News of the day

refugee wrote: Slartibartfast wrote: thellama73 wrote: Slartibartfast wrote: If you post enough crazy opinions we most certainly can presume what kind of person you are. That's how we know so much about you, Slarti! Here's what we do know for certain: Real Name: Not Given Gender: Not Given Date of Birth: Not Given Age: Unknown Location: Not Given Homepage: Not Given Occupation: Not Given Interests: Not Given I disagree with him but I don’t think it’s fair to hold his profile against him (supposing he’s male, of course). Many people choose to be anonymous on the internet, and I don’t even think they should have to justify it.

I didn't finish my point deliberately.  It is this - it's easy to be an internet coward.  I have no problems having civil discussions with people I don't agree with.  You could drop in a few details that wouldn't get your identity stolen. 


Edited by Slartibartfast - July 27 2012 at 11:34

horsewithteeth11 wrote: Pat and Robert, you guys need to be nicer about what you say to your students, or else.

Abolish failure and you abolish success. Oh my the US is really going down if things like this get anywhere...

The T wrote: horsewithteeth11 wrote: Pat and Robert, you guys need to be nicer about what you say to your students, or else.  Abolish failure and you abolish success. Oh my the US is really going down if things like this get anywhere...

He should have been allowed a make up opportunity.  I suspect his parents have some money or we wouldn't have heard about it in the first place.  Talk about a sense of entitlement.

The T wrote: Why should he have een given one?

I've never understood this mentality, as if students are owed a good grade. If they can't be bothered to satisfy the requirements of the class, why should they expect special treatment?

I remember my first Russian class in college, roughly half the students did not show up for the final exam. It was not at an inconvenient time and most of them didn't even bother with excuses. When my professor started grumbling about having to arrange make ups for all of them, I was shocked.

"Just give them all zeros." I said, for which I was chastised for being "mean."

^It's not about passing. He says he has suffered emotional distress because of this. I can only envision the type of whiners this world will have in a few years.

thellama73 wrote: The T wrote: Why should he have een given one? I've never understood this mentality, as if students are owed a good grade. If they can't be bothered to satisfy the requirements of the class, why should they expect special treatment? I remember my first Russian class in college, roughly half the students did not show up for the final exam. It was not at an inconvenient time and most of them didn't even bother with excuses. When my professor started grumbling about having to arrange make ups for all of them, I was shocked. "Just give them all zeros." I said, for which I was chastised for being "mean."

I have never once in my career given extra credit.  I do have a lenient make-up policy though (for me, that's much easier than dealing with excused / unexcused absences).

The T wrote: ^It's not about passing. He says he has suffered emotional distress because of this. I can only envision the type of whiners this world will have in a few years.

I have emotional distress from school, that's called wanting to succeed. It's mainly forced upon me by my parents' expectation though.

^When I first set foot in an American college (not even just a high-school, a damn college) and I found out about the existence of grading curves I was quite surprised. Disappointed, in time.

Slartibartfast wrote: thellama73 wrote: The increasingly common school method of being able to miss deadlines without consequence is not very good preparation for the workplace. Oh well, less competition for me I guess. Elaborate on how this an increasingly common school method...

I don't want to intrude but even in college and University I've found that to be true, with a good percentage of teachers.

Slartibartfast wrote: thellama73 wrote: The increasingly common school method of being able to miss deadlines without consequence is not very good preparation for the workplace. Oh well, less competition for me I guess. Elaborate on how this an increasingly common school method...

I don't have the energy to look up statistics for you, but as I understand it, students used to receive the occasional failing grade. Things like No Child Left Behind and other emphases on test scores as a measurement of school quality mean that teachers get in trouble if their students don't do well, so there is an incentive to let them get away with a lot. In my experience in the world of higher education, I rarely saw anyone face a consequence for missing an exam or a paper deadline.