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This semester I took a course and the prof is very restrict with the assignments, I had special circumstances (due to my research and my displacement), which required me to commute between cities to attend the classes. I was 3-1 hours late in submitting my assignments and he was considering big penalties for that. (What I mean is a delay in submission, and it was not more than a day.)

I think penalties are good if the prof is going to give us feedback and assignment grades during the semester, before finals. But this prof announced the assignment grade a week after our final exam, and he still considers those big penalties.

I am in my graduate studies, I rarely have seen such penalties for a grad student, for being late for a day as we all are busy with our research and thises. These things are for undergrads.

I noticed that a classmate who was caught by the same prof for one plagiarized assignment got a high grade. That guy copied all of his assignments from another guy in the class and got caught only once. I was really shocked when I noticed that guy got A+ even though he did plagiarize. (plagiarism happened in the current course, and the current assignment, his ultimate grade came high, he plagiarized in the assignments and got caught in only one) {The classmates who got caught told me that they got caught and also showed prof's email regarding their plagiarized assignment }

I did not plagiarize and my circumstances were unique in the class, he considered penalties for my late submissions, and he is a hard grader. I also asked my advisor to communicate my circumstances but the instructor never considered any exception for me. I am in my last semester and now I have the lowest mark from him in my A+ GPA.

Is this fair to give hight grade to a person that did plagiarism and put such penalties for late submission?

By late submission, I mean that you submit your assignment a day late. Max a day late.

Edited: Late announcement of assignments grade is a harmful and stupid thing because the assignments are supposed to be graded on time, a week, or 2 weeks after submission. The prof did not grade and give us feedback during the semester and he graded them after our final exam. Assignments are for improvements and we only can improve ourselves if we get feedback at the right time, NOT AT THE END OF SEMESTER. End of semester is a bit late for getting grades for assignments.

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  • 6
    What does "3-1 hours late" mean?
    – astronat
    May 6, 2020 at 8:06
  • 4
    This is little more than a rant. The body contains no answerable question.
    – Buffy
    May 6, 2020 at 12:46
  • 5
    I guess we have different definitions, but I think it's a bit childish for a graduate student to be unable to find a way to get their assignments in on time regularly. A one-off special circumstance is one thing, whereas your post here comes off as extremely entitled. It's not typical for a grad student to be penalized so much for lateness because it's not typical for them to be so late. Yet you expect assignments to be returned to you graded on a schedule you prefer when you won't do the assignments on one?
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    May 6, 2020 at 13:22
  • 3
    @BryanKrause: While this answer really come off as entitled and childish, I think the answerer has a problem with the penality because the lecturer is late with returning them. (And to be fair, this is bad -- the students most likely have no way to penalize the professor for being late.)
    – user111388
    May 6, 2020 at 13:37
  • 3
    @user111388 I agree it's bad pedagogy to delay returning assignments, but that has to be a complaint from other students in the class who are capable of meeting their own deadlines, not from the one who can't. Justifying your own bad behavior with someone else's is an irresponsible path.
    – Bryan Krause ♦
    May 6, 2020 at 14:45

1 Answer 1

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I noticed that a classmate who was caught...for one plagiarized assignment got a high grade

They plagiarized in the past, there's no reason they cannot reform and get a high grade.

[The prof] applied penalties for my late submissions and took marks for nonsense reasons.

Marks were removed for lateness, not nonsense reasons.

Is this fair?

Yes: It is reasonable that student got a high grade, whilst you were penalised for lateness.

It would be unfair if students were able to submit assignments late to get extra time.

EDIT: The revised question claims the student with a high grade plagiarised to get the grade. It remains unclear if this is speculation or fact. Regardless, it remains fair that the OP was punished for lateness.

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2
  • How do you mean, by "past"? The plagiarism happened on the same course and the same prof caught it.
    – nikki
    May 6, 2020 at 14:40
  • @programmer Past meaning: Not the assignment they got a high grade on.
    – user2768
    May 6, 2020 at 16:57

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