Easy instructors vs. difficult instructors

[tfleuter]

I'm having a mini pity party here, so bear with me

I'm in my last weeks of microbiology, and all I can say is I'm glad it will be over soon! The class has been difficult to say the least. I knew this would be a hard course, so referred to ratemyprofessor.com to see which instructor I should take it from. There were only 2 instructors who taught the class and both recieved bad ratings. So I picked the professor who had (slightly) better comments and prepared myself for a busy semester.

Flashforward and I currently have a B+; still hoping to raise it to an A. About half the class is either failing or on the verge of failing, but still a few who have A's. So anyways, I'm feeling pretty good about the situation until I hear from another student that there was a 3rd instructor added right before the semester started and supposively has a very easy class. He only tests students on what he lectures and most are doing really well in the class; few are failing.

Now, I know I shouldn't let it bother me since there's nothing I can do about it. I tell myself that I will benefit in the end b/c we have been forced to know the material more in depth and not just spew out memorized info from an overhead. Truth is, I have no idea if that is true. Maybe the other teacher is more efficient and knows how to convey the same info in half as many words/questions than the one I have. Either way doesn't matter. In the end the transcripts will be the only thing other schools care about. All I can do is keep studying and working for that A. But I can't help wishing I had taken the course from the "easy" instructor and gotten more sleep these past several months.

[HyperSaurus, RN, BSN]

Or, they may be more clear in their expectations than 'hard' professors. My easiest professors aren't easy because the material is uncomplicated, it's because they have a clear and organized teaching manner. They don't play games or powerplays. some people do fail their classes, but their classes are designed that if you study and put the work into it, you will

have a better understanding and do reasonably well.

[PrettyPrisonNurse31]

Just stay Prayed Up kiddo.

[happilymarried]

You will be very surprised how much information you will use in ns from your pre-req's. Getting an easy instructor now will leave you sitting in the dark when your ns instructor brushes past something that you should have learned in A&P or micro. Keep your chin up, you are getting through it and hopefully you will never find yourself in the dark in ns!

[GeneralJinjur]

Getting an easy instructor now will leave you sitting in the dark when your ns instructor brushes past something that you should have learned in A&P or micro.

I have seen this several times in my first semester. Having an easy prereq teacher does you no favors (and I am so glad mine were tough). I think you'll be happy to see how much you retain when you start nursing courses.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I wouldn't be inclined to take the easier route. I want a fair instructor that cares about his students and is welling to help if the student comes to them. Other then that if the class is harder then he is making me earn my grade and I am ok with that, I will be better in the end because of it.

I don't pay much to that ratemyprofessor site. I saw it on here the other day so I went to check out past teachers I had that were VERY GOOD teachers. Their class was tough but the teachers were good. they had a lot of praise but also so many complaints from people that totally bashed them because the class was hard. I know from experience that those teachers were always willing to help and tutor so obviously a student didn't take that and decided to flame the teacher instead. Very jaded reviews.

Had another teacher that was super nice and made his class really easy. Well looking on the site most said how great and nice the teacher was, others said yes he was very nice but because his class was so easy it bit them in the butt later. I am seeing that with my class I am taking now, they keep refrensing stuff we should have had in the class prior and I don't remember ever going over it. I wish he would have been harder so I would have learned more.

Anyway, your still doing good and quite a few of the things your learning in Micro will come back to help in Pathophysiology. Make sure you understand the immune responses well, the autoimmune, Hypersensitivties, inflammation and HIV. If you have a good grasp on those, it will be nothing more then resfresher in patho.