Pam L in Mid Tenn Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 My 12th grader is taking a DE class at CC. Statistics. Yesterday, he got back the second test. He made a 47.:001_huh: Comparing scores with classmates he made the second HIGHEST grade in the class.:confused: The highest grade was a 78. Most scores were in the 20s.:confused: He made an 80 on the first test, is making 95 to 100 on homework, and is averaging 80 on quizzes. The professor is saying that she will double the grade for the final and throw out this score. How common is it for the entire class to fail a test? I remember tests where the scores fell below the teacher's expectations and were then graded "on the curve". But I NEVER remember a class where practically the entire class failed!:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 The prof came into the classroom the next time with the pile of papers and ceremoniously dumped them in the trashcan! He announced, "Obviously, I failed to TEACH these concepts as each one of you failed the test! Let's start again." I still remember that--he didn't rant that we were all a bunch of dumbies, but took responsibility for his failure to convey the material. :iagree: With this prof. If the whole class flunks a test, the teacher has not properly taught the concepts covered on the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedarling Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Bad professor. I had that happen to me in high school...AP Physics. The teacher was taking the course in college at the same time he was teaching it...or rather, trying to teach. The entire class failed except one student (who was self-taught....genius.) Because the school wouldn't let him flunk the whole class, he curved the failing grades (and I got my only C ever.) At least this guy is throwing out the test (smart!) I would be concerned, though, whether the instructor will be able to teach well enough to have any different results on the final. It might be smart to try to learn from some other source, as well, and not depend on the instructor to teach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeinMT Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 My college calculus prof prided himself on how low the test scores were in classes. He considered himself a failure if he wrote a test where anyone was able to score above a 50%. And I had to deal with this man for three semesters of calculus! My Calc 1 average was 47%, the highest in the class and I got an A. It was an engineering school so most students had to take all three semesters. Makes you wonder what this guy is like to live with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) That said, I had a section some years ago that ended up with no As, a few Bs, a few Cs, and the rest got Ds and Fs. Of course prior to assigning the final grades, I went to see my boss. This was after 4-5 years of experience and plenty of reused materials. In that case, it was the class not me. She went over everything and agreed that I had done a decent job. Sometimes you have classes like that, particularly at a community college. However, sounds like the professor is indeed off base in the case you cite. The college I work for strongly discourages grading on a curve. We are told that the exams should adequately address course content guide (a detailed list of preformance objectives) and that grade adjustments (not curving) should only be done if a question was poorly worded or missing information. In other words, we don't "dumb down" if a class does poorly, but if the grades are bad, we're supposed to figure out why. Edited November 1, 2012 by GVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam L in Mid Tenn Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) The weird thing about this is that this teacher's other tests and quizzes and homework assignments have been FINE. DS and his friends in class have been getting the typical As, Bs, and Cs. I don't think it is the teaching as a whole. I don't think it is the class. I am wondering if she just did not teach these concepts well OR if she just pulled an old exam that did not line up with what she did teach. :confused: Oh well.... live and learn.... part of the reason I wanted this child to have some DE anyway. :001_smile: Edited November 1, 2012 by Pam L in Mid Tenn edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I had an organic chemistry professor whose average exam scores were in the teens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I had an organic chemistry professor whose average exam scores were in the teens. Me too. Hated that guy. Oh, and he taught things out of order, on purpose, because he "got bored doing it in the same order every year.". I ended up switching majors after that class (which I failed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 My first algebra class was like that. I was in 7th grade and none of us ever got over a 50% on any of the tests. We were all the "smart" kids and none of us had ever scored so poorly on anything. I'm not sure if he did it on purpose or not. He curved all the grades and we didn't fail the class. Do you know statistics? If it was my child, I would go over the concepts with him and see whether or not he understands. If you don't know statistics well enough to do that, I would encourage your DS to go see his prof. during office hours and ask him to go over the concepts with him to make sure he gets it. Actually, going in to discuss it with the prof. personally is probably the best choice even if you are good with statistics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzielou Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 My statistics teacher in college was like that, but he graded on a curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 :iagree: With this prof. If the whole class flunks a test, the teacher has not properly taught the concepts covered on the test. :iagree::iagree::iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.