Posted for the new page:

Quote :

"Well, to say the last exam before the final was terrible grade wise is an understatement. I seem to remember mine being in the high 60s low 70s and feeling fortunate as there were teens, 20s, 30s and 40s all over the place. I don't know what ole Matt got, but it was bad enough that he stood face to face arguinng with the guy at the front of the room after the tests had been handed out (and other people were waiting) and had his voice go progressively higher as the marine told him essentially that he was a little bitch and was more or less at the point of tears. I remember him stomping out of the room like a spoiled brat mumbling he was going to talk to the dean or something and the marine was like "do I give a fuck?"."

Ugh. I can't believe I am directly addressing this after years of ignoring you, but I've finally gotten tired of your bullshit. I happen to still have that test. In fact, I have all the tests from that semester and I've decided to finally put the lie to your story.



That's a 97/100 grade for a test in which you yourself said that everyone else made 20s-40s. You tell me if that's something to cry about. In fact, I don't have any idea what you are talking about, which is why I've tried to avoid directly responding to you about it - I have a feeling I've just been epic-trolled.

Oh well, if so, gg. You actually made me spend an hour searching through my old school stuff and scanning this in. Its a good troll to get someone to just type a reply, but you actually reached into my life and made me DO STUFF... You deserve the annual TWW troll award for that.

5/2/2009 11:21:01 AM

Quote :

"the ex Marine we had for a professor was actually a brilliant lecturer compared to H. Ozturks first year teaching linear "

She got better? I had her in 2000 and ended up throwing away my notebook because a good 30% of her examples she worked up in class were flat out wrong. My grades skyrocketed when I stopped going to her class and only reading the book. I think she was so focused on co-authoring her book "Women and Gender in Science and Technology" that her other classes went to shit.

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 11:34 AM. Reason : everything Ozturk fucked up, Alexander seemed to sum up in two lectures in 402.]

5/2/2009 11:32:11 AM

I still believe Fail Boat's version.

5/2/2009 12:18:11 PM

Things that incredibly piss me off about other college kids in my class:

1) guy raises his hand on the first day, "Is there a curve in this class?"

2) guy raises his hand before the first exam, "Is there a study guide for the exam/ practice exams we can have?"

3) professor just finishes explaining what x is, guy raises his hand with the general question, "What is x?"

The list goes on and on and on. Sometimes I wonder how people are raised without ever learning to accept what they EARN. It's because of stuff like this I don't even bother going to class half the time.

5/2/2009 12:35:25 PM

Why would it annoy you if someone asked for a study guide? Seems like a reasonable request to me. Not that the student is owed one by any means, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 2:34 PM. Reason : s]

5/2/2009 2:33:42 PM

In my Ecology class this semester, there are like 130 people and they bitched so bad about the class all semester about the hardness of the tests and what not, that they got a meeting with the head of the Bio department. All that came of the meeting was the fact that we got to make a 3x5 card with cheats on it for the final. Then people bitched so hard about the mandatory attendance that the instructor gave in and dropped 4 participation grades instead of 2. So, whininess is annoying but it ended up helping my grade as well because I hated going to the class and skipped it a bunch. Overall, I do think that these kids should work harder before they start whining. It's really annoying to hear people bitch about cumulative finals and whatnot. Of course none of it compares to the whining of community college students.

5/2/2009 3:00:30 PM

Quote :

"Of course none of it compares to the whining of community college students."

Never went to community college but I always had this image of them being too poor to be able to go to State but devoted enough to get a start there for transferring or resume reasons - I just thought they'd be more practical and hard working.

Guess people bitch and moan everywhere when something's expected of them.

5/2/2009 3:04:54 PM

Quote :

"That's a 97/100 grade for a test in which you yourself said that everyone else made 20s-40s. You tell me if that's something to cry about. In fact, I don't have any idea what you are talking about, which is why I've tried to avoid directly responding to you about it - I have a feeling I've just been epic-trolled."

Look, I don't remember all the details of that class other than the professor sucked and people got shitty grades. I do remember the grades on that last exam to be particularly bad. I am impressed that you still have it, but the fact that you do keep that shit is proof that you definitely put a ton of effort into studying and doing well in classes, else there would be no real reason to keep that shit.

