Angular Anger
Organic Chemistry for Engineers, CM1501 is one of the few core modules that I thought I could score in. I mean, a few equations and a little bit of memory work wouldn't hurt anyone, would it? However, this story is not about memory work or equations, but about the wonders of lab reports.
My first chemistry lab report totaled 3 pages with double spacing, and I got a B+. I was a little disappointed because I thought that following the exact recommended format as stated in the lab manual would suffice. It didn't help that my B+ was subsumed by the As that littered everywhere.
Of course, I was wiser for my second lab report and began looking around at others, only to be horrified that the average number of pages totaled 8 to 10 pages. I panicked and dumped in another 4 hours of work to spruce it up. Armed with a nifty cover page and a header with numerous NUS logos, I was sure 10 pages with 1.5 spacing would blow the lab TA off his/her feet.
With much anticipation, I waited eagerly to be rewarded for my hard work. Two weeks passed and I did get my report back. However, an unsightly curvaceous grade dressed in red flirted shamelessly with me.
And boy oh boy, all I saw was red. I flipped through my lab report furiously and noticed cursory ticks scattered across the pages. It was in page 3, that I spotted 3 words which attempted to prove to me that the lab TA who marked my paper could produce a string of coherant words.
"Talk abt m.p."? What mp? Do you want me to talk about the now infamous MP of Ang Mo Kio GRC, Mr. Wee Siew Kim and rant about the pros and cons of elitism in the Singapore society? Or does it refer to the Malicious Pink that is trying to disguise itself as red? I digress.
So what went wrong? The neighbouring lab group I asked had managed to score largely angular grades while those in my lab group were inundated by the doubly dubious rounded alphabet. It take much to conclude that my lab group was marked by AP gal. (AP stands for attitude problem. I will not bore you with how irritating that lab TA can be, so I'll leave it as that.)
I was troubled. So deeply disturbed that I decided to confront her to seek redress today.
Meekly and innocently, I asked AP gal with the most heartbreaking voice I could muster, hoping to tug her obviously non-existent heartstrings, "May I know what was wrong with my lab report?"
AP gal replied aloofly, "A B grade is okay, I didn't give much As anyway..."
As she flipped through the pages, she nodded and commented tersely that this was good, that was good... Then, I directed her to page 3, since the rest of the lab report were covered with inane ticks, that even Sherlock Holmes wouldn't make anything of them
She paused and attempted to look thoughtful, and justified, "Yes... You should have talked about the melting point of the compound. I mean you have to explain that the experimental melting point is less than half a degree apart (from the known melting point of a compound), therefore you can conclude the compound suspected is this."
WHAT?! IS THAT IT?! SO I GOT A B BECAUSE I OVERESTIMATED YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND PRESSUMED THAT PLACING MY EXPERIMENTAL AND LITERATURE MELTING POINT SIDE BY SIDE WAS OBVIOUS ENOUGH?! I MEAN MAYBE YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT ME TO EXPLAIN WHY M.P. STANDS FOR MELTING POINT AND NOT MINISTRY OF PEDOPHILE? THEN AGAIN, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER PASTING YOUR DEGREE ON YOUR LAB COAT COS I'M SERIOUSLY DOUBTING YOUR IDENTITY.
I mimicked her thoughtful "ohh..." and proceeded to give her a megawatt smile, thanked her and left the chemistry lab, while mentally shelving any plans for to score that coveted angular grade for this module.
My first chemistry lab report totaled 3 pages with double spacing, and I got a B+. I was a little disappointed because I thought that following the exact recommended format as stated in the lab manual would suffice. It didn't help that my B+ was subsumed by the As that littered everywhere.
Of course, I was wiser for my second lab report and began looking around at others, only to be horrified that the average number of pages totaled 8 to 10 pages. I panicked and dumped in another 4 hours of work to spruce it up. Armed with a nifty cover page and a header with numerous NUS logos, I was sure 10 pages with 1.5 spacing would blow the lab TA off his/her feet.
