How to respond to a professor who was insulted by an email detailing mistakes in the exercise? [closed]

Question

I am an undergraduate student. Preparing the solution to an exercise regarding computer assembly language programming I discovered an error in the program skeleton that was given to us to base our solution on (one of the instructions was illegal, because its immediate operand was outside the permitted range).

I sent an email to the professor's address for "questions and clarifications" regarding the exercise, explaining in detail (about 5 paragraphs) and citing a textbook, why the skeleton program would not compile (assemble) and finally commenting that it seems surprising that this error would make it to the question text, since simply running the assembler on the skeleton program would reveal it.

I got the reply that indeed there was an error in the program skeleton but it was put there on purpose and one of the objectives of the exercise was to see if we (students) would spot it and correct it.

There was no mention of this in the question text. The exact wording of the question text was "complete the program below so that it performs the desired function".

Now the professor wants me to apologize because my comment implied that there was carelessness on their part. I am not convinced about their answer, and worse, even if I were convinced, I believe deliberately misleading the student to be worse than simply being careless. I cannot give an honest apology. What should I reply, if anything?

Answer 1

To me, this is such a non-issue that it doesn't warrant much of a response. So let me add a response :)

I didn't mean to imply carelessness, and I am sorry if that's how my email came across. I was a bit overzealous in my email. I will address the errors in the skeleton program in my solution, as you have indicated. Thank you for your detailed response!

I think you should take this (very minor) “incident” as a learning experience about how people might perceive your communications. Professors are people; they sometimes make mistakes, they sometimes make pedagogical choices that students don't agree with, and they all take criticism differently.

Answer 2

A 5-paragraph email with citations for a possible mistake in an undergraduate exercise sounds, if anything, patronizing.

Apologize and move on.

Answer 3

Now the professor wants me to apologize [...] I cannot give an honest apology. What should I reply, if anything?

If you cannot give an honest apology, I suggest giving a dishonest one. This will satisfy the professor's requirement (you do not mention him insisting that your apology be sincere :-)), and, while I am one of the biggest fans of honesty that you will find, it seems to me that both you and the professor have backed yourselves into corners by each thinking that you are behaving reasonably and the other is not, and expecting the world to conform to that belief. Regardless of who is right -- I have no opinion about that, and don't find the discussion on this question to be very interesting, frankly -- your insistence is leading both of you to be stuck in a rather unpleasant infinite loop. It is in your best interests to break the loop, and the only way to do that is by apologizing. Is it just? Maybe not, but there are much worse injustices that actually affect people's lives happening all the time, so I suggest saving your time, energy and outrage for those. Good luck!

Answer 4

I am surprised some deem this student's actions as "patronizing". I think a detailed e-mail with evidence that the student tried to consult other resources before contacting the professor could just as easily be interpreted as "studious" and "respectful" of the professor's time. I would have appreciated the student not contacting me - in the way many undergraduate students do - with vague and lazy questions about the homework that make me wonder if they even tried! By including citations, the student is showing a mature approach to solving the problem by means of consulting course-related material.

We must remember that tone makes a difference - and that tone is often lost in e-mails. I would recommend for the student to meet with the professor and exchange information in a respectful tone. This might allow the student determine whether they missed certain information about course assignments, and might allow the professor to better understand the perspective of the student in their motivation to clarify the problem statement. Of course, this recommendation is much easier said than done, especially because the professor went so far as to request an apology in such a preemptive and biased manner without even bothering to meet with the student in person first to ensure they fully assessed the situation.

Answer 5

To crystallize

finally commenting that it seems surprising that this error would make it to the question text

Never do this. You are either rubbing salt to the wounds (in case you are right) or being an idiot (in case you are wrong). Disregarding whether you are right or wrong, this benefits no one.

EDIT: The point is that there is no way: "I am shocked, how could you do a mistake this bad", is not going to offend.

Answer 6

Apologize sincerely to the professor.

As you have pointed out at apparently tedious length, students attempting to assemble the skeleton would have found an assembly error. Even if the student first modified the skeleton, the error should have been revealed by the assembler. At that point, it is incumbent upon each student to correct that error. The student did not even have to know how to detect the error, only how to correct it once it was identified.

