For drama of this severity, they could have at least broken out some extra colours or used up the entire board. I mean, if you're going to go down, why not go down in flames?
Possibly, but I have never seen a class made up -entirely- of idiots. Generally there is at least one person who truly wants to be there, who works hard and such.
You're not wrong...but if you take out the curve, it's amazing how low the average scores can be in American universities.
In Geology--my required science class that I had no aptitude for--I managed to get an A- for the year by getting the highest score on the final exam: 64. Out of 100. That was the highest grade in a class that I know included people who wanted to pursue a degree in geology-related fields. Without the curve, I'd probably have failed the entire class. And so would almost everyone else that semester. Kind of sad.
I thought grading on a curve was illegal or against the rules or frowned upon or just not done anymore... or something. I guess I just don't understand why it's done that way, other than to fuck some students up and to improperly reward others (no offense).
Oh, no offense taken. It benefited me, but it was still bullshit. It's like an asterisk on my Phi Kappa Phi membership.
It occurs to me now that maybe 101-level courses were graded...oh, let's say "gently"...because of all the people (like me) knocking out requirements that had nothing to do with what they'd eventually do. And so, if I'd taken the next level up in science courses, I would have been rudely surprised to find myself flunking. But none of my fuzzy-study courses graded on the curve, at any level. Professor's choice, perhaps.
There's multiple ways to do a curve (http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2012/10/the-optimal-exam-question.html). I think you're thinking of only one of them.
Edit: Oops, not the link I was looking for, but it does give a list of reason to curve a class.
I wouldn't have failed the final, I would have failed the course. Because getting top score on the final pulled me up to A- from a solid C...I have to imagine that without the curve, that starting C would have been an F, and a D just wouldn't have pulled me up that much.
From a certain viewpoint, a good exam has an average score of 50%, so that there's lots of room on both sides for students to demonstrate their ability, while the assumed A-F scoring system wants an average score of 70-80.
A-F assumes that the students have actually learned something. Or hopes, anyways. If the teaching process is a success, the students should passing.
If the exam is set up so that the class forms a tidy bell curve around 50%, your passing grade had better be 30% or 40%, or you've got a teacher who has completely missed the point of their job.
For my Integration class, the class ended up being curved so a 40% was a "passing so well you don't have to take the final exam" grade.
6 of us ended up taking the final exam anyways. When I put up my hand during the exam to ask for clarification about a question, he came by and wrote the entire answer for me.
In this case, I don't know if the teacher was good or not because he didn't really speak English (or French). I'm not entirely sure what he spoke, other than a south-asian language with a small sprinkling of English in it. He'd mastered the word 'OK?' and used it heavily.
That's sort of where I went. I feel like there should be one more line hidden below the break of the photo saying "NOT A ONE OF YOU WILL EVER CUT IT AS ASSISTANT GREENSKEEPER"
however: as a former high school teacher who went home from work crying, cursing, and/or chain smoking more days than not, i applaud the gesture, however fake it probably is. there are some unbelievable failures in education. unbelievable until you teach, anyway.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 03:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 03:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 04:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 04:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 05:13 am (UTC)But hey, maybe it's this guy: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/02/rainer-reinscheid-emails-_n_1729964.html
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 12:46 pm (UTC)But
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 09:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 07:42 am (UTC)Or it's simply a prank written by another student, intended to scare each class that uses that room. ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-15 11:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 08:20 am (UTC)In Geology--my required science class that I had no aptitude for--I managed to get an A- for the year by getting the highest score on the final exam: 64. Out of 100. That was the highest grade in a class that I know included people who wanted to pursue a degree in geology-related fields. Without the curve, I'd probably have failed the entire class. And so would almost everyone else that semester. Kind of sad.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 09:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 09:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 09:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 09:57 am (UTC)It occurs to me now that maybe 101-level courses were graded...oh, let's say "gently"...because of all the people (like me) knocking out requirements that had nothing to do with what they'd eventually do. And so, if I'd taken the next level up in science courses, I would have been rudely surprised to find myself flunking. But none of my fuzzy-study courses graded on the curve, at any level. Professor's choice, perhaps.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 01:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 01:37 pm (UTC)Edit: Oops, not the link I was looking for, but it does give a list of reason to curve a class.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 02:18 pm (UTC)Geology classes shouldn't need a curve until mineralogy or geochemistry. o_0
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 02:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 05:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 03:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 07:15 pm (UTC)If the exam is set up so that the class forms a tidy bell curve around 50%, your passing grade had better be 30% or 40%, or you've got a teacher who has completely missed the point of their job.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 07:13 pm (UTC)6 of us ended up taking the final exam anyways. When I put up my hand during the exam to ask for clarification about a question, he came by and wrote the entire answer for me.
In this case, I don't know if the teacher was good or not because he didn't really speak English (or French). I'm not entirely sure what he spoke, other than a south-asian language with a small sprinkling of English in it. He'd mastered the word 'OK?' and used it heavily.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 10:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 12:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 02:10 pm (UTC)-TG
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 02:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 02:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 09:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-12 10:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-13 12:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-15 01:17 am (UTC)however: as a former high school teacher who went home from work crying, cursing, and/or chain smoking more days than not, i applaud the gesture, however fake it probably is. there are some unbelievable failures in education. unbelievable until you teach, anyway.