Just finished my 2nd semester and failed along with many others. There were many discrepancies in my program that are listed in my letter to the chairperson of the Nursing department. Since our professors set us up for failure through BS education and lies I decided to throw them both under the bus. Do we stand a chance for our grade to be appealed? Most of us are 1-4 points within a passing grade. Those that did pass were just over that line. Professor X is notorious for listed reasons around our program (even those who have not had her as a professor) and outside of the school from nurses we have run into on clinical sites. And Professor Y lied to us to hurt our grades. 12 students agreed to allow me to CC them to state the facts are true, 3 students BCC’d, and a few others to remain anonymous. Thoughts?
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Professor E (chairperson),
I recently finished the 2nd semester (Maternity and Psychiatric Nursing Care - Nur 212) and have some deep concerns about the fairness of the program. I, and the students CC’d in this email* (as well as additional unnamed students who fear retaliation if they participate) feel it is important to raise certain concerns for the sake of our careers, our experience in (school name here), and the experience of future students. Included in this group are students who passed the course, as well as students who did not pass. All of us have the same concerns regardless of the outcome of our grades.
Overall, we believe that the class was not set up to allow students to succeed in a meaningful way due to the way the coursework was presented, taught, and tested. In addition, we don’t feel that we have been prepared to pass the course exams, as the course strategy was often “off-book,” non-linear, and often incomprehensible. This was not the experience of other students who were taught by other professors, as we learned after speaking with evening class students who do not report experiencing the same level of challenge with their professor. Additionally, to our knowledge, they had a much higher pass-rate than our class. We would thus request your review of the following points:
- We were underprepared and immediately behind the curve at the beginning of the semester because we were told we would be given an intense reading assignment over the Summer of 2021 that would prepare us for the Maternal and Newborn Nursing course. This reading was never distributed to the class.
- Professor X’ exams were on an advanced level of Nursing that was unrealistic, considering both our current level of critical knowledge and the mandatory (and expensive) prep material we purchased, which inadequately prepared us to pass these exams regardless of the time and effort spent in study.
- Professor X taught on the assumption that we were already educated in certain areas of Fundamentals of Nursing--information that we had never learned in the previous semester.
- Professor X stated she disagreed with the material in the required textbook. As dense as our coursework already is, this only made the experience more confusing, forced us to pursue further research for information she considered accurate, and unnecessarily complicated our curriculum.
- Professor X was either late to respond to student emails, or they were ignored. Personally, I asked for help on study strategy for success on the final exam 9 days in advance, and received a reply 48 hours before finals—far too late to be of any help.
- Professor Y, prior to her exams, inaccurately told us that we should focus on medication classes--not medication names. In fact, we were questioned on the exam for medication names. This cost us further points and significantly impacted our grade in the course. Upon confrontation with this discrepancy, Professor Y agreed that she had given us a false study tip, but was unwilling to remediate the situation, either by allowing us to retake the exam or to remediate that particular grade.
• - Prior to the final exam, Professor Y downplayed the difficulty of her exam, stating that her portion was ‘mild’ and that she recycles her questions from previous exams. Upon sitting for the test, we found it to be challenging and that the basic review of former material and questions that we had done in preparation left us unprepared. A far more in- depth focus on the material would have been required in order to successfully pass the test.
In sum, we believe your review of the course and our grades is in order. We invite you to have a conversation with us to discuss this experience, and to figure out the best way to move forward in a fair and equitable way. We strongly believe that many students who did not pass this course have fairly earned the right to move on to their next semester without repeating this set of classes – especially given the high costs (finances, time, personal sacrifice) associated with taking the class again.
Considering this experience, you can understand how dispirited many of us are—some even to the point of rethinking their future in this school, if not this career. Given that we were only allowed two on-site clinical experiences due to the pandemic, we also believe that consideration should be made for the lack of on-site educational benefits of an applied science.
We are eager to hear your thoughts on these matters. Please let us know your
availability to speak with us as a group. Since the next semester begins on January 28th, and we must have our plans in order well before then, we would appreciate an honest reply as soon as possible.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We would not have come forward if we didn’t truly believe we had a case.
Best regards,
My Name | Phone Number
*Please note: CC’d students have given me permission to include them in this letter with agreeance that the follow facts stated are true.
The students who post reviews there are not a representative sample. In a disproportionate number of cases, they are dissatisfied with the grade they got and using this as a recourse.
Anonymous ratings are not generally accurate. So you are saying having an N >19 would be a sufficient, nonbiased, accurate sample (independent of any other variables)? Students may be using this kind of forum as an outlet for not receiving the grade they felt they deserved. In addition, having a rating of 'attractiveness' integrated in the survey really defeats the purpose of a true academic rating. When you took statistics and learned about validity and reliability you would have learned about how a survey tool can be biased, intentionally or not intentionally without any control group etc.. I would recommend the OP NOT use something like RMP as a factor in his argument for his final grade.
