week one not so great

[Tinuviel]

ok here it is...my chanting, ranting, venting, renting rave.

Does anyone else have this prob with their school? Picture this..you sign up for all the classes you need...you meticulously pick out just the right ones to fit your schedule, and if by chance you get one of the legendary wonderful professors in your school, you get really excited. Your schedule is set, you know youre gonna have a great semester because BINGO you got 3 of those great professors!

First day of class ..and what walks in? A Mary Tyler Moore look a like who speaks in riddles and monotone voices, and decides you must have wonderful "pop quizzes" and "pop labs" but wont tell you whats going to be on the tests or WHEN. GRRRRRR. I totally hate it when the school switches professors on you and doesnt notify you. One of the reasons I signed up for those classes is because of certan instructors. Sometimes I think they just dont get it.

And pop quizzes in my opinion is totally high school BS. I feel you should know what the heck, and when the heck, and who the heck is going to be telling you all the what, when, where and why the hecks! They may as well say...just read the whole dang book and memorize it entirely, because we're not gonna tell you what you need to know, or when youll need to know it. And this is for A&P 1 mind you, a course which gives you 5 points for an "A" toward your entrance into the clinical portion of your RN program.

I feel doomed!

[LeesieBug]

I have to agree that pop quizzes at this level are silly. Hand me a syllabus with a printed schedule, so that I, as an ADULT, can wisely budget my time and juggle studying amongst the million and one other things in life that need to be done.

It's aggravating when they make changes and you don't get the expected instructor, but just go with the flow......not much you can do about it.

[BarbPick]

Originally posted by LeesieBug

I have to agree that pop quizzes at this level are silly. Hand me a syllabus with a printed schedule, so that I, as an ADULT, can wisely budget my time and juggle studying amongst the million and one other things in life that need to be done.

It's aggravating when they make changes and you don't get the expected instructor, but just go with the flow......not much you can do about it.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him THINK.

Pop quizes are also a hint of what the big exams are going to be like. Anatomy is the most failed nursing pre req. But Hey, you are an adult.

[LeesieBug]

Yes, I am an adult, thanks Barb.

And scheduled quizzes give students just as much of an idea of how they are doing as "pop" quizzes. I, in no way, think they are the devil, but I find them unnecessary at this level. At our University, we all seem to manage just fine without pop quizzes.

Some classes, gasp, don't have any quizzes or homework at all.

By the way, if you have to MAKE students think, they don't need to be there.

[llg, PhD, RN]

To quiz or not to quiz, that is the question faced by all schools and instructors.

If you do not give quizzes, then a more students will probably flunk the course because they did not keep up with the reading, missed lectures, etc. Now, you might think, "Well, that's their fault. Why should the rest of the students have to suffer to compensate for their immaturity?" That's true, but when a significant portion of the class is falling behind, it slows down the whole class as the instructor has to answer their questions, explain things in more detail, etc.

Then when those students do poorly on the final, they complain about how they didn't realize they were falling behind, the teacher didn't explains things clearly enough in class, etc.

Giving frequent quizzes (scheduled or not) gives the instructor an idea of the learning level of the students so that he/she can adjust the lectures accordingly. Students are forced to keep up and that helps the whole class move forward together. Those who don't keep up are identified early -- which gives the opportunity for intervention to help the student pass or to drop out of a course that is too difficult for them.

But ... frequent quizzes are unnecessary for the really good students and those students often find them frustrating and a bit insulting.

So ... either way she chooses, the instructor is going to be unpopular with a certain percentage of the students. This is one of those situations in which an instructor can't "win" no matter what she does. Some of the students will always be angry.

llg

[Tinuviel]

Well thanks to all that posted a response. The quiz thing is definately a good idea in this class, so much info, but so interesting. Had my first quiz and did very well. Also my instructor has decided to change her "pop" idea, at the request of several students, and its working out great. We have a new section of our syllabus, and I can balance my study time for A&P in relation to my other courses.

First test is Feb 4th, Im excited!

[flenoy]

Know it's tough Tinuviel, but better get use to it. It happens all the time. At my school sometimes there are two blocks sometimes one. They don't even post the instructors name most of the time until the first day of class.:kiss

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

I'm glad its going a bit better for you :)

Marilyn

[belladelicious]

pop quizzes are very "nursing school", not high school. Now that I'm in nursing school, I'm told I'll have a pop quiz every day basically. It actually helps, b/c w/o them, I would probably procrastinate, and never read until last minute...which would be horrible for me anyway. Good luck w/A&P though:)