Thursday, February 26, 2009
Angry Professor gets some voice mail.
Hello Angry Professor my name is Kaitlyn Waitlyn and I need to take your course next quarter because I need it to graduate and I don't have the prerequisites so I was wondering if you could possibly sign me in even though I don't have the prerequisites because I did take the class last quarter but I failed see, well, because I work and I'm a mom and I thought I could just read the book and learn it on my own but, well, that didn't work so well I guess but I'm a really hard worker so I know I could do it this time but they won't let me register without the prerequisites so I need to get your signature so could you please call me back right away my number is 123-555-1234 and wow! I'm sorry for leaving such a long message but I really hope you can help me thanks! (Click.)
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19 comments:
what the hell is with this "i can sit home with the book and learn it on my own" thing? I skipped a lot of class as an undergrad but even I knew I was going to have to pump some unsuspecting classmate for what went on in there.
So she failed it last time, but doesn't seem to pick up on the fact that this could be the fact that she didn't take the pre-req's? Perhaps she just doesn't know what the word prerequisite means?
I had a student recently email me asking if I thought she should take my class because she was thinking she could just "read the book on her own." My response was polite yet pointed out the fallacy of this line of thinking. She showed up to the first three days of class and then stopped coming. I guess she decided she could "read the book."
Actually, and unfortunately, I suspect she failed the prerequisite class last semester, and is now hoping for the exception.
> what the hell is with this "i can sit home with the book and learn it on my own" thing?
It can work - sometimes. For example, when studying for an engineering degree, but the power-that-be decided you only become an engineer if you also had a course in how-to-fake-numbers-with-Excel, medieval-shoelace-tying-techniques, how-to-nicely-arrange-flowers, or, the worst of the worst, business administration.
I'm so jealous that your registration system enforces prerequisites.
That's right up there with, "I know I haven't attended class or done any of the papers/homeworks, but I've been following the readings on the syllabus -- can I sit the exam?"
>That's right up there with, "I know I haven't attended class or done any of the papers/homeworks, but I've been following the readings on the syllabus -- can I sit the exam?"
I would always say, "Sure!" to this one. I'm not even going to notice one more exam to grade in the size stack I have to do. They'll fail, and it won't be my fault. Or they won't fail, and more power to them if they can get a passing grade that way, they probably really didn't need to be in class!
I had a student ask me my opinion on a clever plan he'd just worked out. He had a chance at an internship that would start in a few weeks, and he wanted to know if that could be used as a class -- to count for _this_ semester, which started in January -- so he could graduate in May.
I pointed out that it was after the drop/add point of the term, and he was already taking 6 classes -- seven was not something his advisor would recommend or permit.
Then he asked if he could do the work now and then just take credit for it over the summer. Whether or not _that's_ possible, it would mean he was ignoring our best advice on how much work he could do _well_ at one time....
[sigh]
Sorry about your over-eager/underqualified student, Angry. I had to ask one to leave my graduate class this term because he wasn't remotely ready _and_ his advisor hadn't bothered to check what Topics course the student had selected before signing the forms...
On the positive side, if you let her take the class that'll be one student for whom grading will be very easy.
Exam Grades= 0%
Written Assignments= 0%
Final Grade= F
The last big test I had the answers came directly into my ears from hearing the Professor in class. I don't think even one came from the books. Thank God I refused to take any couses that would allow me to teach but I thank all of you for being able to do it.
With sentences like that she's either the next Jonathan Franzen or she's failing her English classes also.
LORD, I hate it when students like this one call or come by the office. [sigh] And I'm also tired of students asking for special favors just because they're parents. UGH.
@Miss Kitty
I know it is not PC, and maybe a firing offense, but wouldn't the right answer to this "but I am a parent" be along the following line:
"Make sure it does not happen again. Here is your favor!" - and handing over some condoms with that.
Oh, come on, all you posters! Didn't you ever blow off a semester's worth of lectures and read the text the night before the exam? And later go on to a prodigious career in academia? I skipped >90% of the lectures for two courses as an undergrad. I still remember the guilty thrill of it - a lot like blowing off a faculty meeting.
I suspect good students do this all the time. They are just too smart to tell the prof about it.