With much anticipation, I waited eagerly to be rewarded for my hard work. Two weeks passed and I did get my report back. However, an unsightly curvaceous grade dressed in red flirted shamelessly with me.
And boy oh boy, all I saw was red. I flipped through my lab report furiously and noticed cursory ticks scattered across the pages. It was in page 3, that I spotted 3 words which attempted to prove to me that the lab TA who marked my paper could produce a string of coherant words.
"Talk abt m.p."? What mp? Do you want me to talk about the now infamous MP of Ang Mo Kio GRC, Mr. Wee Siew Kim and rant about the pros and cons of elitism in the Singapore society? Or does it refer to the Malicious Pink that is trying to disguise itself as red? I digress.So what went wrong? The neighbouring lab group I asked had managed to score largely angular grades while those in my lab group were inundated by the doubly dubious rounded alphabet. It take much to conclude that my lab group was marked by AP gal. (AP stands for attitude problem. I will not bore you with how irritating that lab TA can be, so I'll leave it as that.)
I was troubled. So deeply disturbed that I decided to confront her to seek redress today.
Meekly and innocently, I asked AP gal with the most heartbreaking voice I could muster, hoping to tug her obviously non-existent heartstrings, "May I know what was wrong with my lab report?"
AP gal replied aloofly, "A B grade is okay, I didn't give much As anyway..."
As she flipped through the pages, she nodded and commented tersely that this was good, that was good... Then, I directed her to page 3, since the rest of the lab report were covered with inane ticks, that even Sherlock Holmes wouldn't make anything of them
She paused and attempted to look thoughtful, and justified, "Yes... You should have talked about the melting point of the compound. I mean you have to explain that the experimental melting point is less than half a degree apart (from the known melting point of a compound), therefore you can conclude the compound suspected is this."
WHAT?! IS THAT IT?! SO I GOT A B BECAUSE I OVERESTIMATED YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND PRESSUMED THAT PLACING MY EXPERIMENTAL AND LITERATURE MELTING POINT SIDE BY SIDE WAS OBVIOUS ENOUGH?! I MEAN MAYBE YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT ME TO EXPLAIN WHY M.P. STANDS FOR MELTING POINT AND NOT MINISTRY OF PEDOPHILE? THEN AGAIN, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER PASTING YOUR DEGREE ON YOUR LAB COAT COS I'M SERIOUSLY DOUBTING YOUR IDENTITY.
I mimicked her thoughtful "ohh..." and proceeded to give her a megawatt smile, thanked her and left the chemistry lab, while mentally shelving any plans for to score that coveted angular grade for this module.
posted by Kelvin Lim at 3:22 pm
9 Comments:
haha I can almost imagine you approaching her meekly... then have your eyeballs explode in a fine mist of blood once you leave her office...
Aiyah. It's like that when it comes to academic stuff. I got scolded by my prof on paper for getting an A-. He said I should try giving him A+ standard work next time =.="
Muahahhaha
I think I like that lab TA.
jiayou lah! surely can get A soon =) anw thanks for e card, help me thank ben too!
Eisen, you're half right. I blew only one eyeball. If you happen to walk past the chemistry lab and notice a stubborn brown stain at the entrance, you know why...
Xiu Juan, not funny hoh... Wait till you get an incompetent examiner...
Yea, Jevon. I'll let Ben know about it. And nehhhhhhh... I'll literally have to get full marks for my final paper to even think of an A.
It'll probably be that mugger Weng Keong who'll breeze through with an A. Heh.
Dude, NUS GAs are a bunch of clueless people. They mark your scripts by impression, as well as by an inflexible marking scheme. They are generally irresponsible for their marking. I once wrote a 1000 words email to ask for reasons why my code for a programming lab assignmenet was unsatisfactory, and all I get is one-liner answers for irrevelent parts. And then it was another 1000 words to the lecturer before things became clearer. The bottom line is that: If you don't complain, you always lose out.
Hi, It is Nhat Linh, your groupmate of PY1105 :P. I felt that I was so lucky to read CM1121 last semester after reading your blog :D. everything seemed to be much more easier last sem.
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