How I Nearly Failed A Module...

First off, I am not being sour grapes here just because I didn't get a good grade. It was a number of factors that led me to this demise. In fact, thinking back, I am surprised that I managed to barely scrape past this module.

It was an unexpected chain of events which combined together to give an utterly devastating killing blow:

1. There was a presentation for this module. I did my best, speaking fluently and knowlegeably about the topic. I used cue cards, and I did not even take a single glance at the projector screen during the presentation. I got a B.

There was this bitch in another presenting group who laughed her head off and grinned at all the questions posed to her, giving answers like "...probably..." and "...maybe...". She read off her presentation from the projector screen. She got the same grade as me.

Note: I am not being a sore loser here. The point is, if one has to make somebody a benchmark, all others should be aligned accordingly to this benchmark.

There is no sense in giving a good student and a bad student the same grade, because it indicates their abilities are the same.

You can give me a C, or a D, I am fine with that. But at the very least, have students who obviously did worst, an E or an F, not the same grade!

2. There was a Term Test conducted. I was stupid enough to sit at the second row at the test venue. When the lecturer came to collect my test paper, I turned around to look at the remaining 10-20 rows of students behind me.

They were all still writing furiously.

There was even a non-local student sitting at the first row in front of me. Below is a transcript (as accurately as I could remember) of their conversation:

Lecturer: *Grabs onto student's paper* Hello, time's up. Please hand in your paper to me now.
Student: *Holds back onto paper, continues writing in a last-ditch attempt*
Lecturer: Hey, time's up already, Hand in your paper to me now.
Student: *Holds up one hand and gestures at the lecturer* NO NO WAIT!
Lecturer: *Looks around nervously*

At this point of time, there are 3 hands on that particular student's script. 1 from the lecturer, 2 from the student's. This lasted for around half a minute or so, before the student reluctantly allowed the lecturer to collect his script.

Needless to say, the student's script was not torn apart. Neither was he branded as cheating.

3. There was this other bitch in the class. Everytime she attended the class (she didn't come all the time), she would pose awkward and difficult questions to the presenting group.

I got backstabbed by her on my first presentation mentioned in 1.) above.

4. There was a project required in this module, comprising of either 4 or 5 members. My group members weren't so "spontaneous" at all. I initiated the project, I dished out the orders, I set the deadline, I compiled the final report.

Not because I liked it of course. There are finer details, but I shall keep it simple.

5. The tutor suffers from recency bias.

While I must say that I wasn't that active in class participation to the extent of being an attention-whore, I spoke when nobody else could, and the tutor acknowledged my answers as what she was looking for. I got a B for my ocassional, qualitative participation.

The same bitch in 1.) started "suddenly" being very active in class during the last two tutorials, talking plenty of nonsensical things which weren't related nor answered the question at hand. Giving answers which she was unsure of, marked by words such as "I think...", "Probably...", "Maybe..." "I guess...", she got an A.