posted
Today we got the first exam of the semester back in my calculus class. I did alright, 88, not bad at all consider she is one of the harder math professors I've had. After i looked over my test i canned aorund the room to see how i did compared to everyone else. The look on the guys next tom me's face screamed "What the...", so i gave a quick look over my shoulder at his paper. Stapled to the front of this test was a Burger King application and a big 55 in red ink. By the end of the class i'd found out that 5 other people had had Burger King applicatons attached to their exams. So now I'm wondering if I should worry about the fact that my Professor is a raving lunatic -_-
Posts: 67 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Well, stapling the application to the tests of people with failing grades certainly isn't a *kind* thing to do, but I don't see how doing so makes her crazy.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Noemon: Well, stapling the application to the tests of people with failing grades certainly isn't a *kind* thing to do, but I don't see how doing so makes her crazy.
I may have exagerated slightly by calling her a raving lunatic, but how many normal teachers do you know that staple applications to fast-food restaurants to failed exams?
Posts: 67 | Registered: Oct 2004
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On the other hand, that's pretty much precisely how The Varsity, in Atlanta, was started, and it's just about the biggest, most successful drive-in restaurant you'll ever see.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Goldenstar, where do you go to school? I've got a friend who's told me about this same calc professor.
My calc teacher: a Georgian expatriate. Former Soviet Union Georgia, that is. He drove tanks in the Soviet Army. Scary . . .
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Goldenstar, where do you go to school? I've got a friend who's told me about this same calc professor.
My calc teacher: a Georgian expatriate. Former Soviet Union Georgia, that is. He drove tanks in the Soviet Army. Scary . . .
I'd rather not say exactly, not that I don't trust the people of Hatrack, but there are some pretty crazy people on the net. I will say that my university is in New England
Posts: 67 | Registered: Oct 2004
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If you're in an engineering program, than, no, that doesn't seem that strange to me. Engineering programs are often set up to "weed out" students who can't hack it. The Burger King application could very well be a semi-humorous manifestation of this.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I've got to admit that if I got the first test of the semester thrown back in my face like this, I would be actively and openly hostile to the professor from that point forward. It seems like a truly terrible teaching mechanism.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I think you may want to remind the Professor that Math is not the be all and end all of Success. There are many positions of power and profit that can be obtained without knowing Calculus. You could be President of the United States and not have to know Calculus.
Then again...
as we can witness...
you can be President of the US and not know many many things.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:I've got to admit that if I got the first test of the semester thrown back in my face like this, I would be actively and openly hostile to the professor from that point forward. It seems like a truly terrible teaching mechanism.
The thing you don't get is that, in many programs, that'd be about as effective as being upset at your drill instructor at boot camp. They just don't care. It's structured that way.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I had a Calc II Prof. Who opened the first day explaining that 10-20% of the class was going to fail, and he didn't care (he added something about high school math sucking on this point). He then admitted to teach in a way that would often seem right, but the next lecture, or later during the same lecture he would bring up an example showing it was wrong, and then back-tracking to show the correct method. He was arrogant, believed that people could ask stupid questions, and basically had the air that teaching an undergrad calculus class was beneath him. He was so hostile and poorly thought of that the class review reports (where people can read up on other students' takes on particular classes/professors) were discontinued because he complained and demanded it be stopped because of poor reviews.
Of course, the universe has a sense of humor. His last name rhymed with a swear word (f*@!er), which made it into the school comedy magazine in several spoofs.
Now my Differential Equations professor was much more sane, and I learned more in a single lecture in that class than in Calculus II.
quote:Originally posted by MrSquicky: If you're in an engineering program, than, no, that doesn't seem that strange to me. Engineering programs are often set up to "weed out" students who can't hack it. The Burger King application could very well be a semi-humorous manifestation of this.
I'm an engineering professor and couldn't disagree more. This was outrageous and unnecessarily mean. While I'm certain that there are some professors who consider themselves the gatekeeepers of quality at University and are trying to "weed out" the week boot camp style, they are the exception and not the rule even in engineering.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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In my experience getting an engineering degree at a university, it wasn't the engineering classes which were set up to weed people out -- it was the first-year math, physics, and chemistry classes.
For other majors, it was the first-year economics class.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I had a calculus teacher in high school that was known for weeding out the weak students early on. One year his class dropped from 25 students to 6. In my year it dropped from about 22 to 12, with most students getting in hte 60's.