However, you standing at the front of the room arguing with the professor most certainly happened. Your voice going higher and higher in pitch after he feigned little interest in what you had to say happened. You storming out of the room like a little bitch exclaiming you were going to the dean (or someone of authority) and him saying "I'm the professor, you're the student, what I say goes" (or something to that effect) most certainly happened. Shit like that, that makes you pause and think to yourself "did that just really happen? that really happened didn't it" doesn't tend to fade from your memory. If I cared a little bit more, I'd track my friend Robyn down to see if she remembers that event, as I am pretty sure it was her standing beside me as we stared in awe at the scene.

You also added more to the pile of ownage you did of yourself by revealing to everyone in here that you apparently were the biggest grade whore in ECE for crying (literally) over 3 points while the rest of your classmates were supporting some particularly atrocious grades. And the fact that you don't recall this incident at all most definitely implies it was probably the norm for you. I mean, I can understand being a bit perturbed at missing out on the perfect grade, and you probably thought you had a good case for those three points and you were probably pissed and felt like the marine fucked you because he was a jack ass (and he probably did), but goddamn man, have some fucking dignity. I only hope you've changed since then, but given the copious amounts of trolling you're pouring into this site recently, I can only suspect you haven't.

Quote :

"She got better? I had her in 2000 and ended up throwing away my notebook because a good 30% of her examples she worked up in class were flat out wrong. My grades skyrocketed when I stopped going to her class and only reading the book. I think she was so focused on co-authoring her book "Women and Gender in Science and Technology" that her other classes went to shit."

There is a good possibility we were in class together. I talked to a lot of folks that had her in the semesters after us and they loved her and got great gradeds in her class. And you're story sounds like everyone that had her at the time, they learned more by not going to class and just talking to the TA and working shit out with other students in Daniels.

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 3:06 PM. Reason : .]

5/2/2009 3:06:13 PM

Quote :

"Never went to community college but I always had this image of them being too poor to be able to go to State but devoted enough to get a start there for transferring or resume reasons - I just thought they'd be more practical and hard working. "

That definitely was not the case at the community college I went to. I'd say maybe 15 to 20% go on to transfer to four year schools. The majority are kids straight out of high school who have to stay in school so their parents will let them stay at home. They are, as a whole, not very motivated at all. I've known kids that have felt accomplished after finishing an associates degree in 5 years.

5/2/2009 3:11:00 PM

Quote :

"I ruined situations like this for a lot of my classes. I would be the only person to have scored 99-100 while everyone else scored in the 70s.... Professor would use my score as proof that the test was appropriate and everyone else was a slacker (which they usually were). It also meant that the curve was blown and their grade wouldn't get scaled."

Good job, you're smart. So is pretty much everyone else in ECE EBII the engineering oval.

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 3:21 PM. Reason : grammar]

5/2/2009 3:21:17 PM

^^^ oh yea, now i remember... I had tears streaming down my face and snot out my nose (literally). I even had to borrow the professor's handkerchief. I still have it to this day. I will scan that in for you, too! And not only did I stomp out, I fell to the floor and start kicking and screaming that I wanted those three points back!!!

Anyway.... I just wanted to set the record straight - I wasn't trying to argue with you, because its hard to argue about troll bait. But you go on and keep doin what u do best, baldie.

BTW, how's that job search going? ROFL

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 5:16 PM. Reason : s]

5/2/2009 4:49:56 PM

There's nothing wrong with messing up a curve. Hell, the problem with our grading system is that it is unrealistic and not reflective of the differing levels of mastery and effort in a subject area. Grade inflation has only gotten worse in recent years, and the concept of the grading scale where passing is 70% and above makes the system untenable. You're using only a small segment of the possible scale in grading.

In many other countries, they use a wider margin of the scale, and passing is assessed by meeting lower numerical standards, and only the absolute top level would get scores in the 80s and 90s. They should really revamp everything to reflect a normal distribution of intellect and ability (for the most part...I mean, lower level courses would often reflect a higher percentage of top scores, given the easier material).

You should have no more than 5-10 percent of your students scoring in the 80s or above. A standard for passing should be in the 60s.

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 4:54 PM. Reason : m]

5/2/2009 4:53:05 PM

Quote :

"You should have no more than 5-10 percent of your students scoring in the 80s or above. A standard for passing should be in the 60s."

I don't see how that really changes anything practically.

