathetic your tutor is, the work will be marked on its own merits.

Thank you to everyone who posted. I have started to go through his comments and am trying to look at the assignment through his eyes. Next, I will go through the assessment criteria. Your guidance is really helpful as it has been a struggle.

Thanks (and keep ‘em coming!)