He used to hand out the tests from lowest to highest. When handing them out he would hand out the answers as well, saying "this is what you did" when giving you the test and then "this is what you should have done" when giivng you the answer. As I recall he would start to quietly hand out the tests around the time he go to the kids who were in the mid 70's... Man, I loved that teacher.
As for the burger king application.... wow... that's just cruel. Cruel, but damn funny.
Posts: 74 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I would have attached a Burger King paper crown instead. Hell, I would have made them wear it for the remainder of the class, and make them stand in front of the class and, to every person who says anything, ask them if they "want fries with that?"
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I wonder whether or not the teacher did it thinking "Heh, this is gonna be funny" or if, after seeing how horrible some people did, in a fit of rage went out and got the applications. Or if it's a standard thing he does every year to the lowest people.
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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If one of my profs had done that, it probably would've made me cry right then and there. I don't think education should be structered where the profs don't care or are openly mean. When I took night class at UsF in high school, I had a prof who wouldn't help me at all with his class and would MOCK me for asking. That solidified my resolve to not attend a large university.
posted
We justify cruelty in military boot camps because the goal is to break down the recruits, shatter their personalities and rebuild them as drones. It's a matter of life and death, after all, so their feelings aren't exactly our top priority.
I have difficulty coming up with a similar justification for cruelty in a Calc class.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Obviously, you don't see how necessary it is that we have perfect rank-and-file engineers for the great Derivative War. Winning these next few battles is integral to our cause.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
This professor's action is sadistic. She's also setting herself up to look silly, when she does this to the next famous mathematician -- like the teacher who said Einstein would never amount to anything.
Posts: 1877 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: We justify cruelty in military boot camps because the goal is to break down the recruits, shatter their personalities and rebuild them as drones. It's a matter of life and death, after all, so their feelings aren't exactly our top priority.
I have difficulty coming up with a similar justification for cruelty in a Calc class.
Then again, possibly a Burger King application form is not really on the same level as another hundred pushups.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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It's mildly amusing, but I would honestly hate to be on the receiving end of this sort of stunt.
Then again, one may or may not show up when I get my comps results back (after, of course, I take the stinking exams). What else is a failed Classicist supposed to do? Yikes!
(If the latter situation were to happen, the results would not be pretty. For anyone.)
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Joldo: Obviously, you don't see how necessary it is that we have perfect rank-and-file engineers for the great Derivative War. Winning these next few battles is integral to our cause.
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: We justify cruelty in military boot camps because the goal is to break down the recruits, shatter their personalities and rebuild them as drones. It's a matter of life and death, after all, so their feelings aren't exactly our top priority.
I have difficulty coming up with a similar justification for cruelty in a Calc class.
If your professor ever put you into a cabinet and made you rattle around like a children's toy or threw your lunch tray across the room for no reason, then you might have a serious problem.
I'm the worst drone ever. Does that mean that they failed or I did?
Posts: 1156 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Tom, I'm convinced that the engineering department is trying to break our spirits and make us into drones. Good little corporate drones, that is.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote: We justify cruelty in military boot camps because the goal is to break down the recruits, shatter their personalities and rebuild them as drones. It's a matter of life and death, after all, so their feelings aren't exactly our top priority.
I have difficulty coming up with a similar justification for cruelty in a Calc class.
I'm mystified that you're drawing an equivilence between these two.
I don't see how this in any way, shape, or form could be considered to be within an order of magnitude of what goes on in a boot camp. Why not just call the Prof a Nazi and get the overblown comparisons over with?
If you get a 55 on your first Calc test, you've either really got to turn things around or you're not going to graduate with an engineering degree. How you take the Burger King application is totally up to you, but getting whiny about it isn't going to fix your problem and it's not really going to get you much sympathy, at least not within the programs I'm familiar with.
If you can't deal, you shouldn't be in the program.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Joldo: Obviously, you don't see how necessary it is that we have perfect rank-and-file engineers for the great Derivative War. Winning these next few battles is integral to our cause.
Maybe in my first music appreciation class, I will attach a K-Fed Cd, or a Pachelbell's Canon "relaxation mix" to the essays I feel need a little more thought. The non-stoned students will get bach, debussy, and Chopin
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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So Squick, entering an engineering program means you have to deal with mean-spirited ridicule from your professors?
