How to Deal With Grade Grubbers: An Instructional Essay
Almost every professor who has stood before a classroom has heard the standard lines before: “I worked really hard and put a lot of effort into this project,” or “I’m an A student who ALWAYS got straight A’s in high school,” or my personal favorite, “But I’m paying for this degree!” These are the calling cards of the grade grubber – the student who underperforms his or her own expectations on an assignment then embarks on an extended grade-raising quest that usually consists of exploring the extraordinary lengths to which a student can go to pester an instructor over the most trivial matters imaginable. It is one of the most annoying and recurring aspects of teaching at even the university…