Tell them you'll give them the point if they calculate how much difference it'll actually make (and show their work, of course)

heh

The way that some of the questions on this assignment are set up is totally wrong and confusing, and I can understand students getting frustrated when they do a problem in what they think is the right way, and the computer tells them they're wrong, but I am just so done with arguing over points.

Or if they can make a valid case for why they did it that way and came to the conclusion they did, give them the point. Then you're the cool, reasonable teacher who understands that the assignment was a pain and are validating their effort.

I get what you're saying about it not making a difference in the big picture, but I very much fear that I would be one of the students arguing with you - I can't deal with being told I'm wrong if to the best of my ability and available information I'm right.

If it were just a few, I would. But I just don't have the time (or patience) to go through that with 170 students.

Then you can be the ultra-cool teacher who sends out the mass email saying, "Due to the fact that problem # blah-de-blah was so poorly written/reasoned/explained/whatever, I've decided to throw it out and give everyone that point." So what you said, but with extra "Ms. R is an awesome teacher" points.

Then you can be the ultra-cool teacher who sends out the mass email saying, "Due to the fact that problem # blah-de-blah was so poorly written/reasoned/explained/whatever, I've decided to throw it out and give everyone that point." So what you said, but with extra "Ms. R is an awesome teacher" points.

I would, if the computer system were set up in a way that would let me do that. But it's not. I have sent out a mass email that explained how to get the correct answer for the ones that people are having trouble with ("For this problem, don't round the numbers until you've finished your calculations; for this other one, use a negative number for c even though that makes no sense and is the opposite of what you were taught to do.")

The thing that's actually causing most of these problems is that, in response to a different issue from a different assignment, the system was set up so that, for all homework problems within this course, it will accept as correct any answer that's within 10% of the correct answer. So what's happening here is that students are getting a wrong answer for one part of the question, but it's being marked correct because it's within that 10% leeway, but then, when they take that wrong answer and use it as part of the equation to calculate the answer to the next part of the question, it gets marked wrong, because the answer you get from doing that isn't within 10% of the correct answer to that second part.

Just so long as it's clear you're frustrated/annoyed by the dumb ones too, and helping them to work around the dumbness, then I think you're being pretty cool, Ms. R.

So what's happening here is that students are getting a wrong answer for one part of the question, but it's being marked correct because it's within that 10% leeway, but then, when they take that wrong answer and use it as part of the equation to calculate the answer to the next part of the question, it gets marked wrong, because the answer you get from doing that isn't within 10% of the correct answer to that second part.

And I bet, once upon a time, someone believed it would be So Much Easier to have automated grading instead of having to do it all yourself by hand!