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winterfresh0 t1_isayv6a wrote

Reply to comment by FILTHBOT4000 in Accepted (2021) - A school in Louisiana is celebrated for putting traditionally underserved students into Ivy League colleges, but an investigation uncovers its charismatic founder's controversial methods (CC) [01:22:56] by thesecondfire

>Wasn't there an article recently about some biochem professor getting fired because he refused to lower testing standards?

I'd have to know the context for that one, sometimes that kind of story is actually just "professor is so bad at teaching that the majority of the class fails the exam because the professor didn't properly prepare them". Or even a situation where they teach or test a 200 level course as if it's a graduate level one, and then act like it's the students' fault when none of the sophomores know what's going on.

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ishipbrutasha t1_isbxl8p wrote

>sometimes that kind of story is actually just "professor is so bad at teaching that the majority of the class fails the exam because the professor didn't properly prepare them".

When is this story every that?

Been teaching nearly two decades. My incoming university students couldn't handle the 9th grade curriculum from when I was in high school.

I've never had a colleague who was so poor a teacher the majority wound up failing due to their poor instruction. And I've disliked a fair number of my colleagues, but not enough to levy that criticism. There's a good number of "research" professors out there who may be ill-at-ease in a classroom, but I thought my first university students were poorly prepared NCLBers. I'd kill for those students now.

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Marchesa-LuisaCasati t1_isnsyed wrote

As an undergrad, i took a graduate integrated cognitive psych class in the dark ages when you had to type in an exact web address to go anywhere on the internet. Back then, to use a computer i had to go to the lab because i couldn't afford to buy one. In that class, the professor was attempting to teach us to program digital neural networks. I had limited knowledge of computers outside of word processing which was still f-key driven. I dropped that class about 3 weeks in and never looked back. It was totally inappropriate for a 400-level class.

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ishipbrutasha t1_isuldg8 wrote

>i took a graduate integrated cognitive psych class in the dark ages when you had to type in an exact web address to go anywhere on the internet

You took a graduate level class and were surprised by the work?

And a 400-level class is the end of undergrad study. And if it were a graduate course like you say, it was probably a hybrid 400/600 level course.

So you took a class that you were unprepared for and are blaming the teacher? That's odd. No wonder people are leaving the academy.

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Marchesa-LuisaCasati t1_isusx0o wrote

Yep. It was a 400/600 level class. My university referred to them as "graduate integrated." I successfully took several of them as an undergrad.

Are you for real?....i described the fact that not everyone even had access to computers back then much less had familiarity with coding. There was no computer science prerequisite required for this psychology course, it was not described as a computer class in the course description, and you're coming at me saying i was "unprepared" as if it were a failing on my part? That's an odd take on inappropriate instruction. After i graduated, i went on to change fields and get a master of science in nursing from an "elite" university and can assure you the "problem" with that course was that instructor.

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ishipbrutasha t1_isxhd16 wrote

So, you went on to get a masters in a whole other discipline that had nothing to do with the course you were taking? And in, well, nursing. What does that have to do with the price of beef? If you had told me you went to get a masters in AI/machine learning/data science that would give your opinion a little more credence.

You curiously haven't said anything about the teacher's shortcoming as an educator, only that you were out of your depth in the class.

I have degrees (plural) from elite institutions. Guess I was the only one who learned to rise to a challenge from them.

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Marchesa-LuisaCasati t1_isxnbq8 wrote

Well, it seems like you enjoy telling people they're sub-optimal and appear to lack compassion & disregard what other people write about their own experiences.

I took this course in about 1991 before the internet was much of a thing and even word processing was a clunky f-key driven mess. GUIs didn't exist in the consumer market. My university had only recently rolled out email. The course description didn't include any programming prerequisite. The course was described as a PSYCHOLOGY class without mention of the requirement to code. Sure, today, it would be reasonable to encounter & produce code in a graduate cognitive psych course. But in 1991, what i experienced was akin to showing up for a literature course and getting a calculus class instead. The phrases "AI" and "machine learning" weren't in popular circulation at that time. "Social media" and it's assorted algorithms weren't in existence. I assure you, i gave it a shot because i was interested but the instructor failed to teach HOW to do what he was requiring us to do. I suspect he didn't know what he was doing and was hoping to luck into a student project he could plagiarize or, at a minimum, lift code from. I got the distinct impression he wanted to do research in what became AI but didn't have the chops to get a grant and fund a lab. It was so egregiously off the mark from what the class was supposed to be (as described by the university's own published description) that i received a full refund despite having dropped the class outside the window to receive one. I wasn't the only student who dropped the course and filed a complaint.

And as, well, a nurse, i'm trained to save lives. I'm not sure if there's a profession which is called upon with more frequency to serve their communities. Good job being condescending! A+

Have a lovely day.

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