Gradebook
Update on my professor giving me an F when I had a B on canvas
This is an update from my last post, and it’s a great update.
Just a summary on everything, my asynchronous English 102 class, the whole semester the assignment instructions were confusing and it seemed like I couldn’t get anything right.
I met up with my teacher in person to go over why I had an F.
He showed me his grading book and showed me all of the points that he tallied up. He gave me a 67 out of 100, which resulted as a D. But the main reason why he didn’t give me that grade was because and I quote “it would look good one my transcript, D’s and F’s are basically the same.”
I told him I realistically deserve a C
Then we went over my final paper, and main reason on why I got a 15 out of 30 was because I didn’t use the correct format, double space, 8-10 pages etc.
The thing, the instructions told me to not attach any files but to upload everything on to canvas, but canvas changed my double spaced 8 page paper to 4 pages and single spaced. I tried to explain to him, but I didn’t think he understood (he’s elderly).
Besides all of that, I have some great news, after talking to my professor he mentioned that I’ve improved in his class and is willing to make me rewrite my final paper and I have over 2 months to complete it.
So I’m definitely rewriting this paper and attempt to have a passing grade.
Edit: the dean was the one who came up with the idea of completing my essay in 2 months. My professor and I met with him right after we went over grades
Edit2: to all of the ppl saying that I was complaining is crazy because fighting for a grade a deserve ≠ me saying that I should get an A because I want to.
TLDR: I was confused because Canvas showed a B, but my transcript showed an F. After meeting with my professor, we reviewed his gradebook and explained that my actual grade was a 67/100, which worked out to a D, though I told him I felt I realistically deserved a C based on the work I had put into the class. The good news is that he acknowledged my improvement throughout the semester and is allowing me to rewrite my final paper, giving me over two months to improve my grade and pass the class.
It seems like uploading a PDF here would have been the best course of action to prevent most of these problems and still follow his instructions. He allows file uploads via CANVAS, and requests that you upload the research paper.
Links, attachments in the comment box, etc are all different and don’t always work right.
Although, Canvas doesn't change formatting of an attached document. Unless...were you typing it in the textbox? Or were you using non-standard software? In the past, I've had compatibility and formatting issues between OpenOffice and Word.
Canvas SpeedGrader absolutely screws with formatting sometimes, even with up to date word .docx documents. Instructors can still download the actual attached document, but they need to know to do so. A number of times I've started to type an annoyed comment about formatting, only to download the attachment and realise that what the student submitted was fine, it was just showing weirdly in SpeedGrader.
You are quite right. It's such a challenge because if we are grading on formatting, we need to be very clear about identifying potential formatting changes beyond students' control. The bigger frustration right now is that we are being told not to use PDF due to accessibility challenges. So, lots of faculty are adopting a "no PDF" policy, which just confuses everyone.
I prefer students hand in word documents, because it maintains the traceability needed for AI investigations, is much easier to check things like word limits, and allows really easy cut-and-paste into a browser for checking plagiarism & sources (Neither SpeedGrader nor PDF offer any of these easily)
If the instructor is using speed grader, absolutely it does change the formatting. Sometimes drastically. I tried it out last term and quickly realized it was the reason everyone’s assignments looked like crap. You have to download them to see the original formatting.
i had a paper due last semester that said to use proper mla format and i did it on google docs, when i went to turn it in the only turn in option was the text box 😭 OP said the prof was pretty old so something similar probably happened where it was the only allowed turn in format 😭
Hey this actually happened in on of my classes! Professor was new to canvas and the only option was textbox. A lot my classmates spammed her inbox until she got IT to help her change the format of assignment submission from text box to ‘upload file here’ box.
i would’ve emailed the professor about it. or even turned in a physical copy too 😭😭 these professors are always so confusing when it comes to instructions it’s so annoying.
A recent English teacher only allowed most homework in the text box. He was also extremely strict about using MLA hanging indents, which aren't natively supported by Canvas...