Answer 7

Summary

1. "YES" to:
   • Apologize. Life is rarely about absolutes; it's about grey area which requires compromise. There are many facets to examine here, but the main issue is not a technical one; it is interpersonal. If someone says that they are insulted, then they are insulted. Deal with that separately from the technical issue that precipitated the rest of it.
   • Take a step back and reflect on the situation as a whole, to learn as much as you can as this is a golden opportunity to learn about a lot more than just coding. What was your ultimate goal when you wrote your email? Merely to point out the mistake? To get to the bottom of why the mistake was there? How important is it to know the ultimate truth of why the mistake was there? Was your communication (e.g. wording, tone, content, etc) relevant to that goal? How would you feel if someone pointed out a mistake you made in coding by saying, "You've been coding for years. How could you make such a simple mistake?". What's more important: having a good working relationship with the professor, or being "right"? Would you have sent that exact same email to a manager, or would you feel that tone might reflect negatively on your next review?
2. "NO" to:
   • Continuing this conversation with the professor over email. Terse, written communication provided an environment that lends itself to easy misinterpretation, so while it is possible to fix things over email, you will stand a much better chance of fixing the issue by actually speaking to the person. Besides, speaking with someone is more personal and hence reflects a more genuine attempt at resolution.
   • Viewing the assignment as either a mistake or deception. There are always angles that we do not consider, which is why communication is vital to success (for pretty much any interaction with other people, whether it be professional, friendly, romantic, etc). Hence, asking, "Was this error in the given code part of the assignment?" allows the professor to say either, "No, actually it was a mistake that I didn't catch because I made a change late at night and didn't have time to test. Thanks for mentioning it and I will get a corrected version out to everyone ASAP", or, "Yes, the goal is for each student to identify it and fix it, and it is even more promising when a student inquires about it rather than just assuming the intention as there could be something else going on. Good job!". You still have the opportunity to assess that response and trust it or think they are lying, but they will be less likely to view you as yet one more person making their job harder when it was just as easy to be helpful.

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{ sorry if this is a bit long, but there are several nuances to go over here }

Sometimes a test or exercise in one area leads to learning lessons in one or more other areas. This seems to be one of those moments.

1. I sent an email to the professor's address for "questions and clarifications" regarding the exercise

   Communication is difficult enough when speaking with the other person, and written communication is even harder. Without tone-of-voice, facial expressions, body language, etc it is very easy for a simple message to be taken as rude. No matter how much effort you put into the crafting of the words in a written communication, you can't control how the reader hears it in their head.

   It is possible that the exact same words you put into the email, had they been spoken by you either in person or over the phone, would have been received differently. Either way, even if you can't understand how someone would take those words offensively, often enough it just happens. And it will happen again.

2. explaining in detail (about 5 paragraphs) and citing a textbook, why the skeleton program would not compile (assemble)

   If the skeleton program (as given) would not compile, and if it was stated (or implied) that it should, then does it really take 5 paragraphs to explain it? A few sentences to state that it does not and a general sense of why is all that it would take, right? Assuming it is a simple mistake, the professor would understand without needing to explain the theory behind it. And if it wasn't a mistake, if it was part of the intent of the exercise, then you would have shown a firm enough understanding of the issue so as to not be sending a lazy "why doesn't it work?" email. If the professor asks for more detail or how you figured it out, then by all means do the 5 paragraphs with citations.

3. and finally commenting that it seems surprising that this error would make it to the question text, since simply running the assembler on the skeleton program would reveal it.

   Stop for a moment and think about what you just stated: it was surprising that such an error made it into the question, because it was simply a matter of trying to assemble it. Now, everyone makes mistakes. And perhaps this assignment was thrown together hastily because one or more things took up the time that the professor had to create it (yes, they do have lives outside of where they teach) and there was no time to test. Or, perhaps the professor has been teaching for years and has used this exercise before. With it being so simple to discover, I would give the professor the benefit of the doubt that this was intentional.

