Re: Semester

Matthias Voss wrote:
> Michael Wolf wrote:
>
> > "Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
> >>
> >>I had quit the rat race 5 years ago when most of the professors
> >>and administrators sold their souls to the Devil to appease the
> >>students. I graded the students on their comprehension of the
> >>course material taught. 75% was a guaranteed A and 40% a
> >>passing D.
> >>
> >
> >
> > Students with only 40% passed????
>
> Makes me wonder, too.

Well, you folks in this group has an attention span of about 3 lines,
and that's why the cited paragraph was INCORRECTLY
interpreted by EVERYONE who commented on it, because it was
cited out of context.

The points that were missed were that:

1. Hardly anyone failed the same course in other sections taught
by those who sold their souls to the Devil, while out of a typical
class of mine of size 40, over 50% flunked because those 20
who had dropped betore the end of the exam would have gotten
F's, and several of those who stayed to the end did get F's.

2. The exams test comprehension (details in one of the threads I
cited, e.g, open book, open notes, nothing to memorize) and
I warned the students on Day 1 not to let the 75% for an A or
the 40% for passing give them the impression that nearly
everyone would get A's as in the other classes. That's why
only 2 or 3 out of 40 got A's, and they had to EARN it. The
Athletic Department used to send their students on academic
probation to my classes because they drew the wrong
inference about the 40% for passing. They had to be EARNED
too. To the best of my recollection, none of the All American
athletes sent to my classes ever passed! They got the idea,
and hadn't sent any student to my classes the past 20 years.
Why should they? They learned what the classes were who
had the most "popular" and "best rated" teachers who never
flunk anyone and even "tree stumps" got A's, while students
complained bitterly about my "poor teaching" because I held
the line on standards which they didn't meet, and got the low
grades of failing grades they DESERVED.

THAT's the rat race I chose to abandon. I could hold the line on
standards because I was already a tenured FULL professor in
1977, in part because of my excellence in teaching! The easiest
thing anyone can do is to hand out A's indiscriminantly. I am one
of those few who held onto our PRINCIPLE of upholding the
standards of college education, in spite of the unjustified and
unwarranted complained by those "tree stumps" who disguised
themselve as college students.

Many professors whose employment status, promotion, and salary
all depend on the abomination of "student rating" which many (but
not all) students used to "blackmail" the professors into giving
unearned and undeserved high grades, in exchange for their
POOR teaching and EASY grading! THAT's what I meant by
"they sold their souls to the Devil".

My soul was, and is, not for sale at ANY price.

End of this mini lecture and Sunday Sermon.

You have to read the threads I referenced in sci.stat.math for
many of details relative to the points stated here.

-- Bob.


> I still remember the uproar of medicine students at the
> C.A.U. medical in the town of Kiel, when they failed
> students with results below 50%. Not that the treshold was
> new. Only this time the tests severeness was met mit a
> sufficient number to cause grief to some.
>
> What these students were unaware of, however, was the fact
> that a flunk ratio of, say 30%, is nothing unfamiliar, and
> as well tolerated, with students of engineering; while these
> are accustomed to passing tresholds of 60 % for a D grade.
>
> Matthias

.

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