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I'm getting so frustrated. I just graded my first mid-term examination and over half the class failed.
It is a difficult class . . . maybe. So, I try to make it easier. Before every lecture, I post a 25-question test bank on the class web site along with the Powerpoint presentation in a three-up note taking format. Then, after the lecture, I'll go over the test bank questions with the class. I do not answer the questions, but will confirm if they selected the correct answer, and if needed, explain why an answer is an incorrect one. This also has helped me also in case I forgot to cover something during a lecture. Then, I'll give a five-minute mini-lecture covering that topic. The only questions that appear on the examinations are from the text banks. They have the questions . . . they have the answers . . . What more can I do to help?
There are those who take the class seriously and pretty much ace the tests. However, most of them don't seem to care. They are the ones who come to me near the end of the semester begging for extra credit so they can bring up their scores, (and I've discovered that the ones who do extra credit don't really need any). I also realize that some people just don't do wall on multiple-choice type exams, and I let them know that we'll work something out - to test their knowledge in other ways. Nobody has yet taken me up on that offer. I don't feel bad at all failing students who do so poorly on the exams.
Many college students are not mature enough to be there. They need a couple of years (or decades) to really come to the understanding of what college is all about.
Also, not *everyone* is cut out for a college education, but parents do not want to admit that their little sproggen isn't going to be the next Einstein, so they push them into going to college when a technical school or simply going to work would suit them much better.
I'm getting so frustrated. I just graded my first mid-term examination and over half the class failed.
It is a difficult class . . . maybe. So, I try to make it easier. Before every lecture, I post a 25-question test bank on the class web site along with the Powerpoint presentation in a three-up note taking format. Then, after the lecture, I'll go over the test bank questions with the class. I do not answer the questions, but will confirm if they selected the correct answer, and if needed, explain why an answer is an incorrect one. This also has helped me also in case I forgot to cover something during a lecture. Then, I'll give a five-minute mini-lecture covering that topic. The only questions that appear on the examinations are from the text banks. They have the questions . . . they have the answers . . . What more can I do to help?
There are those who take the class seriously and pretty much ace the tests. However, most of them don't seem to care. They are the ones who come to me near the end of the semester begging for extra credit so they can bring up their scores, (and I've discovered that the ones who do extra credit don't really need any). I also realize that some people just don't do wall on multiple-choice type exams, and I let them know that we'll work something out - to test their knowledge in other ways. Nobody has yet taken me up on that offer. I don't feel bad at all failing students who do so poorly on the exams.
It's just so frustrating. They just don't care.
Welcome to the real world.
I used to teach for a while. One of the biggest mistakes teachers make is they spend their careers angry they had to teach the students they got, rather than the students they wish they had. What class is ever comprised uniformly of bright, eager, attentive students? Only the ones teachers fantasize about.
This is a huge problem in the classes I am a student in. The kids are just not mature enough and they treat these college courses like an extension of high school and a social hour.
It drives me nuts. The same students are inconsiderate and talk during the class why the teacher is lecturing. I am almost 40 so I am trying to take these classes seriously. These kids have time to goof around and fail and come back, I really do not.
They are kids being put into adult situations who do not know how to behave as adults yet.
I used to teach for a while. One of the biggest mistakes teachers make is they spend their careers angry they had to teach the students they got, rather than the students they wish they had. What class is ever comprised uniformly of bright, eager, attentive students? Only the ones teachers fantasize about.
I'm getting so frustrated. I just graded my first mid-term examination and over half the class failed.
It is a difficult class . . . maybe. So, I try to make it easier. Before every lecture, I post a 25-question test bank on the class web site along with the Powerpoint presentation in a three-up note taking format. Then, after the lecture, I'll go over the test bank questions with the class. I do not answer the questions, but will confirm if they selected the correct answer, and if needed, explain why an answer is an incorrect one. This also has helped me also in case I forgot to cover something during a lecture. Then, I'll give a five-minute mini-lecture covering that topic. The only questions that appear on the examinations are from the text banks. They have the questions . . . they have the answers . . . What more can I do to help?
There are those who take the class seriously and pretty much ace the tests. However, most of them don't seem to care. They are the ones who come to me near the end of the semester begging for extra credit so they can bring up their scores, (and I've discovered that the ones who do extra credit don't really need any). I also realize that some people just don't do wall on multiple-choice type exams, and I let them know that we'll work something out - to test their knowledge in other ways. Nobody has yet taken me up on that offer. I don't feel bad at all failing students who do so poorly on the exams.
It's just so frustrating. They just don't care.
I've given kids the actual test ahead of time, and still had a good portion fail it. It's just a never-ending problem. Try to focus on the good students and the ones who want and need help, and not let the ones who don't care get you down. And be glad we are not like K-12 teachers, who are accountable for test scores no matter if the kids care or not or even whether or not they come to class.
Kids flunk out of military academies for academic reasons. It just happens in lower numbers.
Oh, they do flunk out. But the ones that do not are bright and motivated. For West Point, the retention rate from first to second tear is 92% and 81% graduate in 4 years. A very small number are allowed to repeat a course. If you fail one, you are usually gone. Small classes, with everyone reciting every day in every class.
In regards to service academies, having a guaranteed job (with great benefits and pay) after college is darn motivating; along with the fact it takes a lot of effort to get there in the first place.
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