Annoyed by professor - advice please????

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OK, this may seem immature, but I am really annoyed by a professor in my evironmental health class telling students that there is a "right" answer to some of the things that he has us do. For instance, last mod we had to do a paper on why a toxic waste transfer facility should or should not be forced to move from its present location that borders on a residential area. Basically, my answer was that there are pros and cons to having the facility there. The state in which this hypothetical facility is located would regulate the hell out of it, so the threat to health would be minimal. There were some nuisance complaints like odor and traffic that the facility would have to address before it could be granted a renewed permit. Lastly, I pointed out that the facility may actually be providing tax revenue to the local families that they don't necessarily want to loose. Especially if the families then have to clean up the land if it could ever be used for residential use again. Ultimately, my solution was to have a referendum since I didn't necessarily feel that a well-run facility was unsafe, but I thought that the local residents should weigh the pros and cons for themselves.

Anyway, I got an "A" for the paper, but the instructor pointed out that the "correct" answer would have been that the facility does not belong in a residential area. WTF? This is a graduate level class, and the point of these excercises should be (in my opinion) to think critically about all the issues surrounding a particular public health problem. Not to get the "right" answer.

So, should I just shut up and take the "A" I am getting in the class and shut up, or should I tell the professor what I think about this feedback in a non-hostile manner?

Thanks

I think you should carefully word your enquiry, and without being agressive (i.e. attacking his teachingn style), you should try to find out why he thinks this is a question which has a 'right' answer. Maybe something like:

"I was pleased with my grade, but I am a little confused about the question. What did you mean when you said that this question has a certain 'right' answer?"

Then if he says something evasive like "the facility does not belong in a residential area", which isn't answering what you asked, just restating his opinion, then clarify with:

"Yes, but why does this question have a certain 'right' answer, surely this is an open question, there are many ways of approaching it, and they don't all lead to the same place."

If you can't come to an understanding of this with him, I'd say keep with your instincts. I've always done this in the past on things like this, and it has cost me occasionally, but at least I still have my integrity. On the other hand, this isn't your integrity on any major level, and the grades might be very valuble.

Another arguement for answering your own way is this: I had a friend doing an English degree and his teacher had this crazy thing about everything somehow involving phallic symbols. This teacher was obviously a great believer in Freud. An essay submitted which didn't revolve around this topic, did not do very well. So my friend dutifully wrote out an essay (which counted towards his final mark) which did revolve around phallic symbols. And then his teacher changed, so the essay was marked by someone else, who recognised it as being not very good. My friend was asked to explain his essay, and he couldn't really do it, and he recieved a bad grade.

So at least you can defend your ideas, whereas if you write your professors and then someone else marks it and asked you what the hell you were talking about, you'll be stuck.

I agree. You should take the As, without making a fuss.

Take the A. thats a small hill to fight on. Let it pass.

And your making a big deal why exactly?

I'd say ask and try to see where he's coming from... question but don't fight.

After all, as much as the A is a good thing, "take it and run" leaves certain things unanswered.