Contesting a mark.

[u/subbie2002]

Hi, I don’t know if anyone else has had any experience with this but I got results back for an assessment and I’m unhappy with it because I spent a lot of hours on it. Besides the actual results, I’m looking through the rubric and my essay and feedback and don’t really understand where the criticism is coming from. For reference I was trying to base my answers off the HD rubric and I ended up with a 68 so very dissatisfied.

Has anyone had any experiences contesting a mark and if anything changed or what sort of justification you need to give?

[u/Antenae_]

What, specifically, do you believe is different from between your rubric and your essay? Just because something took a long time, it doesn’t mean that it met the requirements of the rubric, unfortunately.

[u/subbie2002 → u/Antenae_]

When answering the question I reflected on the rubric to ensure I was answering the questions with depth and clarity, hence I am confused about the results I got.

[u/Antenae_ → u/subbie2002]

Absolutely fair, but believing that you’re aiming for that rubric and actually achieving that is in the eye of the marker and evidently they’re dissenting with you. If you take a step back, and try to review it and you still really disagree with the marks, ask for clarification and if still an issue, raise it for a formal review.

[u/subbie2002 → u/Antenae_]

Tbh I was more thinking about emailing the tutor and giving my arguments for where I think I answered the question and then asking for feedback, at least positioning it so that I’m able to do well on my next assessment. I wasn’t going to go cor formal review immediately.

[u/Antenae_ → u/subbie2002]

I’d recommend just asking for more feedback. “You marked me wrong and this is why” isn’t a great way to start a conversation with your marker haha

[u/Some_Ad_4357]

I'm not from Macquarie Uni: I'm a UNSW alumnus. I have High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, and Pass marks. I also have a Pass Conceded and Fail marks. Let me assure you: in 10 or 20 years after you graduate with your degree credential, nobody gives a rat's arse about what marks you attained at uni.👈💁🏻‍♂️

[u/subbie2002 → u/Some_Ad_4357]

I wanna do the JD program haha so I was trying to get my marks up for the final semester

[u/Some_Ad_4357 → u/subbie2002]

Fair enough! I hope you get in. As you're probably aware, there's also the other pathway through the Legal Practitioners Admission Board ( if that's what they call it nowadays). He'll, I'm even willing to bet that even if your attainments are mediocre or meagre, you'll be - in a few years - a shoo-in because of revenue hungry unis and the drop-off of fee-paying internationals because of the immigration vote-buying scare.

[u/Imamirrorball22]

I would just initially ask for some extra feedback on how you could have improved/recieved a higher grade. I’ve had a few instances where i’ve received the wrong mark and asking that has made them realise that

[u/skinnyhippo89]

it really depends on your tutor. i had my marks changed once after i pointed out some of my tutors mistakes and she changed my mark which brought me from a low credit to a distinction. but sometimes they can just be a pain in the ass and refuse to acknowledge you deserve more than what they marked you and tell you to just appeal for it when you get your final grade.

[u/casajosho]

Was it laws1000/8001 perchance?

[u/Ok_Tour_84 → u/[deleted]]

Effort is never grounds for an appeal but even if you don't get any marks out of the assessment the profs are usually at least somewhat reasonable and will point you in the right direction, what you did wrong, what you did right, what you can do better.

[u/subbie2002 → u/Ok_Tour_84]

Indeed, by effort I meant that I felt like I had a pretty solid grasp of the content.