The wrong Grade

La mauvaise note

Before too much time had passed, I would arrange to meet with my professor to discuss my exam (i.e., to go over the discrepancies in our assessments).
Email him or her about the matter.
I accept defeat.
I address him/her and try to figure out what I did wrong and how I can improve.
I will speak with the teacher.
I would arrange a meeting with the teacher to discuss why I did not get a better grade, and argue why I think I think I deserve a better grade.
I would arrange to meet with the teacher and discuss the grade and my concerns.
I would be upset with myself for not better showing the teacher how well I'd prepared.
I would check over the exam and go talk to the professor
I would discuss the choice of grade with them.
I would meet with the teacher and discuss it diplomatically.
I would speak with the teacher if it really bothered me.
I would talk to her/him and argue for a better grade, coming prepared and listing reasons for why I deserve better!
I would talk to my professor about it and try to understand why I didn't receive the grade I thought I deserved.
I would talk to the teacher.
I'd talk to the teacher about it.

C'est lui qui décide de ce qui est réussi ou non!
Je comprends car il a du voir que j'avais triché.
je demande des précision sur le barème
je demande une vérification de la note
je lui réclame de me justifier sa notation
Je me bourre la gueule puis je vais pisser sur sa porte.
je ne dis rien, ça ne sert à rien de discuter
Je réclame immédiatement des explications.
je réfléchis à deux fois avant d'aller le voir, mais si je reste persuader de l'erreur, je vais les voir; car qui ne tente rien, n'a rien.
je vais consulter ma copie et je fais une eclamation si j'ai raison
je vais en discuter avec lui
Je vais en parler avec lui.
Je vais le voir
Je vais le voir pour en discuter
je vais le voir pour lui demander ce qui s'est passé
Je vais le voir pour lui demander des explications
je vais le voir pour lui demander le barème de notation
je vais lui demander des explications
je vais lui dire de me remettre les points
Je vais lui discuter
Je vais voir le prof pour en parler.
J'essaye de lui montrer ou il s'est trompé
Si c'est pas grave, je laisse, si la note est importante, je vais voir le professeur pour lui demander de reconsidérer ma copie.

Discussion

I found it very interesting how similar the responses were for this situation on the French and American sides. From what I gathered during our interviews with Brown students who had studied in France, as well as French students currently at Brown, the teacher-student relationships in France and at Brown are very different. I kind of got the impression that teachers were less approachable, and the relationship was more impersonal, in France, so I was surprised to see that our responses were so similar. Is it true that the relationships are so different? Or is just that grades are so important that they should be discussed regardless?

I agree with Christine in that what was most surprising to me were not the differences between the American and French students but the similarity that this issue should be addressed.

I also noted that the American responses of taking action and speaking with the teacher were a depart from the passiveness that we have seen in a lot of other situations.

I noticed that too, Tanya, and I think it's because the question is asking something very specific to you, and the situation is a personal one that doesn't really involve anyone else. Though the answers on both sides were very similar, I noticed that the Americans still tended to respond with something to do with emotions. While the French just said things like, "Je vais le voir," "Je vais lui discuter," etc., we said we'd speak with the teacher, but also used words like "concerns," "upset," "bothered," "diplomatically," "understand." These words seem to indicate that the Americans have a much more personal reaction to the grade than the French do. How often do people at ENST get a grade that they actually debate? I feel like at Brown this happens quite often, what do other Brown students think?

I would definitely say that it is quite common for students to discuss their grades with professors. I think that the emotionally distressing aspect of receiving the wrong grade comes from increased communication between Brown students and their professors. If someone takes a smaller class and interacts with the professor often, it is obviously more concerning to receive the wrong grade because, at that point, the professor has a good sense of that student's abilities. On the other hand, I really couldn't imagine contesting a grade in a big lecture class because the experience feels more separated and controlled.

Depuis le début de l'année, j'ai toujours reçu mes notes après avoir changé de professeur donc il n'y avait pas vraiment possibilité de discuter.
Mais les années précédentes, le contact avec les profs était plus proche et on pouvait aller leur poser des questions ( dans mon lycée en tout cas )

Vrai, pour l'instant, à l'ENST, on a assez peu de notes dans chaque matière. Et les profs changent au fur et à mesure des modules.

Je pense que nos réponses se sont basés sur notre expérience au collège-lycée. (En tout cas, c'est le cas pour moi). Là, on gardait un professeur dans une matière toute l'année.

Florence, it is interesting that you mentioned that there is a well-established line of communication between the students and the professor at ENST. Earlier in the semester, our class conducted interviews with some Brown students who had recently studied in France for a year or a semester. The general view they had was that professors were unapproachable. So, it strikes me to find out that the opposite is true for the students at ENST. However, most of the Brown students studied at "La Sorbonne." So, I assume student-teacher relations are different from school to school.

Encore une fois il faut faire la différence entre le fonctionnement des universites (par exemple la Sorbonne) et des grandes ecoles en France. A la fac il y a en général beaucoup trop de monde les deux premières années, voire jusqu'au master1 suivant les spécialités, ce qui fait que durant ces années les professeurs ne peuvent pas connaitre tout le monde ce qui nous change beaucoup du lycée et nous donne l'impression que les profs sont distants. Mais cela n'empèche que dans ma licence il y avait toujours une séance de consultation de nos copies pour ceux qui voulaient contester leurs notes ou juste discuter avec le prof de certains points qu'ils n'auraient pas compris.
Dans les ecoles d'ingenieurs comme l'ENST, les promos sont plus petites ce qui favorise l'echange avec les profs.

Effectivement, les professeurs à l'ENST sont ouverts à la communication.
Par exemple, on peut très bien aller voir un professeur dans son bureau pour lui poser des questions sur le cours...

engage