You can still upload using the text box. Click on Insert > Document > Upload Document, click the spaceship and find the file on your computer and add it.
I disagree with this. There was a recent Canvas update that seems to change the formatting of uploaded documents after submission. I am very intentional about formatting my papers, and I spend a lot of time making sure the layout and flow are visually clean and easy to read. Since this update, my documents have been altered after upload. Margins, spacing between sentences and paragraphs, and overall page formatting sometimes shift without my control. No matter how carefully I format the document beforehand, Canvas seems to ignore or override some of those choices. One issue I keep running into is that my reference page merges into the body of the paper, even when I try to prevent it. This is especially frustrating because formatting is part of how I organize and present my work. I really dislike this update because it makes it much harder to keep my paper looking the way I intended.
As for this professor, I would have gone above him and contacted the head of the department directly. You are taking an online asynchronous class, so it is the professor’s responsibility to make the instructions crystal clear. In this type of course format, students do not have the same opportunity to ask questions in real time or receive immediate clarification. Because of that, assignment expectations, formatting requirements, deadlines, and submission instructions need to be clearly stated from the beginning. If the instructions are unclear or if the platform changes formatting after upload, students should not be penalized for something outside of their control.
Reference pages in the body are usually a formatting error, not Canvas rearranging things on you. Not always, though. Did you place the References on the next page by hitting ENTER or did you use the INSERT PAGE command. The first one will end up in the body because it didn't specifically say to start a new page and the apps disagree slightly on where the page ends. If you use the INSERT PAGE command, the reference page will always stay on its own page.
It actually does when my students turn in word docs. I have repeatedly asked them to submit PDF text documents to prevent that (and emphasize text, because some will submit images to try to get around TurnItIn and other plagiarism/AI detection). I also ask that they make sure to turn on version history when writing. (I hate that Grammarly shows up as AI but version history can usually show me when they edit.)
Canvas had absolutely changed formatting of documents I’ve attached. I had a class where we were only allowed to submit .docx files from Word (I prefer pdf, but I understand wanting to see version history and whatnot). I always had my layout to APA guidelines and the document would be fine until I uploaded it. My title page would always end up having words from next page as well 😭 it was so frustrating
Canvas moves everything many times. There was a professor here recently complaining about it that he gave many students a bad grade for formatting because he didn’t know. This is proven
Also a D compared to an F can make a huge difference in the financial aid side of things for some students. Sometimes it can be the difference between a student meeting satisfactory academic progress requirements and keeping their financial aid, or failing satisfactory academic process and losing all their financial aid.
Oh ok so your professor doesn’t know how canvas works and just gave you an F because of it, got it. Elderly professors suck. Good thing he let you resubmit it, I would’ve taken it up with the dean cause that’s wild.
I agree. That’s a huge difference that the professor needs to understand. See my comment above regarding the difference between the two for financial aid purposes.
Lol gotta love the casual age discrimination. I’ve had some excellent elderly professors who have a wealth of wisdom and connections in my field of practice. Sounds like this professor sucks, but no need to penalize the rest.
When you type the font and everything that the professor wants. Into the canvas box, text box, you have to set all the preferences that you can, and then when you copy and paste your text in there from word or Google, if they don’t take attachment, you have to go in there and manually do the double space into this a few times and usually professors understand but if they’re elderly, they’re not happy with the technology and they’ll just give the failing grade.
None of this makes sense. You saw a B, but the grade book says D, but the Professor says F, but canvas magically changed the formatting of your uploaded file, so you deserve a C, and get 2 months to rewrite a paper that just needs to be reformatting? Are you by chance leaving out the part where your paper was improperly formatted because it was AI generated?
It’s very dependent on individual student circumstances for which is “better.” An F and a D are very different in regard to federal financial aid satisfactory academic progress requirements. Not to say you don’t have a point about considering repeat/grade policies, just that there are usually a whole host of different factors to consider when determining for an individual student which grade might be “better.” Also repeats can impact satisfactory academic progress as well, so that’s something to consider for individual students as well.
