Posted: 4/5/2011 7:12:03 AM EDT
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As my class waited for the prof to show up, we were discussing/criticizing her methods of grading our tests. This is a 300 level History class about the 20th Century. We have daily papers to turn in that are ridiculously detailed (to the point she wants us to find 4 words we don't know the definition to from our book... for those of us that have a pretty fair vocabulary, we just dumb down and declare we don't know the definition of "assertive" and etc). Each paper is worth 2% of our grade. Then, each test worth 5%, we have to answer a specific question with exactly 200 words. Not 199. Not 201. This seems easy... until you realize, we are juniors and seniors. We type 500-1000 word papers, allowing us to research via web, library, and classroom sources. In depth, personal interpretations, etc. You CANNOT do that in 200 words.
The most recent test question was "When did the Cold War begin?". In a nut shell, it began in the late 1940s. That doesn't equal 200 words so I established that for a war to begin, there must be at least 2 opposing sides. Thus, the formation of NATO and the USSR (and Warsaw Pact) was an indicator to the beginning of the Cold War. In essence, capitalism vs communism. I also included that the Russians obtaining nuclear weapons. That is ultimately the correct answer, as discussed in class. But. I mentioned why the formation of sides was important, one of which was that you could identify a 'winner'. She took points off because I answered a question pertaining to the beginning of the Cold War with what happened at the end... The entire class used acronyms; US, USSR, NATO, etc. She took several points off. We must type "United States (US)". That is 3 words. USSR, NATO, etc... that ends up taking a big chunk of our wordage. This isn't a thesis (although it could be...). Acronyms are a way we allow our papers to have content vs space-taker. This is stupid. A student submitted his test online, double spaced as required, and the program she makes us use screws it up. This has happened to multiple students. Everyone has always double spaced. It is second nature. She takes off 5-10 points. "But the program screwed it up!" "Not my problem." Ugh. Yeah, I'm mad. I'm whining. We should go to the dean, too bad she is the dean. We pay a lot of money to take these classes and strive to make our papers and effort reflect that of junior/seniors majoring/minoring in history. The content of this class is awesome to talk and write about. But when it comes to our grades... this is like spitting in our face. Swimming upstream, needlessly. Go ahead and bash. I don't care. Also an opportunity for any college students/graduates to share obnoxious prof stories. |
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I read your post and felt like you were daring me to evaluate your post based on style, spelling, grammar and content.
Without going into specifics, I'm giving you a D+. You would have had a C, but you didn't double space or use a Chicago style heading. Sorry. No worries though, at the end of the semester I'll review all your GD posts and drop the lowest grade. |
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I read your post and felt like you were daring me to evaluate your post based on style, spelling, grammar and content. Without going into specifics, I'm giving you a D+. You would have had a C, but you didn't double space or use a Chicago style heading. Sorry. Funny, I actually did get a D+! No spelling or grammar errors, just "format" wasn't to her liking. Nor was all of my content. |
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The first obnoxious prof that comes to mind mis-pronounced my name every single time he passed out graded quizzes or papers. I corrected him every time, too; I think it got to be a bit of a running joke.
My other worst obnoxious prof was a bitch-on-wheels organist who was my academic adviser for the first couple of years of undergrad, as well as my music history professor for one class. Ho. Lee. Shit. I couldn't stand her. She didn't do anything spectacularly over the top bitchy, she was just an out-and-out bitch set to simmer 24/7. I was pleased when we could start registering for classes online. |
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Did she give directions on format and use of acronyms?
What I typically do with acronyms is write the entire thing out first and there after use the acronym. Example- Excavators recovered and collected several (n=3) Big Fucking Rocks (BFRs). BFRs were bagged and cataloged in the field and pitched into the yard after examination in the laboratory. |
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Hah!! College is for chumps.  Agreed. Drop out now. Seriously, though. Try and research your professors before signing up. I avoided the most despicable ones by simply talking to other students. I wouldn't be above taking a required class at a nearby college or JC if it dodged a loathsome professor. I majored in Nursing but ended up with enough history hours to make Phi Alpha Theta, so I am jealous that you are majoring in history. I had a future wife and knew it wasn't practical for me. Almost switched to chemistry, though. Tough it out and rape the bitch on her evaluation, for all the good it will do. The evals are confidential so don't hesitate to make it personal. ETA: my most obnoxious professor was a fucking liberal chinese female. Grad school, biology. My evaluation (in ARFCOM GD style ) had every "R" as an "L" and ever "L" as an "R". 
