Tactful way of asking for opportunities to raise my grade?

[Zelda311]

So, I currently have about a 68 in one of my core classes (that I need to pass with a B.)

 

I know, I pretty much suck, so I am definitely not making excuses or anything, but to put it in context, I think it is because our grades thus far are based on only two assignments (and I really wish there were more.)  The first one was a take home homework assignment earlier in the semester.  It was worth 20% of our grade and I got a 9/15 (60%) on it.  The second was our midterm, which was worth 30%.  I have serious test anxiety and I got a 14.2/20 (71%) on that one (despite feeling like I have a good grasp on the material,) so that raised my grade a little but obviously not that much.  The rest of our grade is based on participation and a big paper, which I *think* will give me a B if I get anything above a 90, but it's going to be close.  I think the average grade in class is around an 80?  So there may be some sort of curve (although maybe not if final papers raise the average significantly,) but I am clearly way below average.  

 

I know some professors don't offer extra credit or opportunities to improve your grade but I know that some do (and it is offered in this subject taught by a different professor, who I hear also curves quite liberally and I am kicking myself over not taking his class instead) so I would like to ask.  Especially because I really do feel that my grade is not representative of what I have learned in class and wish there were more assignments.  Also, because he is actually a professor from a neighboring school he doesn't have an office on campus and doesn't have office hours.  I could set up an appointment by email I guess and I have been thinking about it because I really want to ask about this but I'm not sure what to say.  

 

Does anyone have any advice?

Edited November 13, 2014 by Zelda311

[TakeruK]

If you are worried about your grade, then the best course of action, in my opinion, is to schedule an appointment by email to meet with the professor. Tell the professor that you are worried about your performance in the class thus far. Don't make excuses (especially not what you wrote here). Ask for feedback on how to do better on the remaining material (the big paper). Then, take this feedback earnestly (ask for clarification if necessary) and earn a high grade on your big paper. 

[Zelda311]

The thing is, since the professor didn't even grade these assignments, will he even have any feedback?  The TA corrects all the assignments and everything that she corrected totally made sense, it was just stupid mistakes that I made (again, not making excuses, just saying...)

Edited November 13, 2014 by Zelda311

[TakeruK]

In that case, I would recommend that you talk to the TA if you feel you are struggling with the material in some way. I'm not sure how these assignments are graded. If they are purely objective then perhaps you can work with the TA to identify some area where you seem to be doing poorly and perhaps the TA has some suggestions on how to improve in these areas. If there are subjective aspects to the grading, then it might be a good idea to talk to the TA about the expectations so that you can better meet them in the future.

 

I would also try to schedule time with the professor as well because it might be the case that the professor will be grading the final paper whereas the TA grades the homework and midterm. 

 

In any case, the professor and TA are there to help you learn the material so I think the best first step is to talk to them to get feedback on previous assignments and apply their advice to the final paper. Good luck!