Do you prefer to be challenged or just sail through getting your degree?

[cookderosa]

I'll share a REAL story. I was about 10 years into teaching Culinary Math. Our final exam had a lot of story problems that required a few little problems inside the question like this: If beef has a yield percent of 75%, how many 40 pound cases of beef will be needed to grind 200 each 4 ounce patties?

So, culinary students (in general) were horrible in this class. Even though it was just arithmetic, it was complicated by the use of volume and weight measures, percentages and fractions, etc. and students just didn't like doing math. I was used to seeing frustration and anxiety....so....

One day, a student brings me his exam and says he missed number X and would I work it out with him. (you'd be shocked at how FEW students ever asked me to do that) But we go through it, and his answer is the answer I get. Hummm....so I did it one more time. Again, his answer was right! Wow, I say you ARE right. Ready to be shocked? That answer key was 10 years old- so twice a year I had 30 students miss that question for 10 years and this was the first one to care what the actual answer was or how to find it. About 1 in 600 students.

My point? ALWAYS find out why your answers are wrong - I don't care if it's law school or nursing school, you are paying to learn and if you're really invested in your own brain, you should know what's right, knowing what's wrong helps no one. And teachers are human, they make mistakes.

[Gaz]

I was just reading through this thread. Interesting topic. I feel that people should want to be challenged. What is the point otherwise? The unique thing about the "Big 3", in my opinion, is how much control you have in customizing your education. Sure, you can test out of subjects and expedite your degree, but you can choose curriculum from any school. Everyone has a story and a reason to want/need a degree. For some, a degree literally is a check box for a promotion. We don't make the rules, we find ways to best utilize them for ourselves. The opportunity to be challenged or just sail through is available.

I identify with Tara's post(s) because I am currently living a slightly less extreme version of her story. Ugh! It is embarrassing, but I have cried and been in physical pain due to stress. It is not the difficulty of the nursing curriculum. There is a type of hazing involved. We're also under a different grading scale C = 80-84. Anything less is a fail.

[soliloquy]

I have had 6 assignments graded so far and received a 95% on all of the assignments. I emailed my instructor and asked him what I could do to improve my score on the next assignment. His response, "fantastic work, keep it up"

Ummmm.......what?

[Tedium]

I am nurturing the crazy dream of going on to a master's program after my BA, so I really prefer the classes in my major to be as challenging as possible. I think those are the classes you should be concerned about coasting through. When I took IDS 101 at COSC I sailed through and made an A. If I hadn't then there would have been a problem. It's basically a comp. 101 class with some COSC specific stuff thrown in. I had no qualms about the class not being terribly difficult, mostly because I have already proven myself competent with the skills the class was teaching. I did do my best on the essay, though, but I don't think that mattered too much. The professor was just making sure we could string a few sentences together into a coherent whole.

Now, I am enrolled in Eng. 302 and I am finding the professor is more demanding, which is making the class more challenging. I like that she is pushing me so hard. I really like the feeling of having to put forth the extra effort, but I'm nor sure how much of that is simply because I care about the material. I would not care so much about my Psych. 101 course being challenging. Not that I hate psychology, but it is such a basic course that I don't think anyone should really get there hopes up about the class pushing them to their limits and beyond.

I guess what I'm saying is that a student should be mindful of how in-depth a course is really intended to be. A survey course should not be expected to be as challenging as a single topic course. Also, many of us on this board have been in school for a while already, are older with more exposure to information and life than an eighteen-year-old freshman, or both. Sometimes it's just hard for someone in that position to not sail through a course.

[IrishJohn]

For my undergraduate degree, to be perfectly honest my answer would be "no". I had struggled to complete it through more traditional means for years before discovering this forum and schools like TESC so was just ready to do whatever I had to do to finish. Now for the graduate work I'm doing? Absolutely! I'm loving every class thus far.

[soliloquy]

This is what his response was:
[COLOR="#FFFFFF"]
Your feedback was "fantastic".

95 is what I put in for an "A" grade.

Its the highest mark. There was nothing - at least within reason - that could have been improved.[/COLOR]

[Tedium]

This is what his response was:

Your feedback was "fantastic".

95 is what I put in for an "A" grade.

Its the highest mark. There was nothing - at least within reason - that could have been improved.

Did you make the font white? Because I had to highlight that to read it.

That is a really weird response, though. I wonder if it's some sort of quota thing? Can anyone else chime in here?

[soliloquy]

Did you make the font white? Because I had to highlight that to read it.

That is a really weird response, though. I wonder if it's some sort of quota thing? Can anyone else chime in here?

No I didn't make it white unless it was by accident.

I'll post it again.

Name,

Your feedback was "fantastic".

95 is what I put in for an "A" grade.

Its the highest mark. There was nothing - at least within reason - that could have been improved.


Now, if there's nothing I could do to improve upon my grade and then why couldn't I have 100%. I'm not complaining...well I am but I'm not...I just want to know if anyone can tell me what the possible logic is behind that?

[Getiton1]

Thanks Solioquy

Your story sounds similar to mine and I am like you…I really do care about my GPA, because if I ever DID want to go into medical school, GPA will definitely matter. I can't stand teachers that bust your butt just to inflate their ego.

Give me a fair minded teacher that's enthusiastic about their subject or at least cares about engaging their students and I am 99% of the time there…even for boring classes like Policy and such. If I have a nasty teacher in a subject I like, I will tough it out but I am not going to go crazy just to make her feel important. I am going to do the best I can for myself…for MY knowledge and to help ME understand what I need to understand. With that last statement, I feel I would perform better under a nurturing teacher because I care what they think because they are investing in ME and also because I really want to learn and I feel I could LEARN more from some that actually wants to teach and not just blow their own horn.

[ironheadjack]

Now, if there's nothing I could do to improve upon my grade and then why couldn't I have 100%. I'm not complaining...well I am but I'm not...I just want to know if anyone can tell me what the possible logic is behind that?

Why don't you just ask your professor why you don't have a 100 grade? He is the only one who will know the logic behind his grading rubric.