Horrible Professor!

[phoenixnim]

I was curious if anyone else has dealt with this and what you did about it?

I just finished my Chem pre-req with the worst and hardest teacher. He never actually "taught" anything. Just threw a bunch of notes on the board. Things we did not learn and that were not part of our lectures, labs etc consistently showed up on our exams.

More than half of my class actually signed a petition to the Dean of Sciences at my school (and it would have been more of the class had I had enough time to talk to more people). And the only response we got was that she would discuss it with him.

It is incredibly frustrating that I studied my butt off and I had an A- the whole semester until the last two tests where more questions showed up that were not part of our curriculum, equalling an entire grade difference. I'm pretty sure I will end with a B or B+ average for the class. Which I would happily accept if it was my fault for not knowing the material.

But given that my entire class of 30 students all got the same 3 questions wrong on the last test, and we all met after our final and agreed on several questions on that test that we never saw before... that has to say more about the teacher, not us, I would think.

We've all gone to tutoring, and honestly that is the only way I have the grades I do. But there really is no way to prepare for a test that consistently has trick and new questions that were not part of the curriculum on it.

My program does accept a B, but it's the principle. Anyone ever have something like this happen to them?

[l33tnewb11]

Wow, l33tnewb11, you really seem to just know everything and nothing all at the same time, don't you?

FYI: The class was Chemistry of Life, which consisted of three portions, Gen Chem, O-Chem, & Bio-Chem. This is listed as a pre-req for the nursing program I am working to get into. I only needed Algebra prior to taking this class.

I'm really confused as to why you are even posting on this thread...

I mostly know nothing, but ill be the first to admit it.

[phoenixnim]

Well, I think the dean came through for my class!!!!! Final grades were posted this morning, and my ending grade for the Combo Chem course was an A- !!!!! The other class mates I have talked to have all gotten a grade higher than they think they were going to. I have to assume we either all aced the final or the dean got us those points for the unfair questions on the test.

Point is, yes, we are students and we have a great responsibility to perform and apply ourselves. But we are ALSO consumers and we should be holding the teachers to a certain expectation as well. We have voices, and when enough of them band together, we CAN make a difference.

This goes for anything, not just unfair tests or whatever. There are so many terrible practices in this world, and I think it's vitally important for people to speak up, rather than just look the other way.

The highest grade I ever got in a science in high school is a C. So I'm so esctatic right now. I worked soooo hard this semester, and now I finally feel like I can do this. This was my first science pre-req and I have been terrified if I could make it or not.

[16mm]

Glad you got the grade you deserved OP! What a roller coaster ride!

[psullivan95]

Look at it this way... you had to work harder to earn a good grade. I took statistics and the professor was a great mathematician but admittedly not a statistician. She would roll her eyes when someone asked for clarification and talk to us like we were idiots. I ended up with an A- which killed my 4.0... but you know what? I had to teach myself statistics and I earned every bit of that A- with no help from her. So be proud of that grade.

[Stephalump]

Ah, I think everyone has at least one of those. That teacher who you never forget...and not in a good way. I have a bright and shiny "C" on my transcript from a fun semester with the micro professor from hades. And that "C" was the second highest grade in the class.

Just as an example of the crap she pulled...she tested us off of the book AND her powepoints. The final test both cumulative and an exam over the last section. She "forgot" to post her powerpoints before class and never got around to it. I waited and waited and emailed so I could study them for the final, and then missed half of the questions and barely passed the class. No apology and our letter to the dean did nothing.

Anyway, it stinks and it isn't fair, because you're transcript doesn't explain anything to the person reading it. But that's life, I guess. Full of frustrating experiences with people who's incompetence affects not just them, but you. I promise your path wouldn't have been altered by that "b" if it would have stuck :)

[dt70]

I use ratemyprofessor_com to select my classes.

I am new to the school and know no one.

How else am I to decide which class to take?

[amberella123]

My ap1 teach was the same way! Almost didn't make an A! i was so mad and frustrated the entire semester. glad its over. School did little to nothing about the teacher as well.

[friendlyjane]

I never sign up for classes with professors that are to be announced. That is a bad sign. Also, I know it may miss the mark sometimes but the website rate my professor has been very helpful. I know students can give a bad rating to a good professor when really the student is at fault, but if the professor is really bad they usually get slammed by everyone rating them. Another thing i do is that I talk to people that sit around me before class and usually sometime during the semester I start to ask about the classes I plan to take the next semester and they give me the names of the awesome professors. I know sometimes it can't be helped due to scheduling and life. Good luck everyone and I hope everyone can avoid the bad professors. They can just ruin a whole semester.