Ask HN: If you got this assignment back, what would you do? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: If you got this assignment back, what would you do?

3 pointsdrewcrawford10 comments

Hey HN, I just got back this homework assignment: http://bayimg.com/image/danjkaabg.jpg

It would have been a 150%, but the grander marked me down to a 70% because I typed it instead of writing it by hand. I showed all my work. A friend of mine literally wrote down everything I did in pen and got full credit. I'm a computer science major, and my handwriting is illegible.

Do I:

* Talk to the prof, who marks me as a troublemaker for the next ~7 months I'll be in his class?

* Print out all my homework in a font of my handwriting (almost legible, few points knocked off for neatness, somewhat "dishonest")

* Actually write everything out (quality varies greatly, points knocked off for neatness)

* Appeal to some higher power

As a reference point, I have about a 95% average in the non-homework grades in this class. This type of homework is worth about 15% of the final grade, which would push me down a letter grade.

Talk to the grader. Tell him your handwriting sucks and that's why you typed it. (Show him your handwriting sucks, if you want.) Tell him you've talked to classmates with similar work who got full credit. See what he says.

If the grader gives you a reasonable answer, accept it. If not, go to the professor and repeat what you explained to the grader.

You won't be labeled a "troublemaker" unless you make trouble, usually... so just be honest and courteous. Profs and graders get students all the time that have questions about their grades.

Lastly, in the grand scheme of things, an A vs a B doesn't matter all that much when you're getting a job. All the companies I interviewed with at my college's job fair were more interested in my projects and extra-curricular stuff than my GPA. I wish I had been on some open-source project that I could've put on my resume, because that would have opened many more doors than a 0.01 GPA bump.

The grader for this class is anonymous (otherwise he would probably be getting death threats from some of the students), so my only recourse is to the prof.

I try not to care too much about grades, but a B in this class runs me a serious risk of losing a sweet scholarship (much more than I make interning in the summer). Sucks, but that's the way the world works.

Good advice from the person above. Since the grader was anonymous, then you must appeal to your professor. Don't go in angry. Learn to work within the system (greatest hack of all) and let your professor know this.

The fact that you have things like "In[5]" and "Out[8]" makes it look like you've used the computer to perform your calculations. Whether you did or not is moot - you are giving the wrong impression. (Unless you did use the computer, in which case you are giving the right impression and the grader is right anyway).

It's not going to be the typing of your solutions, it's the impression that you've used something other than paper and approved calculator. And now you've created that impression, it may be too late to correct it.

It's your responsibility to make it absolutely obvious.

Tip: learn to write well. Don't do it for this class, do it for yourself.

My handwriting use to be atrociously bad. I worked on it a little and it got to the point where what I write is legible (though, not neat).

It's a useful skill to have, writing on paper.

In the short term, just talk to the professor.... what's hard about this? Also, DO NOT "appeal to a higher power". The prof will find out about it, and the higher power will say "talk to your damn professor". Now you ARE the troublemaker.

This is so true. I find it a little shocking that this poster isn't capable of writing with a pen.

It seems that the prof finds some value in the type of thinking that going back to pen-and-paper can help engender.

I would comply with his wishes even if you don't see value in it. I've forced myself to work on paper even though I am a computer nut and I absolutely beleive it is a good habit to have. It engages a different part of your mind, and is very valuable even when you do go back to computer-based work.

The best you can hope for when paying through the nose for college is that some prof you run into will have some subtle but deep insight that you couldn't, or wouldn't have stumbled on through self-directed learning. Those gems are rarely intuitive and never make sense on face value. True, this guy may turn out to be just a kook, but to me, it seems worth humoring him because who knows, you may find out there is real value in it.

Follow directions. When you're the one establishing them you'll appreciate compliance.

Were the instructions "do not use a computer solution" specified ahead of time?

If this was either in the syllabus or otherwise discussed, then it's your bad, and you have to eat it.

Otherwise, it's outrageous that rules are made up on the fly, and you should appeal to the professor.

Appeal to the professor first; don't go over his head.

Your argument should emphasize fairness: rules are being made up on the fly.

Don't print out your homework in a font of your handwriting. You won't fool anyone, and you'll be rightfully nailed for quibbling.

Take your time and do your homework written on paper. Say what you want about it being the "same thing." It isn't, and you should get prepared for the tests using the methods you will have available then - and that isn't MATLAB (or Python, or whatever you used).

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