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| I failed a philiosophy class with a professor like that. Nothing to do with content, but over the top ridiculous criteria for papers. Over half of my class failed. She's been there for years doing the same shit though. I got an A from a different professor the next year. Good luck. |
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College is only to see if you can meet the demands of your professors. If you make it through then you can probably satisfy a boss. +1 Figure it out. Play the game. Who gives a shit if you stand up for principles. The principles change on a day to day basis. |
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Quoted: Quoted: College is only to see if you can meet the demands of your professors. If you make it through then you can probably satisfy a boss. +1 Figure it out. Play the game. Who gives a shit if you stand up for principles. The principles change on a day to day basis. Indeed. School/college is there to teach you that rationality doesn't fly in the real world. |
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If you think your pissed now, wait till you graduate only to find you cant get a job in your field and are stuck with 60K in student loans. Top this off with the fact that the Rotorooter man makes 100K with only an apprenticeship and your head will explode. 
Get out of my head! |
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If you think your pissed now, wait till you graduate only to find you cant get a job in your field and are stuck with 60K in student loans. Top this off with the fact that the Rotorooter man makes 100K with only an apprenticeship and your head will explode.
Get out of my head! No shit. I was working part time for a plumber while I went to school. He told me to drop out and quit my job so I could do an apprenticeship with him. Hell no I said. Now, a decade later, I'm still working for the same company and doing "okay". I see plumbers my age living in freaking mansions. 
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I guess I was lucky in my last college... community college, and none of the teachers had contracts. that meant they could be fired if they sucked.
so when it came to grading it was pretty much standardized. the only time i had any issue with a teacher was the health teacher who made us watch a libtard video about how bad the US was and global warming. i think i threw her for a loop when she asked for comments about the video and i said "it was too political". she didn't call on me much after that one. but i still aced the class. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: If you think your pissed now, wait till you graduate only to find you cant get a job in your field and are stuck with 60K in student loans. Top this off with the fact that the Rotorooter man makes 100K with only an apprenticeship and your head will explode. Get out of my head! No shit. I was working part time for a plumber while I went to school. He told me to drop out and quit my job so I could do an apprenticeship with him. Hell no I said. Now, a decade later, I'm still working for the same company and doing "okay". I see plumbers my age living in freaking mansions. Management where I work hates skilled trades cause they gave us apprenticeships, paid for them and we now make more than they do. Many are still a decade away from paying off their debt and have little in the way of job security. I feel bad for the smart ones, the rest are glaring examples that you cant teach smart. |
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Arguing with the professor about desired styles
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No MLA citation F History uses Chicago Manual of Style F We have a faculty member here who is famous for this paraphrased exchange: Faculty: His paper was brilliant. What he wrote about his grandfather's service in the War moved me to tears. I can't describe it. Other: Really? I thought you said he made an 'F'? Faculty: Oh did fail. He did not double space. 
TRG |
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I use rate a prof often. I've actually had her for several history classes and since I'm really good at taking her scattered-brain notes, always enjoyed her. Actually learned alot, too. But this year, she changed her teaching style. Read 60 pages a day, make 4 page analysis (killer) and go to class. Normal lecture, but no reason, grade wise, to take notes. She regurgitates the book. I even mentioned to her privately that this method isnt teaching us like her previous one had. 'too bad'. Whatev, I'll pass.
The class content is really interesting. Im a history minor because I love history and want to teach/sub when I retire. College does feel pretty wasteful, but I can't say I haven't learned alot. It also offers internships and I'm lucky enough to have passed application into a government job (as soon as the hiring freeze ends). So I guess I do appreciate college, just not all the loans it takes to get it. |
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Hmmm, I kind of like that style. I would welcome a 200 word essay on when the cold war begun instead of a rant. In business, God bless any professional who can say what they need to say in 200 words. Agreed. But in terms of history, especially in a upper level class, details are key. It cuts a lot of BS, sure, but why not just give us free reign? Minimum of 200, max 1000? I could do alot in my CJ classes if we had only 200 word summaries. |
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Hmmm, I kind of like that style. I would welcome a 200 word essay on when the cold war begun instead of a rant. In business, God bless any professional who can say what they need to say in 200 words. Agreed. But in terms of history, especially in a upper level class, details are key. It cuts a lot of BS, sure, but why not just give us free reign? Minimum of 200, max 1000? I could do alot in my CJ classes if we had only 200 word summaries. You are a History Major? TRG |
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We have a faculty member here who is famous for this paraphrased exchange: Faculty: His paper was brilliant. What he wrote about his grandfather's service in the War moved me to tears. I can't describe it. Other: Really? I thought you said he made an 'F'? Faculty: Oh did fail. He did not double space.
TRG I've had that guy as a prof before...only he was dressed as a woman. We as history students affectionately nicknamed her "Thunder-Cunt." This is an actual exchange between me and TC in discussing a mandatory review of a paper/presentation we had to give in her 300 level history class about Chinese history: TC: So your paper...I have to say it was the most beautifully written paper I've ever seen at the undergraduate level. Your opening contrasting the cinema image of George C. Scott's portrayal of Patton with the harsh realities for the common soldier and how that tied into the dearth of literature available describing the life and times of the average soldier in the Chinese warlord armies was inspired. Your use of language was superb, and the writing style sounded very learned without being self-consciously so. Too many include lots of words they don't understand very well in an attempt to make their papers sound more academic, but you avoided those pitfalls. Your presentation was similarly superb. You had a command presence which demanded attention, a clear presentation that made your points, and you obviously had the presentation so thoroughly prepared that you hit the seven minute time limit on the second. JW777: Um...ok. Thanks. TC: Your grade is a B-. JW777:  ....... ...
