Doing what is asked of you is a C?

[silver wolf009]

Hello Escapists, long time no see in the forums.

Anyway, I have a bit of situation I wanted your opinions on.

The new semester just started, and I find myself with a teacher who... Well, I don't like him. The general consensus seems to be he's a self centered jerk, but that's besides the point. What I wanted to ask you guys is if you agree with this statement: "Doing exactly what you're asked is average work, and will be rewarded with a C, an average grade."

Thoughts?

Personally, I don't like it. Maybe that's because my grade is on the line, but still, it just doesn't seem like a good way to grade. If I'm asked to do a certain amount of work, and I do it, I'm really going to be rewarded with a C? I don't know, that seems like a little spit in the face to me.

But again, that's just me. Am I wrong on this one? Please, tell me if I am.

Also, feel free to share stories of teachers you haven't exactly hit it off with. I love reading the silly stuff that teachers can do sometimes.

 

[Esotera]

That sounds completely reasonable...it's actually the general culture at my university (and most in the UK that I know of) that after your second year you need to read around the subject to get marks better than our equivalent of a C. Obviously if you don't like him for other reasons then that's fine, but not liking him just because he's a harsh grader is a bit unfair.

The only teachers I haven't liked are the ones who couldn't hold the attention of the class at all, and have had several years of prior experience.

 

[gazumped]

If he'd not bothered to tell you that was his policy, he'd be a complete arse. However, when you're armed with that knowledge, all you have to do is simply ask for extra work.

It seems like a good policy, actually... this way he can educate everyone at a level that they can achieve, even if they struggle with the subject, and anyone who feels like they can push themselves further can do so. And he doesn't have to waste his time trying to educate the lazy students who won't bother doing any more work than they have to to pass.

 

[Strain42]

The general belief in college (at least all the classes I've taken) stems on a system that believes you will spend X amount of hours OUTSIDE of class dedicated to your course. Let's say you're taking a 3 hour course, I think that means something like the school thinks you're putting 9 hours a week into the course outside of your lectures.

I assume your teacher isn't saying "If you do all your homework and do all the tests you'll get a C" because that's not how grading works.

I think he could just be saying "if you only do the bare minimum, you probably won't do much better than a C."

Like if you just show up to class, do the homework and take the tests, but never say...actually study for those tests, you're doing average work and it will probably showcase itself with an average grade, in other words, a C.

That's my take on it anyway.

SOURCE: Someone who got a LOT of C's in high school and a few so far in college.

 

[werty10089]

I have liked all of my teachers. Every single one. Even the casually racist wood-shop instructor that supervised me in the eighth grade. Now, now, saying we agree on things is a completely different story. You know the cliché "I got a bad mark because my teacher doesn't like me" excuse? Well, one of my teachers just. doesn't. like. me. At all. She's a the new English teacher, filling in for two recently-retired people from the same position. Her job sucks. The school isn't too large (<1000), but she has half of the English classes' work to correct. That's L1, L2 and L3 high-school students. I can't really say I envy her. My peeve regarding her revolves around her correcting. The large work-load is an obvious pusher for her robotic method of grading. She looks for the same, boring, points the majority of the other students have made in their essays, and excludes anything else. This includes practically everything I write. Any creative analogies, outside references or jokes aren't shallow enough for her to find competent in any way. Her defiance to even correct any of my essays is ridiculous. You can't refuse to grade something. I'm eccentric, she's serious and we're both very, very stubborn. Denying me a grade does more to instigate than deter. I've become aggressively immature and sarcastic, and she's becoming increasing intolerant. Cold war: English 3200.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

It was the same way in all our university modules. The point is that you aren't supposed to do the minimum possible work. The stuff the lecturers give you are guidelines to read around and research the subjects on your own.

The thing about university is that what you are learning will be directly applicable to the job you get. So if you do the minimum amount of work at uni, and get a job in the field you studied, then you'll find yourself lost in all this new information you haven't heard of before and asked to do things you don't know how to do properly.
At school you always had a few subjects you never bothered with, because you were never planning on using them later. (how many times has the knowledge of Oxbow lake formations helped your daily problems?) At university you don't have that luxury. You need to know as much as possible about everything otherwise you won't be able to adaquetely perform the job they are training you for.