4. I got the reply that indeed there was an error in the program skeleton but it was put there on purpose and one of the objectives of the exercise was to see if we (students) would spot it and correct it. ... There was no mention of this in the question text.

   If part of the purpose of the exercise was to see if students can spot the problem, then why does it need to be mentioned in the directions? I understand that it sometimes is mentioned in textbooks, but the fact that it has been mentioned up front before doesn't imply that it will always be that way. And in fact, outside of textbook exercises, you will rarely, if ever, be told up front that a problem exists. It makes sense enough for a textbook to mention it because you cannot ask the book any questions (well, you can, but you will likely be ignored ;-) so it would almost certainly appear as a printing error. But professors are a bit more interactive, and so should not be expected to be constrained in the same manner as a textbook.

   Side note: please get used to a) not being told upfront of there being any problems, even if it is reasonable to expect that there aren't any, and b) things in the current situation working differently than they ever have previously, before attempting children (especially more than 1) ;-).

5. I believe deliberately misleading the student to be worse than simply being careless.

   Seriously? Why? Do you think that life somehow works any differently? You mention in a comment on the question that you have been in the workforce for 4 years now and have never been given non-working code. Well, congrats! But, all that really shows is that you haven't worked long enough, or at enough places, to have inherited truly bad code. Stick around long enough and you will. And usually, it is not as simple as "not compiling". Usually, the non-working code you will inherit will work, but not exactly correctly. It might make bad assumptions and miscalculate something, or work correctly sometimes but under certain conditions do something that you will swear could never be attempted by anyone who even just passed 2 programming classes but never graduated. Bad code is everywhere. Personally, I have more respect for the professor assuming that this was intentional, because it is more reflective of reality.

   Besides, there are three non-technical lessons here:

   1. The mistakes being made aren't always in the code being given. I have found that mistakes often enter in the initial meetings and requirements gathering. Sometimes a Product Owner / Product Manager / etc making a request for functionality doesn't understand all of the intricacies of the system, or sometimes doesn't know how certain technology works and attempts to misapply it, or any other of a myriad of ways that bad assumptions get introduced. And the sooner problems are detected the easier they are to fix (or work around, if need be). And being able to identify when you are being told in a meeting to do something that won't work (assuming that you can also propose a solution), makes for a more valuable employee than someone who is just great at coding.

   2. Many people spot mistakes but are too afraid to say anything for fear of being wrong (that they misunderstood the code) or due to not wanting to come across as "negative". And sadly, sometimes people do get dinged on reviews for pointing out when things won't work since managers are also humans who make mistakes. But being an effective member of a team requires confidence and knowing how to identify when something is wrong (hint: make sure to have a proposed solution).

   3. Not everyone reads directions. Given how simple it was to find that the code wouldn't compile (i.e. just attempt to compile it), you would think that everyone would find the problem, right? I am willing to bet that there are some students who turn in code that includes the original error (because they never tried to compile it), or who turn in a "correct" version but don't know that it didn't originally compile because they simply copied from someone else who failed to mention that part. The professor can learn a lot about his/her students via such an exercise, while also teaching more than mere coding.

Now the professor wants me to apologize because my comment implied that there was carelessness on their part.

Yes, your comment certainly did imply that, quite heavily. And, while it does seem as though the professor shouldn't be demanding an apology -- do they really care what you think?, and are you the first student to say something "inappropriate" to them? -- the simple fact is that they are asking for one. Two lessons here:

1. You can't control the reactions of others to you, nor will you always understand their reactions (and it goes both ways!). You don't know what else is going on this person's life, maybe a lot of stress, maybe you phrased something in just the right way to trigger an emotion in them, maybe they are just "thin skinned", or who knows. What you do know is that you have upset someone that you have a working relationship with, and you need to make it right, even if they mistook the tone or intent of your message.