Turns out she wanted me to "engage critics of the work", essentially find people who disagreed with the assigned book (upon which the paper and presentation were based) and then engage them with my limited knowledge on the topic. Instead, I came up with my own critique of the work I was assigned, outlining my criticisms and pulling from the critical reviews of others who saw some of the same things. The snag here was that the assignment was for we as the students to do a critical review of the assigned book....not a defense. Her little stipulation about arguing with the critics was NOWHERE in the assignment she handed out or in the explanation of the assignment in class. I was one of the lucky ones, apparently. Others apparently didn't wow her with beauty and got D's and Fs. |
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We have a faculty member here who is famous for this paraphrased exchange: Faculty: His paper was brilliant. What he wrote about his grandfather's service in the War moved me to tears. I can't describe it. Other: Really? I thought you said he made an 'F'? Faculty: Oh did fail. He did not double space.
TRG I've had that guy as a prof before...only he was dressed as a woman. We as history students affectionately nicknamed her "Thunder-Cunt." This is an actual exchange between me and TC in discussing a mandatory review of a paper/presentation we had to give in her 300 level history class about Chinese history: TC: So your paper...I have to say it was the most beautifully written paper I've ever seen at the undergraduate level. Your opening contrasting the cinema image of George C. Scott's portrayal of Patton with the harsh realities for the common soldier and how that tied into the dearth of literature available describing the life and times of the average soldier in the Chinese warlord armies was inspired. Your use of language was superb, and the writing style sounded very learned without being self-consciously so. Too many include lots of words they don't understand very well in an attempt to make their papers sound more academic, but you avoided those pitfalls. Your presentation was similarly superb. You had a command presence which demanded attention, a clear presentation that made your points, and you obviously had the presentation so thoroughly prepared that you hit the seven minute time limit on the second. JW777: Um...ok. Thanks. TC: Your grade is a B-. JW777: ..........
Turns out she wanted me to "engage critics of the work", essentially find people who disagreed with the assigned book (upon which the paper and presentation were based) and then engage them with my limited knowledge on the topic. Instead, I came up with my own critique of the work I was assigned, outlining my criticisms and pulling from the critical reviews of others who saw some of the same things. The snag here was that the assignment was for we as the students to do a critical review of the assigned book....not a defense. Her little stipulation about arguing with the critics was NOWHERE in the assignment she handed out or in the explanation of the assignment in class. I was one of the lucky ones, apparently. Others apparently didn't wow her with beauty and got D's and Fs. I catch criticism from some of my colleagues because I tell the students EXACTLY what I expect. I grade everyone equally. I offer no extra credit. I accept no late work. There is nothing subjective about the class. I don't read the book to my students. I do not lead them by the hand through examples. The text is a step by step tutorial. Apparently, this make my class less 'collegiate' than theirs. To be 'collegiate' I must lecture throughout the class. Give pop tests. Punish students who are late to class, or absent. I must not give open book tests. I must expect students to engage me in a light-hearted debate on issues that I already have the required answer. Seriously. TRG |
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My son uses a website called rate my prof or some such thing where you can get the scoop on your potential profs. He is always careful to check the categories for wooden shoes and goose fetish wear so he can avoid that.  Thanks for mentioning this. We had a very homely lady for a TA in my Western Civ III class. When proctoring exams, quizes, or whatever...she would slowly walk down the rows, one by one. Did I mention she wore the loudest high-heels possible? Every time. I spoke with a few people I knew in the same discussion section and they all commented about it in her evaluation at the end of the semester. You couldn't concentrate over the noise. Chinese water torture. |
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I catch criticism from some of my colleagues because I tell the students EXACTLY what I expect. I grade everyone equally. I offer no extra credit. I accept no late work. There is nothing subjective about the class. I don't read the book to my students. I do not lead them by the hand through examples. The text is a step by step tutorial. Apparently, this make my class less 'collegiate' than theirs. To be 'collegiate' I must lecture throughout the class. Give pop tests. Punish students who are late to class, or absent. I must not give open book tests. I must expect students to engage me in a light-hearted debate on issues that I already have the required answer. Seriously. TRG I'm totally on board with trying to get students to think critically about what is being presented and to do more than puke back up powerpoints...but you have a better shot at getting there with clear direction and clear expectations than by expecting students to read your mind. Some of the hardest classes I ever took were open book. An open book doesn't give you the answer on a test that requires you to apply a concept to come up with an answer. Even at the PHD level we (meaning human beings) have a bias to do what we are used to rather than what may objectively be the best way to do things. |