Saturday, July 26, 2008
In response |10:13 PM| Mariko lowered the boom on me, in regards to teachers.
Mariko raises valid points on their high workload.
In my defense: I can, to an extent, understand the plight of a college teacher, the crushing workload, the low pay compared to the expectations, etc. However, the small amount of effort this particular teacher has put forth is striking. The lack of response to emails asking for clarification, the study guide/syllabus containing spelling errors and redundant sections, that same syllabus being vague in the extreme on points of focus followed by extremely specific tests, the nigh-random changing of his website, with those exams being poorly modified versions of weekly lecture class tests all point towards a low level of involvement in the online adaptation of his class.
Had I not already had a firm foundation in biology I would have done far worse in this class. The oceanography that I am taking this semester covers a great deal more material than the anthropology course. Yet, I am easily acing the oceanography class, desperately struggling with this other course. The material itself is interesting, and I am learning a great deal, but translating that to the tests is a nearly Sisyphean task.
Example: I took an exam because I had given up on trying to decode what the syllabus was telling me to focus on studying, to get a better idea of it. I had a feeling that , fitting with the rest of the effort shown in class preparation, the re-test would be identical to the first test. Thus I studied exactly the material covered in that exam. I was right, the exam was identical, yet I was only able to improve my grade to a B+ as the questions were so poorly worded. These weren't Anthropology questions, they were legal conundrums. Memorization of precise wording from the text was absolutely required.
Bitching and humorous postings on Craigslist aside, I do intend to do something positive and constructive following the course. I will write a polite, detailed email explaining what I saw as weaknesses not with the teacher, or the material, but its presentation in the context of an online course.
I'll wait until grades are issued, though.
(2) comments
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I have named the large male silverback "Bobo" |11:32 AM| I stopped being a ninny and changed the edits back.
I've been having some serious issues with my anthropology professor, for my distance learning class. He rarely responds to email, and if he does, it's invariably "Check the website!". The website is crap. The syllabus is hazy, redundant in some areas, sparse in others, has typos, and thus is extremely unhelpful.
The professor does not keep regular office hours, you have to email him for them. His exams are clearly the chapter quizzes and tests from the normal lecture class, stapled together with the questions re-numbered by hand.
Everything about this strikes me as a teacher who was either compelled to teach this distance learning class, or offered it as a way to earn extra cash during the summer. His hands-off behavior indicates he's doing his best to carry on a summer vacation, and he may not even be in town most of the time.
http://austin.craigslist.org/mis/765770110.html
(mirror)
I wrote that as a joke. Originally it was much more clear that this was about an ACC distance learning class, but seeing as there is only one of those being offered by a single professor, the last thing I need is some internet detective forwarding it on to him. (Think I'm paranoid? Ask me about Sulzanti and the Phoenix police some time)
Of course, why should I worry? It's not like he reads his email.
(1) comments
In response |10:13 PM| Mariko lowered the boom on me, in regards to teachers.
Mariko raises valid points on their high workload.
In my defense: I can, to an extent, understand the plight of a college teacher, the crushing workload, the low pay compared to the expectations, etc. However, the small amount of effort this particular teacher has put forth is striking. The lack of response to emails asking for clarification, the study guide/syllabus containing spelling errors and redundant sections, that same syllabus being vague in the extreme on points of focus followed by extremely specific tests, the nigh-random changing of his website, with those exams being poorly modified versions of weekly lecture class tests all point towards a low level of involvement in the online adaptation of his class.
Had I not already had a firm foundation in biology I would have done far worse in this class. The oceanography that I am taking this semester covers a great deal more material than the anthropology course. Yet, I am easily acing the oceanography class, desperately struggling with this other course. The material itself is interesting, and I am learning a great deal, but translating that to the tests is a nearly Sisyphean task.
Example: I took an exam because I had given up on trying to decode what the syllabus was telling me to focus on studying, to get a better idea of it. I had a feeling that , fitting with the rest of the effort shown in class preparation, the re-test would be identical to the first test. Thus I studied exactly the material covered in that exam. I was right, the exam was identical, yet I was only able to improve my grade to a B+ as the questions were so poorly worded. These weren't Anthropology questions, they were legal conundrums. Memorization of precise wording from the text was absolutely required.
Bitching and humorous postings on Craigslist aside, I do intend to do something positive and constructive following the course. I will write a polite, detailed email explaining what I saw as weaknesses not with the teacher, or the material, but its presentation in the context of an online course.
I'll wait until grades are issued, though.
Labels: College
(2) comments
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I have named the large male silverback "Bobo" |11:32 AM| I stopped being a ninny and changed the edits back.
I've been having some serious issues with my anthropology professor, for my distance learning class. He rarely responds to email, and if he does, it's invariably "Check the website!". The website is crap. The syllabus is hazy, redundant in some areas, sparse in others, has typos, and thus is extremely unhelpful.
The professor does not keep regular office hours, you have to email him for them. His exams are clearly the chapter quizzes and tests from the normal lecture class, stapled together with the questions re-numbered by hand.
Everything about this strikes me as a teacher who was either compelled to teach this distance learning class, or offered it as a way to earn extra cash during the summer. His hands-off behavior indicates he's doing his best to carry on a summer vacation, and he may not even be in town most of the time.
http://austin.craigslist.org/mis/765770110.html
(mirror)
I wrote that as a joke. Originally it was much more clear that this was about an ACC distance learning class, but seeing as there is only one of those being offered by a single professor, the last thing I need is some internet detective forwarding it on to him. (Think I'm paranoid? Ask me about Sulzanti and the Phoenix police some time)
Of course, why should I worry? It's not like he reads his email.
(1) comments
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