2. Pick your battles. You don't always need to be "right" in every situation. It is far better to give a "dishonest" apology than to continue a petty feud. And if your tone did insult them, then you can't say that you are correct because you did not intend for the email to be taken that way. You don't have to apologize for pointing out the mistake. You mainly need to apologize for making this person feel bad. And even if you (or anyone else) roll your eyes at saying sorry for insulting them, just consider how you want people to treat you: if you were insulted by someone and no matter how much you explain why they just don't understand, do you want them walking off saying, "well, I didn't say anything wrong so you shouldn't be feeling hurt" or would you prefer they just accept that you were insulted and they just acknowledge that they did it (even if they don't understand how) and that they didn't intend it.

What this all comes down to is:

1. Yes, you should apologize for insulting them, and explain that you really did not mean to.

2. This can only be done either over the phone or in person. Do not send another email, unless it is to simply say, "I'm sorry for insulting you. Can we please discuss this over the phone, after class, or during your office hours?". Office hour would be preferred since it is in person and can be a little more private than after class.

3. Take this opportunity to reflect on how you would handle being tasked by a Product Manager or Manager to do something that won't work (or at least shouldn't be done in the manner requested). They won't be giving you a "test" to see if you will correct them. They might seriously be asking you to do something that will adversely affect the system (i.e. customers) or at least profits (e.g. a horribly inefficient process and/or one requiring additional hardware, etc). It is your job (well, everyone's job really) to identify the issue, raise the concern, and engage the requester and the rest of the team on how to solve it. Are you going to say, in a meeting with everyone, that the P.M. or manager should have realized what they were asking for because they had been there for years? Everyone notices how everyone else presents their ideas, especially if they are condescending about it. You generally don't ever need to ask someone how they can make such a silly mistake, because you are really just telling them that they are stupid and you are smart.

Answer 8

For the problem itself: Are you 100% sure that the program cannot be run? I am a bit rusty for x86 assembly, but often very old programs are still used in exercise und if you are not careful and run them in compatibility mode (simulating old processors in 16/32-bit protected mode), the increased pointer and operand size moves instructions out of range or leads to access violations.

Now to the reply. It is really hard to advise on that because we don't know the exact mail exchange, the tone you have used and how the professor ticks.

So I recommend that you read out the e-mail exchange to one of your friends / acquaintances whom you can trust and who is socially adept. Ask him how your mail sounds if he/she were the recipient. If the face grows longer and longer, I would strongly advise to apologize. If on the other hand your acquaintance does not find anything offensive apart from exposing an error, it is most likely an embarassed professor who feels exposed.

In both cases ask what parts could be considered inquisitive and refer to them in your answer apologetically. There are some formats which look like apologies which allow both parties to save face.

• I am sorry if I have offended you/this mail comes off offensive...(This does not imply that your mail was incorrect or even intersubjectively offensive. But it allows the conclusion that the professor was offended and the reason for that may be out of your reach).

• If it was your intention that we find this error, I am sorry....(Yes, if. Couple the apology on a fact which you believe is false and the professor believes/pretends to be true).

Read the answer e-mail to your acquaintance, correct it to his/her suggestions and send it back.

Answer 9

Even if I thought I had done nothing wrong, I would be okay with writing something like "I'm sorry I've offended you", since it just means "I'm sorry about offending", which doesn't seem to have been your intent.

This will usually be the smart move, and actually cost you nothing, so you have little to lose from it.

Usually, it is a sensible strategy to apologise when you have given offense without meaning to, even if you don't think you're in the wrong. It doesn't mean you did something wrong, it just means you're sorry about the fact that there has been any offense. If I step on someone's toes, I'll apologise, even if the other guy's toes shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Answer 10

The professor goofed by providing broken code while implying that it was to be used without modification¹, and then you made matters worse by trying to educate the professor on something he already knows, when the most likely cause isn't that the professor doesn't know what he's doing, it's that the bulk of his energy goes into his area of interest which does not include your undergraduate class.

So step back from all the things that went wrong, and focus on what you need. Here's the reply I recommend writing.

Thank you for clarifying that I should have modified the provided code as necessary.

In other classes, the skeleton code provided for an assignment has defined an interface to which the solution must adhere; changing the code is not permitted because the interface is no longer compatible.

In this class, how may I know when a partial program code provided in the assignment forms a mandatory interface and must be used verbatim in the solution, and when I am allowed to improve it? Is adaptation of skeleton allowed for all assignments in this class?

