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Actually, what the student said was that her text book gave a different answer, so she asked the professor to explain why she was wrong.
I have had a similar disagreement with a professor who had recently switched text books. He used the previous textbooks answer, i used the newer one(which was broader and less detailed), he gave me credit and we moved on since we had never discussed this out loud in class, so I had no other context for a different more detailed answer.
Seems that is what this professor SHOULD have done. She instead argued that the student should have been able to form a better answer based on some outside material,it may have been required reading, but neither says it was in the article.
I also agree with this and will note I went to an HBCU and got into a couple of rather heated discussions about exam questions. None of them threatened my professional career after graduation. This is a horrible professor. I don't see how anyone could take up for her.
The student, in the message that was sent to the teacher had valid points and I'll be honest and state that C should have been the correct answer. D was dumb to the be the correct answer.
My parents gave me the smartest advice a parent can give a child starting school. Answer your teachers and questions on tests so that it matches what they've taught you - even if you know that answer to be wrong.
They did this because at home they taught us that it wasn't true that only Catholics go to heaven and we attended Catholic school where the nuns taught us that ONLY Catholics go to heaven. (the church has finally caught up with my now deceased parents...)
If the teacher taught them that most slave families were headed by two parents - that's the right answer as far as that class is concerned. Period.
I see what you're saying. A lot of teachers out there simply want what they've taught you regurgitated back to them. I don't think really good teachers would want that though, and certainly not when you're a paying customer. There is a difference between free public high school and a private college where I'm paying $40,000/year. I'm not paying that much for anything but the best education.
If it were me in college? I would have regurgitated to the teacher what she wanted to hear and happily taken my A, even if I disagreed with her. But I don't think we should fault this student for doing what she thought was the right thing.
Agreed. That was just a bad multiple choice question. Would be a better essay question. None of those choices is clear cut as the correct answer.
My first thing was to look at the question as well. It is a bad question. "B" and "D" are kind of opposites of one another - - I guess you could claim that two parent slave families were neither rare or common. "C" certainly seems like the right answer - - "regularly" is such a non-specific word, though, it is hard to know if it would be appropriate. I agree that an essay question would work much better there.
If you've read up on this story, then you know the professor is wrong on every account.
-her "answer" to the question was that slavery basically played part in the splitting up of black families during slavery. Which is ludicrous.
-then she proceded to go on a personal conquest of the young lady on social media.
This is not the professor to defend right-wingers.
A young African American student, a person who is attending college to LEARN something, thinks she is more informed on a subject (possibly due to the color of her skin) than a professor, a person with a MA, a MS or a PHd in the subject she has taught for 17 years, so she accuses that professor of being a racist who couldn't possibly know anything (likely due to the color of HER skin), then when the professor and nearly 20 years worth of her students of color attempt to defend the professor, claiming she isn't a racist, the student now needs to be removed from the class because she needs a "SAFE space", then demands the professor be fired?
I guess colleges and universities are only needed to hand a student a piece of paper (degree) to prove the student already knows everything... and the whole lecturing, teaching and giving tests to verify knowledge business can be eliminated now.
I learn something new every day, even if what I learned makes no sense.
TRUTH is only a matter of perspective for many folks (possibly myself included). Reality and fact means nothing to them.
I'm guessing you haven't read up on what the question was. The question was about whether or not slavery played a role in black family structures during slavery. The answer is obviously yes, because slaves could be bought and sold to different owners in different parts of the country. And the overall burden of slavery is going to yield its own outcomes when the comes to black family structures. The teacher was arguing that slavery played no role in black family structures. The student had common sense and other text based resources to back her side up. The teacher was being stubborn and arrogant. This person clearly shouldn't be teaching anything about black history/American history.
And she was too vindictive.
And challenging your professors on an intellectual level IS a part of the college experience. It's not just "the student is there to listen to blather so they should shut up and accept false narratives."
I see what you're saying. A lot of teachers out there simply want what they've taught you regurgitated back to them. I don't think really good teachers would want that though, and certainly not when you're a paying customer. There is a difference between free public high school and a private college where I'm paying $40,000/year. I'm not paying that much for anything but the best education.
If it were me in college? I would have regurgitated to the teacher what she wanted to hear and happily taken my A, even if I disagreed with her. But I don't think we should fault this student for doing what she thought was the right thing.
I used to regurgitate and ask questions later, but that's me.
IF it happened the way she says it did, then the professor should have met with her and explained her position and been open to what the student had to say.
But I don't think either one of them is particularly credible at this point.
Antifa, BAMN, and other groups on Reddit view Evergreen as a triumph, and would like to bring similar actions across the country this fall. Don't get me wrong, there's a big problem, and clear-thinking people should be concerned, I just don't think the article in the OP exemplifies it.
A young African American student, a person who is attending college to LEARN something, thinks she is more informed on a subject (possibly due to the color of her skin) than a professor, a person with a MA, a MS or a PHd in the subject she has taught for 17 years, so she accuses that professor of being a racist who couldn't possibly know anything (likely due to the color of HER skin), then when the professor and nearly 20 years worth of her students of color attempt to defend the professor, claiming she isn't a racist, the student now needs to be removed from the class because she needs a "SAFE space", then demands the professor be fired?
I guess colleges and universities are only needed to hand a student a piece of paper (degree) to prove the student already knows everything... and the whole lecturing, teaching and giving tests to verify knowledge business can be eliminated now.
I learn something new every day, even if what I learned makes no sense.
TRUTH is only a matter of perspective for many folks (possibly myself included). Reality and fact means nothing to them.
I'm guessing you haven't read up on what the question was. The question was about whether or not slavery played a role in black family structures during slavery. The answer is obviously yes, because slaves could be bought and sold to different owners in different parts of the country. And the overall burden of slavery is going to yield its own outcomes when the comes to black family structures. The teacher was arguing that slavery played no role in black family structures. The student had common sense and other text based resources to back her side up. The teacher was being stubborn and arrogant. This person clearly shouldn't be teaching anything about black history/American history.
And she was too vindictive.
And challenging your professors on an intellectual level IS a part of the college experience. It's not just "the student is there to listen to blather so they should shut up and accept false narratives."
What I had a problem with is the student calling her a racist, don't see it at all.
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