Actually no, I do not agree and yeah I checked my ratings which were good but they can be biased and they are not considered reliable.
Sorry but they are reliable. If a professor has 20 ratings and they have below average ratings, there is a reason.
No, they are not. On the rare occasion I would visit one of the rate my professor sites, it was obvious that the reviews were written by students with an axe to grind.
Please tell me you were kidding when you wrote this.
54 minutes ago, londonflo said:
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... In addition, having a rating of 'attractiveness' integrated in the survey really defeats the purpose of a true academic rating. ...
[...]
Not at all, if there were multiple options, I certainly based which professor I chose on this metric alone.
54 minutes ago, londonflo said:
[...]
BTW where is the OP?.
He or she came, stirred the pot, and like Elvis, has apparently moved on.
Perhaps if there is an internal review of the professor/s at the school....like the annual survey results which you may have to find a way to access could be a good thing as well...but rate my professors can be useful.
No, they are not. On the rare occasion I would visit one of the rate my professor sites, it was obvious that the reviews were written by students with an axe to grind.
if you look at the whole, as I said, 20 ratings with below average comments and ratings, there is a truth in it. Who wants subpar instructors?
This is called 'teaching'. If you want 'linear' read your textbook.
And then you expected for the professor to teach you fundamentals? Once again refer to your previous notes, textbooks, lectures.
Fundamentals is so basic my husband (a CPA) passed one of my tests. Basic knowledge and common sense.
This course was OB/Psych. I taught oncology for many years....I had students who had no idea of the stages of human cell cycle....I didn't have any time to 'teach' that.
I think you are finding wide holes in the program....Why continue on if this is your experience? Move on!
Pharmacology is part of ALL nursing programs LPN, Diploma, ADN, BSN. Do you want to be a nurse that does not give medications? That is called a CNA.
Learning pharmacology (drug) categories is considered the most optimal way to learn. Learn the suffixes...a 'cillin' is part of the penicillin category.. like 'ampicillin'. I think you do not understand that in your professional life you will encounter many old/new drugs you don't know but will need to infer some rationale for their use.
You: Doctor: are you going to order something for their anxiety?
MD: I ordered lorazepam
You: I mean ...for their anxiety, I was thinking Xanax
If you have any substance to your argument you need the statistics.
You know what I have found in 40+ years of education? Students will support their fellow students failing saying "h/s is not fair" "poor you. I am glad I studied the right things etc" "Fight this!""
I have had students have heated arguments in the classroom over "political views" and then hug at graduation.
So when the course turned to psych, some students could turn their grade around? and you couldn't?
BTW most schools only have at the most 2 days in OB
So the most test questions you had was 73 (plus 1-3 percentage or real number points)? You actually only had at the most 3 tests? Over a semester???
Did you have a program like ATI that you were able to use? I think you mentioned it earlier but I can't remember if this was in your previous post but these same arguments pop up on AN predictably in December and May of every year.
I sound harsh but I am explaining what you are up against in your arguments.
Sounds like this isn't the school for you. look elsewhere...find a better fit. Please respond whether this is a for-profit or community college.
Sorry but they are reliable. If a professor has 20 ratings and they have below average ratings, there is a reason.
Right now, some of my classmates are still blaming our professor for underperforming in their ATI exam. Their grades are high in didactic but barely made it to Level 1. Some of us are very happy who got Level 3. I was afraid to click that "Submit" button. It was a lot of thinking. I almost fell off my chair. I rubbed my eyes a few times. I couldn't believe I got Level 3.
Not dealing with this until after the end of the semester is a HUGE mistake! If you had addressed it at mid-semester, administration could have tried to steer the professor toward a more effective path. Waiting until the end, you are now putting the college in a bad position, where their options are WAY more limited.
if you look at the whole, as I said, 20 ratings with below average comments and ratings, there is a truth in it. Who wants subpar instructors?
Again, most people who go to these ratings to post are angry.
If I'm happy with a product or service, I usually don't go to the corporate website and post, I go about my happy little way. I only do so if it's amazing and life changing. But if I'm not satisfied, heaven forbid that I find the website. The 4 corners of the earth will know my displeasure. That's how most of those sites work. So, in the scheme of things, the possible thousands of students that this professor has taught, 20 or so is miniscule at best
I feel that everyone....no matter how small the number of people.....whose opinions should be looked into seriously. As he/she or they did not get the support needed when problems occured. They in my opinion offer the true picture of what the teacher is like. Others may have just done things to pass by, and are glad it is over and done with. But they are others who really care for how they are taught and are more serious about their education and truly want to learn. So no one's opinion should be discounted.
summertx
186 Posts
Sorry but they are reliable. If a professor has 20 ratings and they have below average ratings, there is a reason.