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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Sucky Test Teacher Strikes Again

So, just got back the graded midterms in networking class (theoretical stuff), taught by the same teacher. Not surprisingly, it was disappointing. As before, this guy could teach a class on how not to write (and grade) tests. Among smaller gripes were two main things:

1. One question (in particular) was taken straight out of the book, and was fairly simple. What could go wrong? Well, giving the same answer to the problem as in the book got you a wrong answer on the test (and no, it wasn't an essay question where theoretically he could expect more detail).

2. Throughout the semester (there's one week left), whenever math was used, it was exclusively high-school-level math (basic algebra and such; there was one area under the curve problem, but as the "curve" was a line, it could be calculated with basic algebra). Neither the book, the lectures, nor any homework has gone beyond that. So, what does he do? He puts a calculus question on the test, and makes it worth 25% of the test (note that calculus is not a prerequisite for this class; I wonder if he could get in trouble with the dean for this).

Ultimately, Q got (like always, although it's always hard to believe in classes with this teacher) an A on the test. I don't know what the exact ranges for grades are, but I talked to one person who got an A- for 58%, and rumor has it that one person got a C for 18%.

Which brings me back to what I said in the previous post about this guy: CURVING THE SCORE DOES NOT MAKE UP FOR A HORRIBLE TEST.

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