[Edited on May 2, 2009 at 5:22 PM. Reason : s]

5/2/2009 4:56:15 PM

Quote :

"Why would it annoy you if someone asked for a study guide?"

I guess I've always been under the impression that if there WAS a study guide, the professor would tell you up front. Also, it seems reasonable enough to me to assume that the material covered on the test will be the same as the material covered in the class... It annoys me a little

5/3/2009 9:32:10 PM

Quote :

"They absolutely do this, just ask Solinari if crying like a school girl that just got the news her puppy was run over worked to get his grade bumped up in ECE 305. I hadn't heard a male's voice get that high pitched since 6th grade when all the late bloomers started hitting puberty. He also had no problems doing this at the front of the room after class was over one day while everyone was sitting there gaping at the horror they were witnessing. Is it any wonder he spends 100% of his time while here trying to troll the user base with every single post he makes?"

if you're the same guy im thinking about (and if that's you in the picture), i remember you also pitching a tantrum in jim conrad's embedded systems class after we got our tests back. i can't remember exactly, but i think he would give a t-shirt to the person who had the highest score on the test, and you were a few points shy and were fussing up a storm trying to argue those few extra points. i remember sitting there listening because i was waiting for him to give me my t-shirt

you don't have to study hard to make good grades in ece at ncsu. i realized how much of a joke the department was after i attended another university.

also im impressed that you have all your tests scanned. all my ncsu shit is archived somewhere in my parent's house in cary

5/3/2009 10:48:22 PM

I knew it. If you can stand and argue like a spoiled little girl in the front of a group of soon to be engineering professionals then stomp out yelling you're going to the dean, and have no recollection of the event, it probably means its par for your course.

5/4/2009 8:31:39 AM

I like how your story has become more and more grandiose with each retelling. I can't wait until you add the part about me calling my mom crying to her about it while all the rest of you wait in line behind me

BTW, you never answered my question.... How's that job search going? Oh right, you're working for ChaCha now. That would explain how you have so much time to troll on here



[Edited on May 5, 2009 at 1:34 PM. Reason : s]

5/5/2009 1:32:21 PM

n/m

[Edited on May 5, 2009 at 1:35 PM. Reason : .]

5/5/2009 1:34:41 PM

I think I went to a professor with the intention of having a grade changed just once during college. Chem 201, I think. It was a test that I did okay on, but thought I deserved some partial credit on one of the open-ended problems. I said "look, I understand that I missed the XX part of the problem, but I think some of the other work here is worth a couple of points." He replied "Well, the XX part was kind of the point of the question, so you missed it on a fundamental level." I said okay and left.
Other than that, I don't remember ever complaining about grading. If I missed something and needed clarification, I sometimes went to the professor and asked for clarification with no complaining. If I messed up the question on the test, then I messed up the fucking question on the test. If someone else got it right, then it's just a matter of me being dumber than that person. If everyone missed it, then it's no biggie.

5/5/2009 1:51:00 PM

Hahah, Dr. Warren?

5/5/2009 1:51:46 PM

Quote :

"Do students really talk to professors and complain about the difficulty of the exams?"

i thought this was common practice

5/5/2009 1:54:06 PM

Never did it once.

5/5/2009 1:54:50 PM

Quote :

"Of course none of it compares to the whining of community college students."

I got a relatively meaningless 2-year degree from Durham Tech, and there has been way more whining from students here at State compared to students at DTCC. I guess the composition of people in my classes was more mature than what people have otherwise experienced.

I complained about a professor to the dean only one time, when she clearly didn't know anything about teaching biology. It was so bad that a group of students would get together after each test and re-grade them: she would fuck up the grading on at least 10% of the questions per test and deny that she did anything wrong.

5/5/2009 2:46:21 PM

I had H. Ozturk this Spring, I thought she was a great teacher. We were always ahead of the other section and regularly had to review so that we did not get too far ahead.

5/5/2009 3:13:23 PM

Yes, yes they do.

5/5/2009 3:16:15 PM

Quote :

"Hahah, Dr. Warren?"

