How to Prevent Arguments Between Professors and Students

Many students in school get annoyed at the grades that they receive in a class. Sometimes the student is right and most of the time they are wrong. However, much of the time students want to challenge their grades that their teacher gives them or they want to know what to do to get a higher grade the next time. There is a right way of doing this and a completely wrong way of doing this. If you go about this the wrong way when you speak to a teacher, the results can be much worse for you than just a low grade on the paper that you received.

A student I know went to see a professor the other day and he wanted to ask the teacher about the comments on his paper. He knew that his grade wasn't going to be raised but he was angered by some of the comments of his paper that he thought were unfair. In his meeting with his professor, the tensions rose and soon it got into a screaming match. It wasn't pretty and now the student is fearful of a low grade in the course overall because he pissed off the teacher. This is something that students should never do.

The right way to approach a teacher about a grade or a paper is to wait 24 hours until you have a clear mind and you have carefully looked over your paper or test. Check other people's grades and tests and make sure that if you are arguing something that you are right about it. If you are arguing a multiple choice question that you think you had the right answer for, check the tests of the students in your class to find out the right answer. If you put that answer and it was marked incorrectly then you have a legit case. If you have a different answer but still think that the answer you chose was right, check the textbook or online to make sure that what you wrote down is correct. If this does prove to be true, then you should see your teacher. This also applies for essays. Check your essay grade against other people's essays in your class. For example, if you got a "B" and think you deserved an "A", check a student's paper which received an "A" and see the difference. Most of the times, the "A" paper was written much paper than your "B" paper and had more analysis or factual research.

When you meet with a teacher, you should go into the meeting knowing that it is highly unlikely that your professor will change your grade. Teachers do not like changing grades or thinking that they are wrong on something. Professors and teachers see this as a threat to their authority. What you should do when seeing a professor, is to calmly talk with them in a relaxed and friendly tone. Ask what you could have done better and what prompted the teacher to write down their comments on your paper. Ask what separated your paper from a higher grade and what you can do better on your test or paper next time. Teachers will find you to be an informative and bright student by asking to meet with them because they see you as an ambitious student who wants to do better in their class; not a student pissed off that he got a low grade. Also ask the professor if you can do an extra credit assignment. This shows that you are willing to go the extra mile to work harder for the professor in their class. Sometimes the professor will be happy to give an extra credit assignment. Other times it will be the personal policy of the teacher not to give out extra credit. If this happens just tell the professor thanks anyway.

When you are speaking with the professor, never raise your voice and never threaten the teacher by saying that you are going to see the department head or the principal about your grade. This will just piss off the teacher even more. When you are done, thank the teacher for seeing you and for taking the time to see you. If you are seeing the teacher on a Friday, wish the teacher a good weekend. Being friendly is the key here, even if you hate the teacher, don't let them know that.