NORMAN, Okla. (KOKH) — A psychology course reaction essay written by a student at the University of Oklahoma is in the spotlight after the student received a zero for the paper.
According to the OU chapter of Turning Point USA, the 650 word essay was written by Samantha Fulnecky for an assignment responding to an article about how people are perceived based on society’s expectations of gender roles.
Fulnecky was also graded separately on a discussion post.
TPUSA OU said Fulnecky cited the Bible throughout her essay to support her claims that eliminating gender in society would be “detrimental” because that would put people “farther from God’s original plan for humans.”
Fulnecky reached out to Turning Point USA OU chapter adviser and faculty member Gary Barksdale, along with some others, for help after receiving a zero on her paper.
“In that email, she sent it to me and many others and had voiced her concerns in that email about being unjustly graded by her psychology instructor. So it was for a 2000 level psychology class. And so I read through all of that stuff and I did respond to her letting her know that would have written the paper a little bit differently,” Barksdale said.
Barksdale walked FOX 25 through the grading criteria for the reaction paper.
“10 points was appointed if the student had tied this back to the assigned article and then the student assessed whether the student has read the assigned article. Well, I would argue that the student didn’t deserve a zero for that because she at least partway met that reaction content. And Mel states, does the article provide a reaction reflection discussion of some aspect of the article rather than a summary? I would contend that the student met that criteria more than 50 percent,” Barksdale said. “And then the clarity of writing, that’s of course is where I would be a little bit more critical of Samantha’s paper because, you know, it really wasn’t as sequential as what I what I would like to see and, you know, I’m not an English professor and I’m not a psychology professor.”
He said while he would not have given the paper an A, it does not deserve a zero.
“This paper was soliciting her feelings. This paper was soliciting her reaction. This paper was soliciting her discussion on this topic. So I feel that the instructor was completely unjust in giving the student a zero. This paper did not earn a zero grade. And I feel that this zero was a punitive grade based on the instructor’s insertion of her own, or his, however they identify, own personal feelings in this,” Barksdale said.
He added that since this was a reaction paper, empirical evidence was not required.
“I did want to point out that because this was supposed to be a reaction paper, a discussion and not necessarily a research paper, it did not require her to comply with what the instructor later expected of her and where the instructor then states Instead, I’m deducting points for you posting a reaction paper that uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in scientific class, that uses personal ideology,” Barksdale told FOX 25.
In a statement from the University, it says the University received notice from the student upon the grading of the assignment and has begun a full review of this situation.
The University also said the instructor has been placed on administrative leave pending the finalization of the review process underway.