"I have to say I was very discouraged after reading the syllabus for the first time. It was made clear that I had to go above and beyond expectations to even be considered for an A. This was very daunting to me. As I result, I worried mostly about the assignments instead of enjoying them -- and I made sure to put in countless hours to get the grade I wanted, which I am expecting to be an A. I only say this so that you may consider the wording (or rewording) of that syllabus. As a first impression of the course, I was scared, not excited."
I can die happy now.
- Lucy
Congratulations, Lucy! We are all sooo proud of you!
ReplyDeleteI love that we are now at the point where students expect a "Gentleman's A."
ReplyDeleteOh, too true. I hadn't considered that coinage, but it's all too accurate -- same attitude, but very different grade expectation.
DeleteI love it. They don't think they're saying anything stupid.
ReplyDelete"I only say this so that you may consider the wording (or rewording) of that syllabus. As a first impression of the course, I was scared, not excited."
ReplyDeleteBe sure to consider the wording or rewording of your syllabus!
Also, apparently this student was a first impression of the course.
I love when they try to help us!
ReplyDelete"above and beyond expectations"
ReplyDeleteNo more trophies for just showing up.
"...which I am expecting to be an A." Please tell me this person got a B+. Or at least an A-. Please.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible this student wound up with an A, but s/he didn't leave his/her name so I don't know for certain. (By the time students completed evals, it was possible to know a likely final grade, and a few did get As.)
DeleteThis is the best use of a left hand graphic ever. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI hope it scared enough of the others AWAY! :) They're so cute sometimes, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteA number dropped at the start after reading the syllabus, and an even greater number mysteriously stopped submitting work (while even more mysteriously remaining enrolled) after the first assignment (invariably more difficult than students think, resulting in lower grades than they want). I went from about 20 enrolled students to about 10 active students by the last assignment. But, yes, the syllabus had the intended effect: scaring students into dropping or getting their shit together.
DeleteI had a professor who appeared close to breaking down when my class's final grades included the most A's he ever handed out. He just couldn't understand how it was possible. It's a strange thing to see a teacher nearly cry in disbelief and anguish when most of the class gets good grades. He went back to being a lawyer not long after that. The A's broke him, I guess?
ReplyDeleteSome departments at my uni actually monitor each proffie's average grades for the semester. In some cases, skewing too high for the term gets them a slap on the wrist, so they do freak out a bit if they end up with a class full of overachievers to whom they reasonably owe the A/A-. Can't say that I blame them, either--even the proverbial slap on the wrist can range from irritating to excruciating.
DeleteI ended up with such a class this term, and I am hoping to get away with it long enough to revamp things the next time around and recalibrate the grading curve. As problems go, reassessing your scoring criteria for better quality students is a very nice problem to have.
My response:
ReplyDelete"The fall of the present bureaucratic dictatorship [in the Soviet Union], if it were not replaced by a new socialist power, would thus mean a return to capitalist relations with a catastrophic decline of industry and culture." - Leon Trotsky
"Nobody listens to mathematicians." - Carl Sagan
Lay out their chances of getting a good grade from the outset and you might scare off the people who were going to drop out in the first place. Thanks to the possibly revolution-inducing state of the economy, it no longer makes any sense to have "gut" classes - we can't afford it.
I had a few tell me in their reflective letters at the end of the semester that at first, they didn't like how critical I was of their writing, and that it made them mad. But then they decided to take my advice, and lo and behold, their grades started to improve! Mirabil dictu!
ReplyDeleteI take it as a sign that I'm doing something right. I started the term with 45 students across 2 sections, and ended with 37. Of those, 36 earned a passing grade. I'm ok with that.
Bravo!
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is why not only failing grades but also attrition have to be allowed (and allowed for, in any "retention" or similar schemes). An increasing number of students aren't willing to even try if they think something is going to be hard (and/or if it might yield less than a "perfect" grade). I'm not sure what the solution to that is, but it's *not* dumbing things down until they're comfortable again. That's just passing the buck.
Why even bring this up? Clearly the student only cared about the grade (the whole "I'm sad that I couldn't get excited about the course because you scared me" is bullshit).
ReplyDeleteSo why not just take the A and walk away like it was no big thing?
Unless the A is just a hypothetical and the student decided to go with some last minute anonymous grubbing.
I agree with Hiram though: I don't think s/he realizes how dumb this sounds.
I had a professor hand out the syllabus on the first day, he explained there would be a required 20 page paper. On the second meeting, about 15 people had dropped. Dr. X explained that was his intention. I busted my ass, wrote the 15 pages that were required (actually with sources, it was 18 pages) and made an A in the class.
ReplyDelete