A reasonable professor will make an announcement to the class that there is no requirement to use the partial code as-is. If the professor persists in demanding an apology after the miscommunication is explained, then you know he's only interested in feeding his ego.

It has a side effect of closing any loophole allowing the professor to retroactively pretend that mistakes were intentional, if you suspected that was what happened here.

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¹ Having students find and fix unannounced errors is a useful and acceptable teaching tool, but the instructions need to clearly indicate that modification of the provided code is permitted, because the norm in computer science classes is that it is not.

Answer 11

Tact, is the art of making a point without making an enemy - Sir Isaac Newton

Let us examine your choices:

1) Your professor made a mistake and can not admit it, he is a jerk.

Unlikely, but not impossible.

Best response: Apologize, you never, ever, want to antagonize a jerk who has power over you. You can not win this fight. Apologize and mean it.

2) Your professor is being honest with you and you have hurt his feelings with your accusations.

More likely.

Best response: Apologize and mean it.

Same decision for both possibilities, do it.

A bit of clarification on "and mean it." Emotions are the key to life. You must always ask, what is the other person feeling. Feelings, that is what motivates human beings. Calm down and really feel with your heart that you have made a mistake. Now, the correct words for your response will flow naturally. No one can find insincerity where it does not exist. Good luck.

Answer 12

While this situation is unpleasant, it's much better to learn how to deal with this now, rather than end up accidentally having it out with the person who writes your performance reviews.

Professors teach, so if you approach resolving this from that angle you'll have a better chance for success.

Go talk to your professor, in person, not to defend your position or to apologize, but to learn.

Something along these lines:

Hi Professor X, can you help me understand how I went wrong in my email to you about the bug I found?

The last thing I wanted was to offend you, and it appears I've failed badly in this respect.

Can you help me understand where I went wrong and any tips or resources that can help me avoid doing this in the future?

It's important to go in with the understanding that, unless you intended to offend your professor, you have messed up.

Answer 13

If you believe the Professor has misled students by providing the incorrect program, and that several, or many, of them got lower grades because this prevented them from properly solving the exercise, you should perhaps turn to your student association, or more specifically to your faculty representatives within the student union, to bring this up. More useful to do this with at one or two people who actually suffered because of it.

If that's what you're planning, you need to be extremely careful in what you say or write the Professor. It would probably be a good idea to give the semi-honest apology about your tone and your not meaning to offend, which other answers here suggest - but don't walk back your actual claims or legitimize what had happened.

By the way, do you know if that professor has a reputation for mistreating students? Try asking around with people who took his/her courses earlier. It's often a repeating pattern.

At any rate, if you move this from an individual altercation to some form of organized action, that would prevent your being exposed to hostile retaliation on the professor's part and will increase the chance of him/her having to answer for his apparent sloppy work and refusal to apologize/clarify.

All this assumes, of course, that you were actually right about the facts and the context - something which is hard to judge by the description from your side only.

Answer 14

Despite how large egos are in academe, they are very fragile. Pointing out a professor's mistake can be taken in a variety of ways. The tone, and even completeness of your explanation, could be considered offensive.

I will say that the professor's explanation was pretty poor -stating the question was designed that way is a bit odd when the questions does not suggest troubleshooting in the answer. To me, this suggests you hurt the professors feelings while they simultaneously try to convince you there was no mistake. Denial is a common human response. Likewise, a demand for an apology suggests your inquiry damaged their ego more than it should have.

I would evaluate the tone of your inquiry, and base your apology off of the presence of some imprudent remark. That said, if you were polite in your inquiry, I would not apologize. Just remember that professors are masters of your grade in their course. Based on what you said, retaliation from someone of such fragile disposition could occur.

Answer 15

Don't apologize. Don't be surprised though when he nitpicks your projects, and don't be surprised when your A-quality term project gets graded a B-. Your dilemma is so common in the industry. You can be right. Or you can get promoted. Choice is yours.

Answer 16

There are a variety of answers here. I'm adding my own position to provide some straightforward advice. With the nature of the question, any advice given may be subject to the different dynamics of different people; specific approaches may or may not work out well in different individual circumstances (that involve different people). That being said, here are the instructions I provide for you to consider acting on.

