How to react when a professor give back the corrected version of a test just before the finals?

manpreet Best Answer 3 years ago

I'm asking this question for a friend as he is not very familiar with SE sites.

Context:

My friend, let's call him A, has a physics teacher, which we will call B.

A, as the rest of the class, had a mid-semester exam 1 month and a half ago. He thought he failed, as some of other classmates.

A month passed, with Christmas holidays, and A had completely forgotten the whole exam.

However, yesterday, B gave back the corrected exam. My friend, and 1/3 of the class got a <25/100. However, not a lot of students are between 25/100 and 65/100.

A has his final physics exam from B tomorrow. So, he had two days to review and correct his mistakes before the new exam.

As it's the finals, b.com/tag/tomorrow">tomorrow will be a big day, accounting for 20% of his entire semester. He feels that the entire situation is “completely unfair”.

Questions:

• Was it ethical/fair that B gave the grades two days before the exams?
• How could A, if it has to happen again, handle the situation?
• Could A talk to B about his feelings?
• Should A report to B superior about the situation?
• Should, as a student of another class, handle the role of a “mediator” between A and B?

Comments:

A is in a small french university, where the teachers and students, and the administration know each other really well (think about 90 students in the whole building). A is in his first year in the university, and will probably have this teacher again next semester and next years.