Stress from test

[cichlid]

I have a test tomorrow and I am so stressed. I wouldn't normally be this worried about an exam but it is the final and I already have enough to pass with a C and I only need a 38% on the final to get a B. And a 88% to get an A (but that is impossible with this teacher) Why am I stressed? Because I have come to far to accept either of those! We had two TAs teach the course and the first one did just fine. The class did alright (low C...high D was the average) while I had a mid-A.

 

The second TA has caused teh class nothing but stress. From him allowing a student to retake an exam because she didn't like her grade (couldn't concentrate supposedly but she still took the exam instead of schedualling a makeup like several other students!), to many other teaching no-no's. We actually got so fed up with him we wrote a memo about the crap we had to go through when he failed to show up one day to class (supposedly hurt his back too bad to come to class...though teh head said he slept in but did have a minor injury). A group of students also talked to the chairman of the department and then several more students including me spoke to the head of the department. The head of the department put the things we told him in two catagories...A and B. A in minor things...B is more serious that could cost the TA his job. Let's just say B was much longer than A.

 

The teacher also has this teaching method that he doesn't help anyone. He blows us all off and tells everyone he "doesn't have time for [them]". He did come from Russia and was trained there. The head mentioned that people teach how they were taught so it explains a lot. The teacher seems to have this thing that only the strongest survive this summer course. Less than 1/4 of the students PASSED the last exam with a C or higher. He won't be determining our final grades so there is a lot of hope for a huge curve from his part.

 

It's just stressful...I have the final tomorrow. I studied all this weekend. I feel like I know it but I know it well, I will still have a hard time. He will give us something he didn't lecture in class about...then again he doesn't really teach us anything. The whole class feels like they haven't learned a single thing. We don't know what to expect. The teacher doesn't know that great of English and doesn't understand that his questions don't make sense.

 

If you want to give me some "welcome to college" lectures...let me remind you that the issue is not just a demanding teacher. It is pure horror! It was enough for the entire class to complain about this one teacher! Enough for students to visit the head...mostly because of how he was treating us. Not our grades.

 

Right now the complaints have been written down and a paper trail is now there. I'm worried about my grade. I've worked hard...but it doesn't seem good enough to get a decent grade for his part...while the student that left a good many parts of the last exam BLANK received an A for that exam. ](*,)

 

It's also frustrating because so much went on that it would be next to impossible to tell exactly everything that made this second half horrible. You gals and guys just have to take my word that this isn't just one problem with one student...the entire class is feeling the same way. Well, except the girl that got to retake the exam...but she's a huge suck up.

[sumguy]

When we had an abusive and negligent teacher in High School, several people and I composed a letter to the Education Board of Western Australia, and had him reprimanded. He transferred out a few days later, and our new teacher was great.

 

Is there a similiar board where you are that you can report to? Even post-test, if you feel he has impeded your preformance in the exam? If the principle is unwilling to do anything more than give this guy warnings, go over his head.

 

But keep positive, and good luck! I'm sure you'll ace it! =D

[cichlid]

I dunno...he yelled at us during the last exam. We asked him if he could rephrase some of the questions since they were not in clear English (English is not his first language remember). He told us he was "leading us like children" and the exam was perfectly clear. It was actually kinda funny.

 

Though I do not think I will ace the exam. I got a 69% on his last exam and that was a good grade considering most people got 50%. But I do have extra credit going into this exam. I have 8% added to my exam score since I did problems in class and got them all right (and one gave me 2 pts because I got it done first).

 

But as much as we can do has been done. What's left is to see if he even passed his English assessment test but that involves going into records. One students wants to because supposedly the TA did not pass them and should not be teaching in the first place. But it does little for us now considering Monday is our final.

 

ETA; and those problems in class...I ended up having to tutor my classmates since very few people understood how to do them and the teacher didn't want to help.

[sumguy]

But it does little for us now considering Monday is our final.

 

If done retrospectivally, they should investigate and let you re-sit the test. But that's more of a last resort, sounds like you all did all you could, you've plotted your course, and now we have to hope you can all fly it. =)

[onewithbooks]

How did your test go?

[cichlid]

It was horrible! My mind starting freezing up half way into the exam. The problem with the teacher is he expects us to derive the formulas ourselves (that takes too long so I memorize the formulas). That wouldn't be so bad if we were physics majors...but we are engineers so it is not as important to us. He had the formula down wrong for a question! The only formula that we didn't have to derive. I asked him about it and he said it was correct...looking in my book I can see he is WRONG! But I used his formula since it was multiple choice and it didn't work with the right formula...only the wrong one he provided. Another thing is his English...he told us if we are caught "stealing" we will be kicked out of the exam. There was also a lot of grammatic errors on the exam and it made it confusing. But...eh...grades will be up on August 3rd. They worst I can really get is a B.

 

I'm just soooo happy that class is over.

[cichlid]

Well...I didn't get that 88% I needed to get that A without the curve...

 

I did better! I got a 65%! WOOOOO! Before you look at me as if I was crazy that was the HIGHEST grade on the final. I am guarenteed that A unless they decide to give the top student a B. We will get a huge curve for that test and I will get a 100% more than likely since I was highest. But the class average was a 39.1% on that final. Normally I would feel bad because I got a D but it was the highest grade so I feel great!

[onewithbooks]

Good Job!! I am proud of you!!

[dragon111]

I remember arguing with one of my lecturers because i could see that he was teaching the whole class something wrong in maths, he wasn't taking all factors into account and i proved to him that he was wrong on several occasions by utilising a text book but he didn't seem to understand my argument.

 

He obviously realised his huge mistake when he came to writing the exam paper because he half cheated to give us the answer, he wrote out a question and put some workings in brackets and put it equal to a certain answer, supposedly so that we could write our answers out neater (as a multiple of pie), but in-fact what he wrote made no sense, the two things as he wrote them didn't equal at all, he wrote the workings as he had taught them (wrongly) and gave the answer as it should be, he was obviously relying on the fact that people would take a short cut and use his workings. I did it my way of course.