Times have changed haven’t they?
I had some teachers in college I really did not like. Some were hard on us, and all of us in college at the time spent a lot of time commiserating with each other about how tough some of the teachers were.
But we did the best we could.
None of us decades ago ever felt entitled to get an A.
I guess I just don’t understand the entitlement mentality.
Classes like this were known weedout courses in tough STEM disciplines in my day. They were there for a reason. Not everyone is cut out by intelligence and work ethic to handle a real STEM curriculum.
Of course, we *used* to believe in the concept of Meritocracy in this country.
The solution to a declining and decaying culture is to lower academic standards to satisfy the snowflake whiners. Right?
Organic Chemistry is typically a ‘weed-out’ class, and if you don’t pass it, you should be thankful, because you’re likely not cut out for the classes that follow.
Growing up, we learned very early in life that blaming the teacher for a failing grade was not acceptable in my house. The lesson was expanded to include not blaming others for our personal failures. A generality, for sure, but most always a good lesson to learn.
The was this calculus professor at the college where I went who, one semester, decided that the highest grade he’d be giving would be a C. And so that’s what happened. If you had the highest score in the class, you got a C.
That class wasn’t full of slackers. There were pre-meds, engineering majors, physics majors, etc. So yeah, there are lazy students. But there are also unrealistic professors.
And a side note, I taught college freshman physics for awhile. If only a few of my students were able to score well on a concept, I’d suspect poor study habits in their part. But I’d also wonder if I could have explained things better.
tooo hard??? switch to marketing...
I had a college class in the early 70s on decision making processes that focused on the Cuban Missle Crisis. A very interesting class taught by a professor who was an ex-CIA officer.
However, a large portion of the class screwed around and didn’t do well on the first of three exams. The professor threatened to drop the highest test grade and base grades on the two lowest scores if test results didn’t improve. It didn’t really make a difference for those paying attention and studying, but it sure woke up the laggards and got them motivated to do better.
Here’s to H. Nelson the thermodynamics prof who’s class was known to have absolute zero in it
What is the purpose of a school?
What is the purpose of an education?
The whole field needs examination.
If a student wants to learn they will one way or another it’s why people like Tesla Ford Edison passed the others.
Most likely the students, although I have had my share of profs who are the cause.
Orgo is memory intensive but it’s not that complicated
I had two professors who had both been with the State Dept. One was to India. No wonder India didn't like us back in the day. Watching paint dry was more exciting than his class.
The other guy wasn't too bad. Except you could tell he had been in the ivory tower tooooooo long.
Hold colleges accountable, and they will be a little more selective about admissions.