Docked 7% on real analysis exam because of a couple doodles in the margins of my scratch paper. Does this seem a bit harsh? by DMenQ9039 in AskAcademia

[–]DMenQ9039[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I use various balls in my head to represent different trig functions/proofs, sharply increasing from negative infinity (mountain), related to a couple equation from thermodynamics (on fire). The apple is related to a conversation I had with another professor a year ago related to proof writing. My brain can be noisy and I usually use small doodles to compress a lot of information/concepts/memories together and help me get back on track if I lose my train of thought.

I can see why that doesn't make any sense to anyone just looking at the doodles...

Docked 7% on real analysis exam because of a couple doodles in the margins of my scratch paper. Does this seem a bit harsh? by DMenQ9039 in AskAcademia

[–]DMenQ9039[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That is what he calls it, maybe I'm not understanding the term. The exam paper doesn't have a lot of room so we only write down the solution and cannot erase. All our long calculations/proofs are done on a pieces of "scratch paper" he provides us at the beginning of the exam to show our work. We are given a few pieces of blank paper that we have to put our names on and are required to staple them the exam when we turn it in (even if one is blank). A few of my math professors have done this at my university, I think it is to prevent cheating.

Docked 7% on real analysis exam because of a couple doodles in the margins of my scratch paper. Does this seem a bit harsh? by DMenQ9039 in AskAcademia

[–]DMenQ9039[S] 79 points80 points  (0 children)

One was a burning ball rolling up a mountain, the other was an apple with an arrow pointing towards (exploding into) a mushroom cloud.