A Question About College: Does your class meet the expectation of the professor?

Grammar should have been corrected but no points should have been deducted...is this something going on right now or was it something from a past semester...I am unclear. How much was taken off? Enough to alter your grade a letter or more? If it was substantial enough to change your letter grade, I would complain to a professor or department head. At the least (even if you are not directly helped) this TA can be told that she must alter her standards and quit trying to prove herself via the students.

kbm,

First, I am not a real teacher yet, so don't get the wrong impression. I have taught and will continue teaching (although this semester I am mostly on research) and graded plenty, though...so I thought I could give a little insight into the "other side."

In regards to Memphis...what I heard, if memory serves correctly, was that there is an odd mix of spoiled rich kids who think they don't need to learn and then the lower kids who have not been taught anything.

Nothing unique to Memphis - there is a growing trend everywhere - standards have been reduced, all sorts of corners have been cut (ahem, "English for business majors" type cheats...but not limited to that) such that college is becoming more vocational training and specialization than truly institutes of "higher learning." And, of course, the money issue is huge, causing all sorts of standards to be dropped.

Why would blue chip people go to Memphis? Often, it is that or nothing. Further, it is, "you are damn lucky just to get that." In a certain field (say, british history), maybe 4-5 jobs open up a year in the whole country. Slim pickings. Academia is hell - too many years of going through hell only to work at Barns and Noble or, if lucky, get a tenured track (read - still no guarantee) position that willpay about what a Barnes and Noble store manager makes.

 

This was done 3 years ago, while it wouldn't have made a difference on my overall grade since the GPA system is based on letter grades alone, it changed the letter grade on the test itself. I'm totally over it now, and there is nothing I can do about it now. It was a positive event since I learned how to deal with my TAs and professors. A precious lesson during my freshman campaign.

 

I attend Florida State (meteorology major) and, for the most part, everyone in my classes is pretty shy about answering questions - but the professors seem to understand that it is the way students are these days.

People will ask questions, and the professors make every effort at answering them; they know that it is their job to make sure the students know the material. The threat of evaluation forms hanging over their heads may impact this, but most of the professors are genuinely caring.

Then again, I've never really taken many liberal studies classes - though the above holds true for the few I've taken. So, all in all, I'd say that the class meets the expectations of the professor - and vice versa.

 

Actually, evaluations generally mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

You would be surprised.