How to deal with a "protest" assignment?

Question

I just received one assignment (by email) from a student. Out of 6 questions, "I don't know" is the answer to 4 of them.

There is also a comment at the end of the assignment which suggests

1. my lectures are not helpful for solving problems
2. I am assuming students already know many of the things that I am talking about, so things are very confusing in class

I replied that I will improve my lectures and go over basic things more clearly. And I also offered one-to-one tutoring to help him catch up. (Though I had a feeling that he will not take it up--he didn't ask any questions previously through email and he did not come to office hours)

Now the problem is, I announced that assignments are graded by completion. His assignment certainly is far from complete. But I feel that if giving him 0 will further antagonize and discourage the student.

Also, traditionally, assignments are not mandatory but only serve as bonus points in final evaluation. So less than half of the students will actually do the assignment. It seems that answering two questions are already better than most other students.

How would you deal with such an assignment?

Answer 1

You need to slam him on the grade. That is what he earned. Don't be so easily manipulated by his comments on your teaching.

Also I would not have sent an email apology. Just offered to meet with him to discuss his concerns. But still slammed him on the assignment.

If you let these kids walk over you, you'll never survive. You're in charge. Doesn't mean your teaching is great (or not). But don't be a wimp. That doesn't help regardless.

Answer 2

I am not a mathematics educator but I feel the need to chime in from the student side of this. I have taken numerous hard math classes during my BSc, and I have had my fair share of feeling hopeless, lost, and frustrated. You didn't indicate which math class you teach, and to be honest it is irrelevant.

Unlike the other answers I don't feel like this is necessarily an attempt to control you.

Point (1) sounds like something I commonly heard from fellow students who struggled not because the professor didn't try to help, but because they are taught "the solution is the goal". They get quickly discouraged, and at points frustrated enough to write smarmy marks and protest. Perhaps to address this point you could talk to the class about an anonymous assignment that said these things. Talk to them about how its more important to show how they arrived at their solution and open up the floor for a few minutes to let people tell you what they think. A quick way to find your flaws is to do this. Many complaints will be down right ignorable (this class is too hard, you're not good enough, etc) but occasionally a student will call out a character flaw worth addressing. Maybe you're not making something clear enough? Generally students don't protest unless they truly feel hopeless. A few classes will do this (mathematical statistics, proof-based math courses, etc) so it would be useful to figure out why at least. He could have came to your office to complain directly and start a dialog with you - so he gets a 0 if only to demonstrate snark wont be tolerated.

Point (2) is sort of addressed inside of point (1). You're an undergraduate educator. The student has arrived at your class having either:

1. Taken an entrance exam demonstrating the minimum level of competence for the course
2. Passed pre-requisites satisfactorily showing competence in the material

At any rate, people forget. There is a great book I'm sure you've heard of called How To Solve It by Polya. In the book he talks about how if a student cannot grasp the harder stuff you need to prod them with questioning until you find out what they do know and build them up from there. If you're unwilling or unable to do this, then you need to look at your department. Students struggling this much generally are being passed by easier professors or lax examiners. A certain level of struggle is acceptable, but I have been in classes that felt hopeless for that exact reason - the professor was unwilling to help us learn what we didn't know quickly, and the department pre-requisites didn't prepare us for the class at all. Many of us nearly failed, and the professor smugly proclaimed we were all incompetent. It's not a good experience being that lost, and it's worth digging into the root cause so you can address it directly either at the department level, or assisting the class with their shortcomings. Either way, there are mature ways to deal with this at the student level so he gets a 0 regardless of what you choose to do.

Answer 3

Now the problem is, I announced that assignments are graded by completion.

I don't see a problem if you were clear about how the assignments will influence the final grade, perhaps something like "The grade on the assignments will be included in the final grade if and only if the grade on the assignments is better than the grade that would have been given without the assignments."

Then I would grade each assignment "normally" which would be a failing grade for at most 33% completion.

Answer 4

I'm not an educator, though I've been involved in the admin side of university-level education and did a heavily mathematical degree at university.

But I'm wondering about two things.

Does he actually understand how to study maths? I didn't when I was a student. I think I had the idea that I should be able to go to the lecture, understand the material, then go away able to do the assignment, and that a maths textbook could be read like an ordinary book.

Do the prerequisites for the course, as taught, actually provide what's needed? I say "as taught" because the way topics are listed in a course outline might not be a guide to how thoroughly each one is covered in the actual sessions. If something essential for your course isn't being adequately covered in one of the prerequisites, then you could probably do with knowing that—since other students might well be affected too.

As for the grading, I think you jjust give the honest grade for what was handed in (one that would, say, convince an external examiner that you're applying identical criteria to everyone). It's perfectly consistent to both do that and try to find out what caused him to do so badly. Also being clear that it's done objectively might make it easier for the student not to take the grade personally, so he's more open to being helped.

Answer 5

Now the problem is, I announced that assignments are graded by completion. His assignment certainly is far from complete. But I feel that if giving him 0 will further antagonize and discourage the student.

It seems to me that his assignment was $\frac13$ complete and he should get $\frac13$ of the maximum grade for the assignment.

I recognise that this seems so simple that I'm probably overlooking something due to being from a different culture to you, but sometimes people overcomplicate things and overlook simple solutions.

Answer 6

In contradistinction to many of the answers, I say the student may have actually done the assignment. Are these reading questions about the material (e.g. "explain what an integral is")? If the questions are worded in such a way that "I don't know" is a grammatical answer to the question, then this one time you can throw him/her a bone and say "Okay, you get the points. Next time you'll know I mean for a mathematical answer."

If the questions are of the form "Compute 2+2", this doesn't obtain. Even in that case, though, in a smallish class with someone who may really be completely unprepared and unable to recognize how to deal with it, you could again throw a bone and let the student get half points for submitting an actual answer a week late.

The bottom line is to know your constituents and setting. That is hard, or at least I find it hard, and it takes time. But as an educator, it's your job (even if it's not what you are rewarded for). It's possible this student is a brat; it's also possible (or, if you are in the United States, likely) the student has found an inappropriate way to respond to how overwhelming 'real math' with a lot less hand-holding is. Give the student a chance to turn it around.