You must absolutely back down, for your own good. The professor is in a position of authority over you, and may have some leeway in deciding whether to grade something favorably (whether in this class now, or another class). You don't benefit from being on the professor's bad side.

Either:

• Apologize for taking a stance of being offensive. By being offensive, I don't necessarily mean that you were personally slandering. Your "offensive" nature might not have been any more inappropriate than playing an "offensive" role in basketball. Still, sometimes instructors try to prepare students for industry by making sure that students are used to humbly taking instructions.
• or apologize for not doing a better job of communicating in a way that didn't end up being annoying (or worse).
  
  All of us humans can communicate in a way that doesn't end up pleasing everyone. This is a flaw that seems universal to our species. If we're very honest about life, then we can feel some degree of sorrow (a.k.a., being "sorry") for unpleasantness we cause, even if the amount of sorrow is slight because we don't feel like we could have done better. Just be disappointed in the lack of ability to completely pacify everyone, and then you have the basis of an honest apology.

Don't feel like you need to convince the professor that you're suitably reformed and are now a stellar model of what the professor would identify as perfection. It seems that you burned a bridge, inadvertent as that may have been. How easy it is to repair the damage, or whether that is even possible, is highly dependent on the professor, and you might not be able to recover fully. Writing a lengthy apology may do more harm than good. Keep it short and sweet; three sentences or even one may be sufficient. Just communicate a posture that that shows you're going through the step of apologizing, and that may be the best that you can do. (Well, that, and you might want to walk on egg shells for the duration of time that you interact with that professor. Whether that is needed may depend on just how thoroughly those bridges do end up getting repairs. Even if you do again appear to be on the person's good side, make sure to never repeat the same action, so that you don't re-offend in the same way. If you do, any acceptance of your apology will likely be revoked.)

This is coming from a person who got on the wrong side of a department chair within the first 80 minutes of a program. This was because I tried to dutifully defend a score, and I guess she just deemed me to be adversarial. She even took me out of the class for a one-on-one chat, which was a first for me. I was terrified, and remained very cautious throughout the entire program. It was not pleasant. Towards the end (maybe my second-to-last-day there), the topic of that early encounter got brought up. (I think I may have delicately brought it up, asking if she still thought of me as a "troublemaker". It was a slightly risky thing to do, but I served her well and even did some good for her program, and was genuinely interested in feedback, so I took that risk.) I even got an acknowledgement of the "misunderstanding" that the department chair had.

I remained pretty stressed throughout the program, but I did end up getting a straight A in every course (thoroughly demonstrating a reversal of prior academic years where I had some different results). As I could (unpleasantly) handle the stress I endured, the end result was quite worthwhile for me.

Answer 17

Schools, like business, army, most political parties, ... are non-democratic organizations. Thus, your answer (if you write it: an option is let time to pass) must be pragmatic, write what gives the best result to you. Do not start an ethic war, you're going to loss it.

You can "apologize the misunderstood" (that is not the same that apologize your mail). Or, as another answer says "I'm sorry if I've offended you".

If, as theoretical exercise, we analyze the facts exposed in your question:

Could be the teacher has made an error (by example, copy&paste the exercise without any check) and doesn't wants recognize it; could be it is true that the code mistake is voluntary introduced, but start the exercise with "complete the program below ..." instead of "based on the program below ..." is an error: he points students to the wrong path.

Worst, after your mail, teacher is using their status and position to punish the answer and your complain about quality: he is trying to teach obedience instead of criticism. He could simply explain you the facts and why your mail has been incorrect in background and/or form but instead, according what you explained, he is trying to force you to do what you consider near to false and humiliate.

However, again, remember: you are not in a democratic organism. Be pragmatic.

Answer 18

Personally, I would not respond to a demand like that. My parents never taught me to kowtow.

My sense is that you got yourself into trouble by getting too anal about the assignment. Most textbooks are littered with mistakes. You could spend your life trying to correct all the mistakes in a textbook.

Just get on with it and do your work.