changing the rules one week before finals (long)?!!!!

[JoeyDog]

Hey all,

I just need to vent. Here goes...-deep breath-. I am taking intro to biology as a pre req for A & P. We have one week before the final, and two instructional classes left between now and then. In the course syllabus my teacher stated that if you have > 90% you can opt out of the final exam, and your lowest test will be dropped. She never put in the old I reserve the right to change the syllabus at any time stuff. She just said I reserve the right to change the schedule. I have > 90% and so does most of the class.

Okay so Monday evening she asked to see a show of hands as to how many people would not be taking the final. I'll be honest it was a large portion of the class. Then she started freaking out and saying stuff like "oh no" "no way thats over half the class", yada, yada, yada. So she said to opt out of the final you have to have a 100% average. Then she realized that the lowest test would be dropped and that the average didn't really matter. She said well, I have to follow my syllabus. So we all breathed a sigh of relief and went on with lecture.

I need to add that our final will be somewhat comprehensive (her words) and it will also cover eight chapters of new info. We have two classes to cover five of those eight chapters, and the info is pretty heavy duty, not fluffy stuff. She is going to have to rush through most of it. :trout:

-looong sigh- so this evening I received an email from my teacher that stated that she has noticed alot of people are coming to class having not read the chapters. She said she thinks this is b/c so many people think they don't have to take the final and can just sail through the rest of the class. BTW my stomach sank when I read that . She said she has offered too many bonus questions on other exams and that has skewed the grades in the class. She also said it was a mistake for her to offer the option of opting out of the final in any way shape or form. Be it by your average, or by dropping the lowest test (I want to say that her tests are crazy hard and her bonus questions were even harder). She went on to say that everyone will now have to take the final exam. :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

I am soooo angry b/c I have not been studying for the final at all. I have been skimming though the chapters but that is it.

I am also mad b/c in her email she made it sound like my grade (and those of my peers) was given to me by her through bonus questions and that I didn't earn it. I studied so hard for those exams and the few bonus questions on them is not why I have the grade I do. I worked very hard for my grade b/c I know nursing school is very competitive. I came to lab and class well prepared and studied the material in depth. I feel like she is punishing those of us who are excelling academically. Also ther are only 340 points available in the class so it's not like ther are tons of points just lying around, every point counts b/c there are so few.

I am so sad right now, I know that taking the final is gonna bring my grade waaayyy down. I emailed the dean of sciences and cited a few rules from the student handbook that say students are protected form arbitrary academic evaluation and such....but I dunno. His assistant said someone would be contacting me soon.

It just seems wrong for her to change something that major with only two classes left before the final. I have never ever had an instructor do that before. I have no idea why she didn't do this after our first exam in the beginning of the quater. To be honest I wouldn't have been mad then but waiting until the end of the quarter seems ridiculos (sp?) and very unprofessional. I am not trying to dodge work or anything it's just that these were the guidlines she provided to us over a month ago. I have no problem taking a final when I know from day one that I will be taking it.

This bio class is a factored admission pre req at 99% of the schools I plan on applying to so it is important that I get a good grade.

I have always thought of the course syllabus as a sort of contract between the instructor and myself. It tells me what to expect from them and conversely what they expect from me.

So my questions are, has this ever happend to any of you? If so what recourse did you have? Do you think I am right to be angry? Do you think she has the right to change the rules (esp. when she never said that things could potentially be changed) with only two classes left before a humongus final exam???? Am I just being a baby about this? I just needed to vent and get some support/feedback. Thanks all, your comments will be read and appreciated.

~JD

[shock-me-sane]

yikes! that sucks.

i don't have any wonderful words for you, but i wish you luck on the final as i doubt anything will be resolved before.

[LoriAlabamaRN]

That's awful. My A&P teacher played a nasty trick on us too. A couple of weeks before midterm, she told the class that she had the opportunity to go on a paid-for cruise for a week, and that if we would study the assigned chapters at home and take two pop quizzes off the website instead of going to class, then she would let us do the midterm off the internet also (which basically meant open-book since we would take it at home). Of course we all agreed. I spent the next two weeks making index cards with different facts, summaries, etc and taping them all around my monitor, hightlighted sections of text like crazy, all sorts of stuff to prepare. Then, the DAY BEFORE the midterm, after she got back from the cruise, she emailed us that she had changed her mind and we would have to come to class and take the midterm. :angryfire We were all furious, and went to the dean, but it did no good. We all did very poorly on the exam because we had all been preparing for an open book exam.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

It just seems wrong for her to change something that major with only two classes left before the final.

Yes.

I have never ever had an instructor do that before.

I have.. I had one Biology Professor add two exams and a quiz a few weeks before the end of the Semester. I have also had one Biology Professor change the points a month after the Semester started because the Professor realized her points made the curve too top heavy. However, as with your situation, there was no way to do well in the class without studying very very very hard for the exams.

I have always thought of the course syllabus as a sort of contract between the instructor and myself. It tells me what to expect from them and conversely what they expect from me.

Yes, this is why I do not change mine even if I make an error in judgment until the following semester unless the entire class is in agreement. This can burn students as well as help them...

So my questions are, has this ever happened to any of you? If so what recourse did you have? Do you think I am right to be angry? Do you think she has the right to change the rules (esp. when she never said that things could potentially be changed) with only two classes left before a humongus final exam???? Am I just being a baby about this? I just needed to vent and get some support/feedback. Thanks all, your comments will be read and appreciated.

~JD

Well, I answered most of these in a way... in any case, you have the recourse you choose by contacting the Dean. However, in my experience, Deans support teaching faculty. Especially in the case where an error in judgment will harm proper evaluation of student knowledge. Thus, the error may not be in your favor...

In fact, most Deans do not want to see students get out of finals in science courses. So, my guess is you have to take the final despite what her syllabus says. In addition, most Deans of the sciences, math, and technical courses do not like to see a lot of As! They assume they were not earned if there are more As then other grades. So, again, I do not think you will win this one.

Your Professor is under pressure too because he/she has to ensure that you and the class meet the standards of the division and that he/she can prove that those standards were met. And even if he/she made an error initially stating that the class did not have to take the final, this is his/her opportunity to fix the error before grades are posted. So I doubt the Dean will support you and the class. If the Dean does allow the students out of the Finals, be sure to post. Again, I have not seen this happen so good luck.

[BeccaznRN, RN]

I have never had anything like this happen in any of my courses, thank goodness. Instructors would only change syllabi in extreme circumstances, and even then changes would be announced WAY in advance and usually ended up favoring the students. I have had several courses where finals were optional and instructors NEVER backed down from this. It sounds like she wants the class to do poorly on the final so it will bring down a class average she considers too high, thus covering her own you-know-what.

It's just a bad situation all around. Get all the students involved that you can so you will have a stronger voice when contacting school officials regarding this. Best of luck to you and your entire class. How awful.