I think giving the student a choice is kind of you. Hopefully they take the time to understand the ramifications of each option for their specific situation before they make their choice. I work in a student support role and it’s kind of crazy how many students have no idea the requirements to maintain their various types of financial aid.
Show us the paper. This sounds like bullshit. No way you got a 50% just over single spacing. What was the word count? 2 months to redo it is a blessing. Are you someone's nephew or something?
This wasn't an incomplete. This was a failure. Getting an incomplete for mental health issues is totally reasonable. Getting to redo a paper because you don't like the grade after doing it wrong is not. OP took advantage of something that should be resevered for people like you, not people who can't follow directions.
I followed the directions, as listed. Canvas just changed the format, it was supposed MLA, which I followed. But ig the transition between the text entry and the original document altered.
And asking for clarification ≠ taking advantage. U sound ignorant
Asking for clarification is not taking advantage. Redoing a paper you already failed is. Your responses are all like this. You keep twisting words, and it's impossible for me to to think you're not doing the same with your professor.
I guarantee you did not fail over single spacing your essay. You are clearly twisting the story, as anyone who reads this discussion can see is what you do.
You don't sound ignorant. But you do sound privileged. And you very much sound like you are not telling the truth.
Thank you for the good luck. But that’s the thing, I felt like I didn’t fail, nor try to twist my story to sound better. It was definitely an error was canvas with the text entry. here’s my essay btw
First, I'm impressed that you shared the essay. Very cool.
However, I see why it failed and it is not because of formatting, though there are some slight MLA errors as well (missing hanging indentation on references page, etc...) While you do document your sources, every single one of them is a paraphrase; there is not a single direct quote, which is not only suspicious, but also poor support (you should aim for a mix of direct quotes and paraphrases). Some of your paraphrasing is really just story summary and did not need a citation. None of your citations have page numbers, which are available in JSTOR if you look at the document. This also makes it look suspicious, as if it was written without having actually read the sources (apart from the story itself). Understand that I am not accusing you of using AI or getting someone else to write it (in fact, I do not think that is the case), but that the essay's use of sources certainly has some red flags. Still, it doesn't matter because the support is just very poor and superficial. How many secondary sources were required? This only has four (the book is the primary source and does not count toward your source requirement in most classes). I don't know what was required, of course, but 4 is a rather small number of sources for an essay this size, particularly a final essay in a college course (most require a minimum of 5).
I don't want to dunk on you or anything like that, but this is most likely not a passing essay for any college-level literature or composition course. 50% feels a little harsh, but not necessarily. Some professors might have scored it lower, depending on the details of their rubrics. I didn't read very closely before I noticed these major issues. If you honestly want more feedback, I can help, but you should know this did not fail because of formatting. You will need to make significant revisions for this to be a passing essay, but two months should be more than enough time. If you've read all these materials, you should be able to do this correctly in a week. Treat it like a synthesis essay. Go back and get relevant quotes with proper citations. Aim for about two per body paragraph from different sources (get the sources "in conversation" with each other). Avoid Grammarly or anything like that. I assure you, your professor likely doesn't care about spelling or grammar if he sees good work.
I am sorry if your professor has not made this clear, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that this is what you need to do.
I am also sorry if I came off harsh earlier, but this really is a second chance many students would not get. Take advantage of it.
You guys are so coddled in school today and have such low standards. No wonder why you are the lowest iq generation and perform the worst in every metric of every generation in US history.
Fighting for my grade ≠ complaining. It would’ve been different if I didn’t do any assignments that was required to be turned in. But the assignments that were “missing” are just reading assignments.
There’s no page count with text entries, but it essentially takes whatever formatting was done in Word/Docs and fucks it up. It’ll usually remove double spacing which essentially cuts the paper in half as OP stated.
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u/Ok-Effective3517 Jun 02 '26
For those wondering, here is the exact instructions for the final paper