So, checked my mailbox at uni today and found a mini report that listed my grade for my presentation, along with the comments I received
( Read more... )
Presentation grades are weighted and taken from everyone's comments (everyone in the room gets a sheet at the start and they give you a score out of 9 possible points; the professors' scores count for a bigger percentage than grad or undergrad students). And no, I was the first and there hasn't been another presentation yet.
It's... odd, though. I was signed up to present last semester, but then circumstances went awry and it got pushed back to this semester. However, the department head (who was in charge of the grades for this last semester) told me he would weigh whatever I received against last semester, since that's when I had signed up for it.
But when I asked him about some specifics beforehand (where do I get this form, when do you need my abstract, etc), he directed EVERYTHING to the prof doing it this semester (who, BTW, does not like me). And it sounds like he's the one who gave me the grade.
Which is even odder, really (if true), because they don't assign grades beforehand like that. They wait until the end of the semester, look at everybody's grade, and then possibly curve it. And if there is even a slight curve, that would bring my grade up to a B (79% would go up with any curve).
Also, only one other student did a research presentation last semester, so I'm only being compared to him, and I think I recall he got a very low B (82% I think?), and almost nobody gets As, so they really should take a good look at that system.
As far as the comments, a few aren't bad in terms of critiquing, but most of the nice ones aren't helpful (ego-stroking, sure, but not helpful), and the majority of negative ones are just mean or attacking aspects that had nothing to do with my research (why didn't I look at other amino acid oligomers? I TOLD YOU! THE POLY-L-LYSINE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO EXHIBIT THIS BEHAVIOR UNDER THESE CONDITIONS IN THE LAB!!! WHY THE FUCK WOULD I RUN A BUNCH OF SIMULATIONS AND WASTE MY TIME TO SEE NOTHING BUT RANDOM STRUCTURES?!?).
No, the C thing is actually okay. I got nervous and contacted the grad school, and they pointed me to the part in the grad school manual that states I'm okay. So... yeah, still trying.
Of course, as a number of people have pointed out to me, I have gotten the educational material from this and can state I have a masters on resumes and then explain later if at all, since nobody really checks those things (although it may be the reverse for awhile, since the masters might be scaring off people from hiring me).
Honestly, A's are few and far between. The person I mentioned earlier that failed a class two years in a row? She was the lowest grade both times, but she was just a few points under the lowest person the second time around. Since someone got an A in the class, it dictated that she would get the C, again.
Well, in our program, As actually are pretty common (I've only gotten one B before this). Of course, that could speak more for how crappy this program is rather than the effort grad students put into the classes. :P
Love that tumblr! Thank you for the link! (Although now I have a new source with which to waste time...)
It's... odd, though. I was signed up to present last semester, but then circumstances went awry and it got pushed back to this semester. However, the department head (who was in charge of the grades for this last semester) told me he would weigh whatever I received against last semester, since that's when I had signed up for it.
But when I asked him about some specifics beforehand (where do I get this form, when do you need my abstract, etc), he directed EVERYTHING to the prof doing it this semester (who, BTW, does not like me). And it sounds like he's the one who gave me the grade.
Which is even odder, really (if true), because they don't assign grades beforehand like that. They wait until the end of the semester, look at everybody's grade, and then possibly curve it. And if there is even a slight curve, that would bring my grade up to a B (79% would go up with any curve).
Also, only one other student did a research presentation last semester, so I'm only being compared to him, and I think I recall he got a very low B (82% I think?), and almost nobody gets As, so they really should take a good look at that system.
As far as the comments, a few aren't bad in terms of critiquing, but most of the nice ones aren't helpful (ego-stroking, sure, but not helpful), and the majority of negative ones are just mean or attacking aspects that had nothing to do with my research (why didn't I look at other amino acid oligomers? I TOLD YOU! THE POLY-L-LYSINE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO EXHIBIT THIS BEHAVIOR UNDER THESE CONDITIONS IN THE LAB!!! WHY THE FUCK WOULD I RUN A BUNCH OF SIMULATIONS AND WASTE MY TIME TO SEE NOTHING BUT RANDOM STRUCTURES?!?).
No, the C thing is actually okay. I got nervous and contacted the grad school, and they pointed me to the part in the grad school manual that states I'm okay. So... yeah, still trying.
Of course, as a number of people have pointed out to me, I have gotten the educational material from this and can state I have a masters on resumes and then explain later if at all, since nobody really checks those things (although it may be the reverse for awhile, since the masters might be scaring off people from hiring me).
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Also, I believe this is relevant to your situation:
http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/post/75931472767/when-presenter-questions-are-actually-comments-and
I love this site because it makes me laugh because it is all true (except for a few for me), and then I cry because I realize it is all true.
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Love that tumblr! Thank you for the link! (Although now I have a new source with which to waste time...)
Actually, even though not so relevant, I love this one (cute!):
http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/post/75428333587/when-my-labmate-catches-me-using-her-stuff
And this is how I should have answered most of the questions at my seminar:
http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/post/74550543597/responding-to-unfair-reviews
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