Monash General Chat

[keltingmeith]

Never been so proud on writing an essay... LOL

Idk about you guys but my tutor told us to forget about turnitin...

This is really only a good idea if it comes from the unit coordinator - tutors do not have much say at all.

[anna.xo]

So..I failed my midsem today, have an essay due tomorrow that I'm screwed for, have a lab due that I haven't started yet, and a massive assessment due in 3 weeks that I haven't done anything for.. uni couldn't be any more fabulous

[~V]

So..I failed my midsem today, have an essay due tomorrow that I'm screwed for, have a lab due that I haven't started yet, and a massive assessment due in 3 weeks that I haven't done anything for.. uni couldn't be any more fabulous

I'm scared i might've as well, my results come out tmr 9am. Saw your post on Stalkerspace  (i assume its you?)

[Professor Polonsky]

This is really only a good idea if it comes from the unit coordinator - tutors do not have much say at all.

My perception of Arts units is that your tutor is really the only one that sees your paper. If you hand it in to them directly, I'd say follow what they tell you.

[anna.xo]

I'm scared i might've as well, my results come out tmr 9am. Saw your post on Stalkerspace  (i assume its you?)

To be fair, I didn't really deserve to pass.

I hope you went alright this morning !

Hahaha chuck an inbox my way so I can figure out who you are !

[keltingmeith]

My perception of Arts units is that your tutor is really the only one that sees your paper. If you hand it in to them directly, I'd say follow what they tell you.

Some things are set by the faculty, though, and so even the unit coordinator can't skirt around it. Turnitin is sometimes one of those things, word limits are a big one though.

[Reus]

I was told if no one accounts for a book that you've borrowed it renews the loan for another 2 weeks however how do I know if someone wants the book I'm reading right now or not?

[chasej]

I was told if no one accounts for a book that you've borrowed it renews the loan for another 2 weeks however how do I know if someone wants the book I'm reading right now or not?

go to library.monash.edu, sign in authcate top right hand corner, go into 'my loans' top right hand corner, if it says renewable, click 'renew all', then you get the book for longer.

if someone has reserved it, it won't let you renew the book and it would indicate it is reserved. if it was reserved by someone they should have sent you an email to let you know.

[Reus]

go to library.monash.edu, sign in authcate top right hand corner, go into 'my loans' top right hand corner, if it says renewable, click 'renew all', then you get the book for longer.

if someone has reserved it, it won't let you renew the book and it would indicate it is reserved. if it was reserved by someone they should have sent you an email to let you know.

Thanks heaps dude!!

[M_BONG]

So I got a really shit grade for my 30% assignment - I am sure my writing was D/HD quality.

Do faculties (in this case, Law) accept assignments to be remarked considering it wasn't second-marked at first instance, and it's worth so many marks? The faculty site says "academic judgment is not valid grounds for remarking".

Any one with anecdotes of having assignments remarked? I know this ain't VCE anymore, but I did put in a lot of effort in that assignment and I did think it was worth more than 66%..

[Limista]

So I got a really shit grade for my 30% assignment - I am sure my writing was D/HD quality.

Do faculties (in this case, Law) accept assignments to be remarked considering it wasn't second-marked at first instance, and it's worth so many marks? The faculty site says "academic judgment is not valid grounds for remarking".

Any one with anecdotes of having assignments remarked? I know this ain't VCE anymore, but I did put in a lot of effort in that assignment and I did think it was worth more than 66%..

Hey Zezima,

I don't go to Monash, but I'm pretty sure the grounds for academic writing at Uni are pretty similar around the joint.

With your assignment, was your referencing spot on? For example, if you chose to use APA 6th or Harvard, did you make sure the in-text citations were correct, with page numbers provided if you quoted somebody, and absent if you just paraphrased? Also, was your referencing list at the end of the assignment provided with sufficient detail following convention: were your commas in the right places, and did you give the volume & issue number, did you italicise the right text?

There is also a particular way to structure academic writing that differs quite a bit from VCE English. For instance, in the introduction it is important to actually specify where you intend to lead the reader with your paper. I've also noticed that adding subheadings also solidifies what different sections of your essay will be discussing. Tutors also tend to give high marks if you discuss the implications and limitations of the prescribed readings and literature, following on to critically analyse them from the POV of the essay topic.

Perhaps just consider whether or not you have fruitfully done the elements mentioned. I'm rather surprised that no feedback was given on your essay as to how you could have improved?

On the flip-side of the coin, perhaps all this speculation is unwarranted, and your mark actually got misplaced  . To be honest though, I haven't heard of such a thing happening as yet...

[DisaFear]

Mistakes can happen with marking. My lab partner and I got 20% below what we should've gotten - not the tutor's fault either, he followed the time stamp and thought it was 2 weeks late, even though it wasn't. We approached the unit coordinator and showed all the chat logs of us working on it ages ago and got the mark fixed.

[Rohmer]

So I got a really shit grade for my 30% assignment - I am sure my writing was D/HD quality.

Do faculties (in this case, Law) accept assignments to be remarked considering it wasn't second-marked at first instance, and it's worth so many marks? The faculty site says "academic judgment is not valid grounds for remarking".

Any one with anecdotes of having assignments remarked? I know this ain't VCE anymore, but I did put in a lot of effort in that assignment and I did think it was worth more than 66%..

I know how you feel - Sometimes you have assignments where you do a lot of research, structure what you think are some good arguments, and spend ages drafting and re-drafting...only to get a mediocre mark. Unfortunately, there's generally not a lot you can do about it.

An example: Last semester I did a law subject with a compulsory assignment. I put quite a bit of work into it and got an HD. Someone else I know did much of what I did (a lot of relevant sources, very similar arguments, very similar structure), although they probably put even more work into it...and came out with a mark that was over 20% lower. Why did this happen? Because of the way these things are marked. My tutor didn't notice any of my footnote errors, gave me 5/5. The other marker noticed a few minor errors and gave a 3/5. My tutor liked my arguments and gave me 12/15 for 'strength of argument' or whatever it was called. The other tutor didn't like the arguments made and gave 9/15 - sometimes the marker just doesn't like the way you went about things, and it costs you more than it should. Factor in a few of these discrepancies and you end up with wildly different end results.

This other person went to the lecturer to discuss the mark (as I would've done in their case). What were they told? 'Yep, your assignment's great, you've done this well, you've done that well, you've understood the task'.
Student: 'Ok great, so can I get it remarked?' Lecturer: 'Nope sorry, faculty policy, there's no ground on which to re-mark it'. In essence, the lecturer is saying that they will not re-mark something unless there's basically a clear, gross, objective error (e.g. they added up the numbers wrong). It really is bullshit, but there's not a lot that can be done. I'd advise speaking to your marker &/or lecturer about it for insight about why you got your mark and if anything can be done...but ultimately it's unlikely that you'll get it changed.

[anna.xo]

So I got a really shit grade for my 30% assignment - I am sure my writing was D/HD quality.

Do faculties (in this case, Law) accept assignments to be remarked considering it wasn't second-marked at first instance, and it's worth so many marks? The faculty site says "academic judgment is not valid grounds for remarking".

Any one with anecdotes of having assignments remarked? I know this ain't VCE anymore, but I did put in a lot of effort in that assignment and I did think it was worth more than 66%..

Seconded what everyone else has said. I had a similar experience and there's not really much you can do except get over it. Ask for some proper feedback and kill your next assessments !

[chasej]

if things can vary so wildly why do they even bother to mark the essays beyond pass/fail?

just randomly assign a mark to all passing work!