Graded on a scale of A to what?

Got the Pathology test back today - you remember, the one where the first essay question was 'What is the meaning of life and death'? Yeah, this class is getting kind of old.

Last week we asked about them, and the Mumbler told us he had good news and bad news. After about five minutes of us trying to tell him we wanted the bad news first, he finally got around to saying they hadn't been graded. The good news? That we passed. Ok? Cool? Enter this week.

The test was actually two tests, because half the material was taught by one guy, and half by another. So it was sitting for two different exams. On the second part, I got an actual number score, and a letter grade. What you'd expect.

Apparently the two didn't communicate.

The Mumbler told us he didn't give us grades. He made comments, checks and Xs, and took off "1/4" or "1/2". However, he didn't say what he was taking one fourth or one half from. No concept of what each question was worth, or what the difference was between Very Good, Good, and Ok. No point totals. No letter grade. He didn't make any marks to say a right or wrong answer on a page with pictures of histology slides that we were supposed to identify. When we asked him, he told us that 'he had a grade set for us in his head.' And, here's the kicker, the end of the course would be an opportunity for us to see if the grade we think we deserve matches the grade he thinks we should get.

Now I ask you.

WTF?

On the up side, the presentation went good. Ironically, he criticised my lack of pointer, and told me I shouldn't turn my head toward the screen while I was talking. Good advice, but hard to take from a guy who spends most of the lecture talking as coherently as a drunk at a bar.