University is all about independent learning. Get several books out of the library, read the relevant chapters (you'll rarely find an book that is 100% relevent to the subject, usually there is only a chapter or two you'll need to read.)

And finally, don't get mad at the lecturers who appear to be very hard-nosed. In my experience they are always the fairest markers. If you don't work they will slaughter you for it. If you can show extra knowledge about subjects they will be absurdley generous with their marks.

 

[Yureina]

A C is average. If you do average work and merely what is required of you, then you deserve a C. Higher grades are for those who excel and do far better than the average person would. They are not grades to be handed out like candy to everyone just because they "look good". Only those that truly deserve such grades should get them. Not everyone is destined to be great. In fact... very few are.

And yes, I am fully aware of the fact that, as someone who has already graduated University, I have absolutely no stake in this issue any longer. But the fact remains that I find something very wrong with how school and university has trended towards just handing everyone A's so easily. I spent more time playing WoW than studying while I was in University, and I still got a respectable GPA (3.5) without even seriously trying.

Honestly, I was disillusioned with how easy it was. I expected more out of University than what I got.

 

[hazabaza1]

I'm being told that I'll need to read around the subject and do extra work to get better than a C, so yes, it seems fair to me.

 

[kurupt87]

You say semester then teacher. Not sure if you're at Uni or school.

If Uni, sounds fine with me.

If school, not fine; you can't choose what subjects to do, you have to pick from a list. There should be no obligation to expect extra work on something you don't have a true choice about. That extra is the difference between an A and A* at school.

If you do then you are likely to do well in life later on, your job will almost certainly have you doing things you wouldn't choose to. Putting in extra effort will get you promoted if you push for it too. It's a good habit to get into.

 

[Starke]

If you do then you are likely to do well in life later on, your job will almost certainly have you doing things you wouldn't choose to. Putting in extra effort will get you promoted if you push for it too. It's a good habit to get into.

Or get identified by someone your boss sees as a threat to their own position, resulting in no end of misery and finally thrown under a bus in order to keep their own position secure.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Hello Escapists, long time no see in the forums.

Anyway, I have a bit of situation I wanted your opinions on.

The new semester just started, and I find myself with a teacher who... Well, I don't like him. The general consensus seems to be he's a self centered jerk, but that's besides the point. What I wanted to ask you guys is if you agree with this statement: "Doing exactly what you're asked is average work, and will be rewarded with a C, an average grade."

Thoughts?

Personally, I don't like it. Maybe that's because my grade is on the line, but still, it just doesn't seem like a good way to grade. If I'm asked to do a certain amount of work, and I do it, I'm really going to be rewarded with a C? I don't know, that seems like a little spit in the face to me.

But again, that's just me. Am I wrong on this one? Please, tell me if I am.

Also, feel free to share stories of teachers you haven't exactly hit it off with. I love reading the silly stuff that teachers can do sometimes.

As my favourite teacher used to say 'C make Degrees'.

But with the whole doing what you are told getting Cs? I can understand it. Just go for As by going 'Above and Beyond'. Then again, I got bored of high school and left by the end of the last year.

 

[KiloFox]

well then by this logic, a C should also be a 50% score... as that is the average between 0 and 100%... yet it's not... at minimum a C is a 70% score. hell i've seen it as high as 80%

 

[Desaari]

In my school, completing your work to a satisfactory level was worth a C grade.

When I went to college, I found out the hard way that the same level of work resulted in an E grade.

Be content with what you have.

 

[kayisking]

Sounds pretty standard to me to be perfectly honest.

 

[Jegsimmons]

sounds reasonable to me. Go for the gusto and be above average instead of bullshit bare minimum. What people think that just doing the work makes them entitled to a good grade? Puh-lease.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Looks like this is the general thought, but a "C" is supposed to be average. Depending on how the teacher sets up their class, doing only the minimum that you have to should only grant you a "C". Above that should require effort unless you already have a large amount of skill and knowledge in the area.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Nope. I disagree with that. Going above and beyond the requirement is extra credit. You shouldn't lose points for not doing things that the teacher didn't ask you to do.

In an essay paper, this is a little bit more up for grabs. But besides that, I very much disagree.