For the love of all that is earthly, if I tell you do determine the winner using Method A, use Method A. I won't give you any points for using Method B even if you your Method B solution results in the same answer!
It's not bullshit. I'm testing you on your knowledge of Method A. I'm not testing you on the "right" answer. This isn't high school, folks.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
OK. I feel better. Thanks.
Definition of the derivative?
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about students who answer my questions using online research instead of the book I assigned. I'm not looking for you to tell me about the subject. I guarantee I already know the subject matter. I'm testing on you on whether YOU know the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteI just had the same exact conversation with my class. "But you said complete octets blah blah blah". So what? I also italicized "using a molecular orbital diagram" when I typed the question so you knew you had to write one. Fuck you if you don't know what bond order means. Noble gases don't react because they have complete octets is like so 10th grade. I need more.
ReplyDelete@mathesian: For once no. I've "fixed" that issue with the clever addition of some variant of the phrase "No credit will be earned for solutions not making use of the limit definition of the derivative."
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to believe that the "right answer" pursuit is strictly a high-school mentality.
ReplyDeleteRecently, a colleague who teaches the first semester of a 2 semester course of which I teach the second, said to me sadly, "The problem is that you expect them to not just memorize the information, but to use the concepts, and they just can't handle that..."
ReplyDeleteThe "right" answer isn't the issue. In math and math related fields, there is generally a unique correct answer. The issue is that many high school teachers don't grade the work. They tend only to grade the "final" answer. This is problematic because when students show up for college they don't get that it isn't the answer that is important. It's the journey that we care about.
ReplyDeleteCMP, it's not just the math teachers you can take issue with. I'm so sick of five-paragraph essays and formulaic writing that starts off with a thesis statement at the beginning of and essay and poor citation because "that's how my high school teacher told me to do it." I'm not sure I believe there are that many incompetent high school teachers in the world, but..."
ReplyDeleteAN, not AND! It's late.
ReplyDeleteYes, teaching high school below college level is a clear since of incompetence. And don't get me started on third grade teachers. What the fuck with the 30 page books with five sentences per page? And did you know in Kindergarten they don't even do their own reading? Those lazy enablers actually read the literature out loud to them because they just want their checks, they don't want to teach the kids anything.
ReplyDeleteCynic, I would love to get a five paragraph essay. The stuff I get is well below that writing level. It is often nothing more than a paragraph or two of text speak.
ReplyDeleteOn every exam I state that answers with out proper supporting work will not receive credit. I need to order stamps that say:
ReplyDelete1) Show your Fucking work!
2) You work is bull shit
(for those that have the right "answer" but a bunch of garbage for the work. I am sick of writing these things out.
On every exam/quiz I have someone with the right final answer and no work or bullshit for the work. This is especially true for definition fo derivative questions. Find d/dx: Botched definition... total BS... right answer! "Woo Hoo! I got the answer... Why did I get a 0?"
"Because you didn't follow directions. Didn't you learn that in kindergarten?"
"But the answer!"
For English, the dreaded five-paragraph essay comes from those stupid state tests. That's what the readers are looking for, and, since it's much easier to reduce writing to a formula than it is to have students approach it creatively, that's what the teachers teach. I understand why they do it. In many cases, their jobs are on the line based on how their students perform. I can't lay blame solely on high school teachers because they, just like the rest of us, are subject to certain forces beyond their control. The disconnect between skills needed for passing standardized tests to graduate from high school and skills required for being ready for college is the real issue.
ReplyDelete@EnglishDoc and noriver, I understand WHY they do the 5-paragraph essay. In fact, if this is a freshman class, I'm more lenient and spend time explaining why that's no longer appropriate for the length of work they're doing in college.
ReplyDeleteBut I also get these from students who have taken their comp sequence already and are in upper-div courses. They revert to high school, rather than to what they learned in college. No matter how much I say, "Here's how we do it in college," they still say, "But in high school..."
Just like in math, where showing work is important in college now (because we grade based on more than just the answer in the back of the teacher's book), showing how one leads to one's conclusions is the important part of learning that seems to be missing for students.
When I taught a How to Write a Research Paper class (you know, what used to be part of freshman comp back in the day), I tried to use the 5-paragraph essay as a jumping off point.
ReplyDeleteMost of my students didn't even know what a 5-paragraph essay was, so I was delighted when a few exclaimed, "Oh, that actually has a name!?!!"
It was those rare few who excelled at the class, which had freshman comp asa prereq.
Baby flakes resist anything that is even a miniscule amount beyond their tiny boxes of intellect. Many of mine fail because they can't do anything other than clean toilets with their tongues, but then I have tenure.
ReplyDeleteBaby flakes are proud of their ignorance. They believe they have a right to be stupid and we have no right to smash them with hammers of enlightenment. I smash away anyway. Some come around and begin to learn how to think, but most continue to wallow in the trivialities of popular culture.