I mean, I've had professors who've almost made me cry in class, and I'm not even sure that they were TRYING to be as mean as they sounded. Guess that means I wasn't cut out for a business degree. Oh, wait.
posted
As far as I'm concerned, there is only one word for what that professor did: unprofessional. If that is the only way she can think of to suggest to students with low grades that they should find another field, she likely does not belong in the classroom. If she thought it was funny, I'd agree with Will B that she is a sadist.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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pH, If you cry when you get pressure on you, then you are not someone I want working on one of my projects.
What was done here really isn't that big a deal. And, you know, not being able to pass Calc is, if you are on an engineering track. If you find yourself in this situation and you're concerned about the application thing, you've got some seriously messed up priorities.
If you aren't up to the material and/or you can't handle a little pressure, no amount of talking about your hurt feelings or how hard you worked is going to fix things. This isn't like a humanities or business class, where, if the work is too hard for most of the people, you can just make it easier (I got a more than a couple of A+'s in my psych courses because I was surrounded by a bunch of whiny students of either mediocre drive or ability). There's a certain standard you have to meet. If you can't do it, you don't belong.
My Comp Sci major dropped from the 320s to about 125 in the first year, which was the weed out year. We ended up graduating I think 98. That's the way it should be. I've seen what the path of lowered expectations leads to.
My advice if someone finds themselves in a situation like this is you laugh it off, man up, and focus on not screwing up as badly in the future. If you can't do that, you need to seriously consider doing something else.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Suggest to your application-receiving classmates that they attach applications of their own to the homework they turn in from now on. AARP, nursing home, University of Phoenix Online...whatever's most appropriate.
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:If she thought it was funny, I'd agree with Will B that she is a sadist.
I thought it was funny, and I'm pretty sure I'm not a sadist. Although I could just be fooling myself, I guess.
Inappropriate? Sure. Mean? Yes.
But still funny.
*sigh*
While I didn't think it was funny, I don't think that your thinking it was funny makes you a sadist. Now, if you actually did something like that, then I might evaluate your reaction differently.
Edited to add: There's just too much casual cruelty in the world for me to be comfortable with it.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
You've got a couple choices when faced with a failing test with a Burger King application stapled to it.
You can get angry at the teacher, for doing such a horrible thing as pointing out that failing a basic college math class doesn't speak to well towards your success in higher education.
You can realize that you screwed up big time, see it for the wake-up call that it is, and get a tutor, come in after class, or just study harder.
Or you can choose the correct path, realize that math is boring and worthless, and switch to a major in the arts where you'll learn something useful. Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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MC- you could always turn in the Ap and then spit in her burger... this woman IS stupid if she hasn't thought of that possibility.
Beyond that, your absolutely right- and what does a math teacher have to say about getting along in life? Remember "Sonny's Blues? Math Teacher- nough said.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:You can get angry at the teacher, for doing such a horrible thing as pointing out that failing a basic college math class doesn't speak to well towards your success in higher education.
The thing is, calc isn't actually "basic college math." Failing one test doesn't indicate a failure in the class. And it's impossible for the prof to be able to assess the career of any given student based solely upon their performance in a math class; many, many wealthy people have been bad at math.
This was tasteless, presumptuous, and arrogant of the prof, and verged on being snide. None of these are good attributes in an educator.
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quote:If you get a 55 on your first Calc test, you've either really got to turn things around or you're not going to graduate with an engineering degree. How you take the Burger King application is totally up to you, but getting whiny about it isn't going to fix your problem
Which, ironically, is EXACTLY the point of the boot camp reference. The "harshness" of Boot Camp is intended to "fix" the problems possessed by new recruits: laziness, lack of discipline, lack of training, physical inability, etc. When your sergeant yells at you, you can choose to "fix" the problem or get whiny.
But we accept that in boot camp because we believe that these "problems" are matters of life or death on a battlefield. If an English professor got in my face and called me a "spineless worm" for doing a paper in which I betrayed my dislike of Toni Morrison, I'd be angered and bemused.
It's either a symptom of a serious lack of respect for one's students, or else a serious lack of perspective on the importance of one's class. Even assuming as a given that failing a calc test (or a whole calc class) will make someone unable to get an engineering degree, there's presumably a wide gulf between "engineer" and "entry-level fast food employee."
Although I suppose I DO know a few engineers who don't realize that. Maybe it's more like boot camp (or law or med school) than I thought: the people brought together by surviving their shared bullying wind up believing that they're superior to anyone who didn't have the same experience. *ducks*
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Maybe it's more like boot camp (or law or med school) than I thought: the people brought together by surviving their shared bullying wind up believing that they're superior to anyone who didn't have the same experience. *ducks*
