Sophia English Comp 1 Touchstone Issue

[arrakis]

Hi all, 
I took the Sophia English Comp 1 course. This course has 5 touchstones: Touchstone 1, 2.1, 2.2, 3 & 4. There is no final milestone or touchstone per se.

I cleared all challenges and 4 of the touchstones. On the last one, Argumentative Essay, grader has given me two comments. 

First one is an APA reference style issue. I don't agree with grader's feedback but will make revisions just to get it out of the way, not a big deal. 

Second comment is that the essay doesn't have an argument at all and that it does not read like an argumentative essay. I was stumped. I reviewed the course tutorial and read the essay couple of times to make sure I did not miss something. There are a couple of minor structure issues that can be fixed but to say that there is no argument in the essay is outrageous. I spent a ton of time researching and writing this essay on a topic that I am passionate about. Grader has essentially discarded my work. Now, I either rewrite the essay in its entirety or leave the submission as-is and get graded without this touchstone.

Touchstone status is Submitted - Problem with Submission. 
Course status is - Great job! Your work for this course is complete. You’ll receive a final score soon.

I asked Sophia what happens if I don't resubmit, can I still complete the course. They said its a final touchstone, I need to get 50% on each touchstone to complete the course. 

Has anyone come across this situation? Do I need to resubmit this essay?

Thank you for your help. 

[ss20ts]

Welcome to Eng Comp! The grading from hell course. You can't complete the course without a 50 or higher on the last Touchstone. You have to submit them all to complete the course. You can always make some edits and resubmit it.

[k-k-k-katy]

Welcome to Eng Comp! The grading from hell course. You can't complete the course without a 50 or higher on the last Touchstone. You have to submit them all to complete the course. You can always make some edits and resubmit it.

However, because you are not guaranteed the same grader (even for revisions) you might get a different grader who will not like the other grader's advice about the APA issues (they have conflicting learning materials AND advice from graders on APA) and will dock you for your revisions.  Also, if you change your paper, a new grader might not like the revisions you've made.  It can be very frustrating.  One thing that is possible is to make contact with student support and ask for a second opinion on the grading of your final paper.

[ss20ts]

Welcome to Eng Comp! The grading from hell course. You can't complete the course without a 50 or higher on the last Touchstone. You have to submit them all to complete the course. You can always make some edits and resubmit it.

However, because you are not guaranteed the same grader (even for revisions) you might get a different grader who will not like the other grader's advice about the APA issues (they have conflicting learning materials AND advice from graders on APA) and will dock you for your revisions.  Also, if you change your paper, a new grader might not like the revisions you've made.  It can be very frustrating.  One thing that is possible is to make contact with student support and ask for a second opinion on the grading of your final paper.

I had the same grader for 5 out of 6 of my papers in Eng Comp 2 on Sophia. That person was just evil. They marked off points for things not in the instructions or rubric. They said I needed to add things not in the instructions or rubric. I never recommend Sophia's Eng Comp courses to anyone because the grading is atrocious.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, it's a waiting game (and a drafting, editing, revisions, submissions of your work)... You should have another class open for Sophia.org and work on that while you wait, generally I recommend one course with touchstones and the other not, so you can speed through some other work. If you did chose two with touchstones, you can try adding a third if the touchstones are bogging you down. Email support for assistance with that additional course...

[arrakis]

Thanks for all your feedback. Since touchstone courses were getting delayed due to grading, Sophia opened 5 courses simultaneously. Very generous of them. I am done with all other courses, down to just this one assignment.
I am gonna revise it per previous grader’s feedback. Lets see how it goes. Just want to get 50 and be done.

[k-k-k-katy]

Welcome to Eng Comp! The grading from hell course. You can't complete the course without a 50 or higher on the last Touchstone. You have to submit them all to complete the course. You can always make some edits and resubmit it.

However, because you are not guaranteed the same grader (even for revisions) you might get a different grader who will not like the other grader's advice about the APA issues (they have conflicting learning materials AND advice from graders on APA) and will dock you for your revisions.  Also, if you change your paper, a new grader might not like the revisions you've made.  It can be very frustrating.  One thing that is possible is to make contact with student support and ask for a second opinion on the grading of your final paper.

I had the same grader for 5 out of 6 of my papers in Eng Comp 2 on Sophia. That person was just evil. They marked off points for things not in the instructions or rubric. They said I needed to add things not in the instructions or rubric. I never recommend Sophia's Eng Comp courses to anyone because the grading is atrocious.

Purdue Owl is recommended as the source to use for APA but then the Sophia learning materials use an older version of APA (and different graders expect the opposing versions).  I chronicled why I made the choices I did and also to explain revisions in the reflection/question portion of each assignment so whoever the grader turned out to be would see why I was making the choices or changes (required by a previous grader), and that helped.  I am part of a study group so we could compare graders and they were all over the place, some just pushing students through even leaving glaring mistakes without comment and giving high marks, others so unreasonable it was impossible to please them.  I also experienced a couple of graders who were very earnest and encouraging and fair in their grading, who helped me mature my writing to be prepared for college-level assignments.  HOWEVER, just want to say even with the difficulties I am VERY GRATEFUL for Sophia and overall my experience with them was phenomenal.  Sophia fits my learning style, helped me overcome my overwhelming test anxiety, helped me earn many credits on an accelerated schedule.  Also, I made it through these two writing courses, earned the credits, and moved on from there.  Now I know I can push through the hard classes or unfair graders keeping my eyes on the goal of a degree.  Also, appreciate and love Sophia support staff, they are great!

[bjcheung77]

Wow, they've allowed the max of 5 just like Study.com, interesting, the most I read previously was 4 at Sophia.org - I guess they're that backed up in the touchstone grading.

[LevelUP]

Second comment is that the essay doesn't have an argument at all and that it does not read like an argumentative essay. I was stumped.

For all I know, you did everything right, and you got unlucky and ran into a crazy "not quite my tempo" grader.

Generally, an argument essay is pretty simple. You need to take a hard stance on something and try to convince people why you are right. You want to avoid sounding too diplomatic.

Example topic
People need to stop using their mobile phones because it affects their attention spans, hurts their self-esteem, and destroys their relationships.

What are you trying to convince people to do? To stop using their mobile phones.

[ashkir]

When you resubmit any essays, include the feedback you got last time in your submissions. This is what caused the new grader to go oh the last grader told you do to do that. They claim they check previous notes, but, they don't.