usmbguest5318
Gold Member
Some weeks back I was looking at some student comments about some of their economics classes and instructors. Among the remarks are:
All that notwithstanding, I was most dumbfounded by the emphasis on how easy the class is or isn't and their utter unawareness of what makes a class be easy or hard. Upon noticing that, I was immediately reminded of how silly so many student protests about matters of free speech are. It's one thing when someone having something of substance to offer to a discussion exercises their free speech right. It's wholly another when one, in this case a student, has something to say about matters they don't fully comprehend.
From a student's perspective, college may be about "getting the credits/grades/degree." Sure, part of it is about that, but what's vastly more important than what grade one earns is what one learns about the process of discovering and aptly analyzing information and situations and becoming adroit at doing so as an adult. Of the ~20 ratings and comments I read, only three mentioned anything even close to that latter aspect of having taken the course they did. What that suggests to me is that many people attend college and haven't any idea of why they are really there and what be the scholastic objectives and methodologies of the school, yet they are willing to opine upon such things. It's not wonder nobody serious pays them much mind, save, of course, when they are physically violent.
Note:
- Int'l Economics -- This course is a survey course; it's not a weeder class; it is not a prereq for anything and has no prereqs.
- "It is a difficult course, only about half the class gets As and Bs." -- Say what? Half the class does not get As and Bs in a difficult course, the most "difficult courses" being those wherein the subject matter is difficult, those wherein the student must figure out much on their own, (and related to that) those wherein the teaching approach is "weeding," and those wherein scores are force-ranked for As and Bs and perhaps for Cs. Half a collegiate class getting As and Bs happens in courses having none of those attributes.
- ...To wit, "Gives out 30 questions with all but one question of the final [among] them." -- Just how hard is a class wherein the professor informs the students of all but one question that appears on the final exam?
- "His tests are always fair, no huge curveballs." -- "Huge" or not, "curveballs," so to speak, are par for classes from high school through undergraduate college classes. I dare say that if one's getting no "huge" curveballs, the instructor may be setting the bar too low. That may not be the case for this class for it isn't part of a "track" within the school's undergraduate economics program. (One doesn't even need to taken principles of economics, the course-pair that gives one a basic understanding of economics, to take this class.
- "The course is extremely exam dependent (2 tests, 90% of your grade)." -- It's college; get used to it. I wonder what this student is going to think if s/he goes to graduate school.
- "No homework makes it tough to keep up with the material." -- It's college; you're supposed to assign yourself "homework" if the professor doesn't do so for you. The professor provides a syllabus and you have a textbook. It's your job to use those tools to figure out what "homework" you need to do to keep up. That's part of the burden of being an adult. One may not always as an undergrad be forced to "step up" in that way, but when one is, well, one just is, and do so one must.
Having said that, the student's comment is at least actionably and objectively informative. In that regard it is at least a useful comment.
- "It is a difficult course, only about half the class gets As and Bs." -- Say what? Half the class does not get As and Bs in a difficult course, the most "difficult courses" being those wherein the subject matter is difficult, those wherein the student must figure out much on their own, (and related to that) those wherein the teaching approach is "weeding," and those wherein scores are force-ranked for As and Bs and perhaps for Cs. Half a collegiate class getting As and Bs happens in courses having none of those attributes.
- Principles of Microeconomics -- This is generally a "weeder" course for econ and business majors. It's meant to be hard because no school wants "lightweights" graduating from their program.
- "Just work really hard and you'll do well." -- Well, that can be said of pretty much any college class if, as with any high performer, "doing well" means earning an A. I don't have a problem with the comment other than that it's trite.
All that notwithstanding, I was most dumbfounded by the emphasis on how easy the class is or isn't and their utter unawareness of what makes a class be easy or hard. Upon noticing that, I was immediately reminded of how silly so many student protests about matters of free speech are. It's one thing when someone having something of substance to offer to a discussion exercises their free speech right. It's wholly another when one, in this case a student, has something to say about matters they don't fully comprehend.
From a student's perspective, college may be about "getting the credits/grades/degree." Sure, part of it is about that, but what's vastly more important than what grade one earns is what one learns about the process of discovering and aptly analyzing information and situations and becoming adroit at doing so as an adult. Of the ~20 ratings and comments I read, only three mentioned anything even close to that latter aspect of having taken the course they did. What that suggests to me is that many people attend college and haven't any idea of why they are really there and what be the scholastic objectives and methodologies of the school, yet they are willing to opine upon such things. It's not wonder nobody serious pays them much mind, save, of course, when they are physically violent.
Note:
- I just happened to look at one professor's ratings, of which there were about 20. Maybe it's different for other students? Maybe many students who "get it" don't bother to post ratings?