Me?
It was either Neyhart (201) or Brown (101).

http://thewolfweb.com/school_instructor.aspx?department=CH&instructor=1955 - Brown
http://thewolfweb.com/school_instructor.aspx?department=CH&instructor=1960 - Neyhart

I was surprised when it happened, because he seemed like an incredibly nice guy (both were extremely nice/fun/good teachers). And he just totally smacked me down. Like boom. Oh well. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

5/5/2009 3:59:30 PM

Quote :

"I think I went to a professor with the intention of having a grade changed just once during college. Chem 201, I think. It was a test that I did okay on, but thought I deserved some partial credit on one of the open-ended problems. I said "look, I understand that I missed the XX part of the problem, but I think some of the other work here is worth a couple of points." He replied "Well, the XX part was kind of the point of the question, so you missed it on a fundamental level." I said okay and left."

My approach was always the opposite to yours. If I looked at the problem and could see that I had worked it out in the correct way, but had copied down an initial number wrong, I would go talk to the professor about it and usually got most of the points back. Other than that, unless the professor had actually missed where I had written down the correct answer, its just live and let live.

Usually, if you put in the effort to study it will all average out to good grades in the end. Some tests might be low scores but most of them will be high scoring.

[Edited on May 5, 2009 at 7:08 PM. Reason : s]

5/5/2009 7:07:09 PM

Quote :

"My approach was always the opposite to yours. If I looked at the problem and could see that I had worked it out in the correct way, but had copied down an initial number wrong, I would go talk to the professor about it and usually got most of the points back."

Sounds like you got the damn problem wrong. Suck it up and pay better attention next time. (retroactively speaking, of course)

5/5/2009 7:39:04 PM

haha, my professor sent out something similar today:

Quote :

" Students, I have received a few inquiries about extra credit so I thought I'd email everyone to clarify this issue. There are no more extra credit opportunities at this point in the semester. Grades will not be changed unless an error is found. Remember that extra credit has been built into the course from the beginning. Each test had 5 extra credit points on it, and you had the opportunity to earn another 3 points for perfect attendance, for a total of 23 possible extra credit points. To make more clear the effect this has had on your grade, I have added another column to the online grade sheet showing what your grade would have been without the extra credit. I hope this will clarify that you have already received a considerable amount of extra credit. There is no more. Please also note that grades in this course are based on total points as described on page 2 of the syllabus, not percentages. The percentage figures on the grade sheet are just there for your information. Hope that helps! Dr. XXXXXX -----Original Message----- Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 6:30 PM Dr. XXXXXX, Is there any way I can do a couple extra hours of Experimentrix or anything else to raise my grade by one point? I would be willing to do anything Dr. XXXXXX. Please let me prove that I am worthy of one point to you."

5/5/2009 8:17:46 PM

Quote :

"Sounds like you got the damn problem wrong. Suck it up and pay better attention next time. (retroactively speaking, of course)"

no way man. if the professor told me no-go, then i'd suck it up but if you have worked the problem properly and just made a typo on one of the numbers, you would have to be crazy to not ask them to review it. Most of the time, they're more than happy to give credit.... They're so crushed at grading time and/or a random TA is grading your papers so they typically just look to see if your boxed answer matches the answer key. If you can demonstrate that you did actually understand the concepts, then that's usually good enough for them. Also explains why you got smacked down so hard when you asked your professor to look at your mistake.

Anyway, I'm talking about engineering tests where there are 3-4 questions each worth 25-35 points. Maybe you are in a humanities curriculum where its not so bad to get a single question completely wrong.

[Edited on May 5, 2009 at 8:30 PM. Reason : s]

5/5/2009 8:27:01 PM

Quote :

"no way man. if the professor told me no-go, then i'd suck it up but if you have worked the problem properly and just made a typo on one of the numbers, you would have to be crazy to not ask them to review it. Most of the time, they're more than happy to give credit.... They're so crushed at grading time and/or a random TA is grading your papers so they typically just look to see if your boxed answer matches the answer key. If you can demonstrate that you did actually understand the concepts, then that's usually good enough for them. Also explains why you got smacked down so hard when you asked your professor to look at your mistake. Anyway, I'm talking about engineering tests where there are 3-4 questions each worth 25-35 points. Maybe you are in a humanities curriculum where its not so bad to get a single question completely wrong."

Check my info.

I've never had a TA or professor who merely checked answers. When I was a TA, I was very thorough in looking over every bit of work on every paper. All the fellow TAs in my office were very meticulous about their grading practices.
If you've really had TAs that are that damn incompetent, then I guess I feel sorry for you.

5/7/2009 12:44:19 AM