Ah, yes, failure to comprehend the concept of prerequisites. I've had to deal that in the past. (See blog, although my biggest problem teaching physics is with students who think they only need a passing grade, rather than a passing knowledge, of math.) If Stu Dent's experience from HS is that ze only needs to "take" classes (because you retain nothing whether you pass it or not), it is no surprise that Stu thinks a pre-req is just a formality.
The other part of the phone message is more of an explanation than an excuse for not learning the material in the previous class. The explanation of why Stu couldn't learn the material needed to prepare for the next class, despite being a "hard worker", is also an explanation of why Stu will fail a class that requires still knowing all that while learning all of the new material.
Now, what are the odds that yours is actually the only class Stu needs to graduate?
I did that once. A roommate was taking a class and complaining about how difficult it was. I took a look at her book and after reading a few chapters, I discovered that it was a surprisingly interesting textbook. I finished the book and during finals, followed my roommate into the testing center and made a better grade than she did (too bad it didn't count). Sadly, if I had taken the test a semester later, I would have failed as my retention is very low unless I hear content and then write it down in my notes (I'm a obsessive note taker for this reason). I did eventually take this class on my own, and I'm glad I attended the lectures because there was so much more information available this way. And to this day, I remember a hell of a lot more from the class I attended then from the book I read.
My (largish public) university still has the quaint stipulation that a student may receive credit for a course by examination alone: they petition, are given an examination, and should they pass, receive credit. It's right there in the catalog. Fortunately, even the smart ones rarely read the catalog!
Not all prerequisites are really necessary, though, or even make much sense.
I'll give you an example. I was a chemistry major at Medium Sized Municipal College (not its real name). One of the prerequisites for Chem 57 (Biochemistry) was Chem 41 (Analytical Chemistry), but they only gave 57 in the fall and 41 in the spring, which would have meant an extra year in school for a lot of students, so they regularly waived that one, as long as you raised your right hand and solemnly promised to take 41 in the spring.
A better example: My last semester at Medium Sized Municipal College before transferring to the School of Pharmacy at Very Big State University (not its real name either), I had only 9 credits of required courses left to take, and had to stay above 12 or lose my financial aid. I decided to go outside my major and take Art 45.10, Photography 1: I'd always enjoyed photography and figured, here's a chance to learn how to do it right. When I tried to sign up for it, though, the Art department told me I needed to have already taken 2 courses in Drawing & Design and 1 course in Art History before they'd let me into the class.
I described my situation to them: transferring out to another school at the end of the semester, not needing this course for any part of my major or professional requirement, etc., and would they please waive the prerequisites? No, they wouldn't. I asked them if I could have permission to register as a visiting grad student and take the graduate version, Art 745.1, which is the same course but doesn't require those three prerequisites? No, I couldn't do that either. I even asked if I could take it through my own department as a Chemistry major; after all, there's as much chemistry as art going on in the darkroom. For some odd reason, that didn't fly either.
I signed up for the class anyway, and figured that I'd wait for them to throw me out. Paid the lab fee, took the course, and got an A. Not only didn't they throw me out, the professor even asked me to reprint one of my early shots for his private portfolio, of which fact I'm even more proud than of the A. Funny thing, I think I was about the only guy in the class who wanted to be there for what it offered, rather than being an art major who just needed one more elective, and I think the prof realised that. I brought in various cameras belonging to parents and grandparents, shot film in five different formats (which pretty much guaranteed there'd be one enlarger free for me at all times, as the ancient Omega D2 was set up for medium/large format and everyone else was doing 35mm), wangled permission from Public Safety to get into non-public areas like the steam tunnels and the bell tower to take pictures there, and generally had a blast.
What of the prerequisites? Well, if I ever graduate from Medium Sized Municipal College, which having already gotten my degree from Very Big State U I'm not likely to do, they'll take the credit away from me at senior check. Meanwhile, Very Big State U doesn't have the same requirements, so they let me keep the A.
On the other hand, I really wouldn't have wanted to be in Organic 2 without having taken Organic 1, or Biochem without Organic 2. In cases where the course is the logical continuation of a previous course, or builds on information taught there, they are sensible and necessary. Sometimes, though, as in the above case, they just seem arbitrary.
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