Worst mistakes made by the professor in the classroom.

threeonefour · #1 10-10-2005, 03:49 PM

inspired by the 'is this fair post?' i was wondering what you all considered to be some horrible mistakes made by your professors in class. it doesn't have to be about grading.

my example is very similar to the 'is this fair post?'

My sophmore year my ethics professor wanted to have an extra credit assignment. the median grade in the class was something like 50 so this extra credit assignment wasn't really optional since the class had no curve. it was supposed to be a way to shift all the grades up a few % points so that the class got a decent grade distribution.

this is how the extra credit assignment was to be scored. the amount of extra credit available to each individual was:

(100-MINtestscore%)/2

so if your lowest test score was a 20% and you got a 90% on your extra credit that was equal to 36 points of extra credit ((100-20)/2 * .9).

this however wasn't exactly a very good method from a 'fairness' perspective. this is because it didn't give people who had lower averages the chance at more extra credit (his obvious intention) it gave students who bombed one test a chance at more points.

basically, the test taker with the higher variance was favored. if you still don't get it, two people could have a 75% in the class (which was actually higher than the highest grade in that class) and have a different amount of extra credit available. or even more drastically, someone could have 75% in the class and have more available to him than someone who currently had a 65%. and the only reason why the 75% guy has more extra credit available to him is because he is LESS consistent. which i couldn't see why a grader would want that build into his class.

dcasper70 · #2 10-10-2005, 04:06 PM

the principal of my town's high school walked in on one of the shop teachers doing a 10th grader.

threeonefour · #3 10-10-2005, 04:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
the principal of my town's high school walked in on one of the shop teachers doing a 10th grader.

[/ QUOTE ]

sure beats my story.

silkyslim · #4 10-10-2005, 09:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
the principal of my town's high school walked in on one of the shop teachers doing a 10th grader.

[/ QUOTE ]
Was the teacher a female and was the 10th grader a male? cuz thats awesome. if it was the otehr way around lock that pervert up

nothumb · #5 10-10-2005, 04:12 PM

This post, and a lot of the college related posts I see, seems pretty stupid. You go to college to earn good grades and learn things. If you're doing this, you'll place high in your class and have a chance to meet your goals. If you aren't, you'll find something to complain about instead of improving yourself. That's more or less college in a nutshell these days.

NT

canis582 · #6 10-10-2005, 04:15 PM

One professor make a mistake when she expected me to do an assignment on the first night. Not a stupid ‘whats your favorite tv show’ or ‘why are you taking this class’ assignment either. I dropped that class like it was hot.

The Yugoslavian · #7 10-10-2005, 08:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
You go to college to earn good grades

[/ QUOTE ]

It saddens me that this is the case for many, many people. It certainly shouldn't be the reason anyone goes to college.

Yugoslav

nothumb · #8 10-10-2005, 10:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You go to college to earn good grades

[/ QUOTE ]

It saddens me that this is the case for many, many people. It certainly shouldn't be the reason anyone goes to college.

Yugoslav

[/ QUOTE ]

Way to cut off the rest of the quote. Obviously you don't just go to get good grades, but why go if you aren't trying to succeed? I don't see the point for all these kids who go to school to scrape by, and don't want to put in even a minimum of effort.

FWIW I burned the candle at both ends for eight semesters and graduated magna cum laude. There is no reason you can't work hard and play hard. Anyone getting a 60 on an easy test and complaining about the professor has their priorities way out of whack.

NT

The Yugoslavian · #9 10-11-2005, 06:03 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You go to college to earn good grades

[/ QUOTE ]

It saddens me that this is the case for many, many people. It certainly shouldn't be the reason anyone goes to college.

Yugoslav

[/ QUOTE ]

Way to cut off the rest of the quote. Obviously you don't just go to get good grades, but why go if you aren't trying to succeed? I don't see the point for all these kids who go to school to scrape by, and don't want to put in even a minimum of effort.

FWIW I burned the candle at both ends for eight semesters and graduated magna cum laude. There is no reason you can't work hard and play hard. Anyone getting a 60 on an easy test and complaining about the professor has their priorities way out of whack.

NT

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, I should have been clearer that I wasn't talking about you but that I took a piece of what you said and am commenting on how I think too many people (in general) think that way. Rereading my post now makes it painful obvious that I also implicated you to be a perhaps poster child of this group.

That wasn't my intention.

Anwyay, I agree that the OP seems to have his priorities out of whack. I mean, I don't really feel the professor is taking the best line for the grading most likely but that is far less important than the OP having so much trouble in the class in the first place.

Yugoslav

#10 10-10-2005, 04:20 PM

Worst mistake made by professors? How about not learning to speak english correctly? My most horrid classes were with foreign born profs with thick accents and/or an inability to project there voices.