I'm starting to think that all Professors are nutcases (long)

[justme1972]

Believe it or not, this isn't about my psycho Chemistry professor.

I have a non-Masters level instructor (also adjunct faculty) for my Human Development Psychology course. By his own admission, he doesn't read the book, we have very interesting discussions about psychology in regards to current events during class...but cover the material? Never...we just don't do it. He tells us which chapters will be on the test and it's a crap shoot on what to study, and you have to figure it out.

He also, by his own admission, writes the test at the last minute, does his own questions, and doesn't use a test bank.

Ok...here is where "nutcase" fits the bill....he THEN WONDERS why students tend to score very low on his exams.

No one ever gets an A the first round....he has to give about 10 points worth of extra credit (general trivia) problems, and then usually has to curve about 10 more points so the person with the highest grade can at least have a 90....b/c that is as high as he will curve.

Our first exam, because I had never had this guy before, I got an 81, and after the extra credit questions, I got an 88...he didn't curve the test, so I got the highest grade. I didn't have any questions on this exam.

Our second exam, which I thought was very easy, I got an 81 on...and I was the ONLY student to get a B...so after the extra credit, curve, and he added 4 points b/c of two test question errors (which I caught in class), I had a 94. What is worse, is that when I first pointed out the errors, he was justifying the wrong answer, until other students told him the page in the book that proved he was incorrect.

I went back over the exam to find out why I missed so many...I won't bore anyone with the sorrid details, but I actually found 4 more errors...errors that were very clear that he wrote many of the test questions off the "bullet points" in the chapter, or the table of contents, but didn't bother reading anything else...if he had, he would have understood where I was coming from and that the answers he required, were impossible.

So, I sent him an e-mai...I STARTED the e-mail by saying, 'I am happy with my grade...this is NOT a formal appeal for additional points, to get test questions thrown out, etc...but I know you expressed concern over why students did so much worse on this one, and I wanted to know why I got an 81 when I walked away thinking the test was easy."

So, I listed the 4 questions, why I thought another answer was correct.

I ended the e-mail by saying, "I don't know if you agree with this or not, if not, it's ok...but as a student, this how I viewed the exam. Take care...see you next class, I'm really enjoying it so far."

Here is the response I got:

"This is why I normally don't return the exam with the scantron."

:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

I'm letting it go....but here is what I REALLY feel like saying: If you don't want to return exams to students because of your inability, by not preparing yourself for lecture or taking the time to put together a quality exam, to justify the answers to an exam that you clearly just throw together at the last minute...and then had the nerve to tell the students about it...if you get upset over that...then maybe you just need to stick to your full-time job as a counselor and not take a part-time job as adjunct faculty...because just because you don't care about the quality of your work, doesn't mean we don't care about the quality of our course."

Why, God oh why, do so many college professors have God complexes?

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

can anyone enlighten me as a foreign nurse, why do you refer to your instructors as 'professors'? they are clearly working as tutors. a real professor is few and far between in the academic world and acheives this title after years of advanced study and teaching including the publication of their research and other work.

i'm not sure where you got your definition of "professor", and to be honest, i don't know what would actually constitute the correct use of this word.

i would, however, caution you against referring to any college instructor in the usa as a tutor. i have this funny feeling you'll find yourself flamed long and hard for that.

the instructors in colleges are considered professionals in this country and should be respected as such (well, there's always an exception, lol). tutors are the folks who we go see in labs and elsewhere to get assistance on subjects we didn't pick up in class.

from wikipedia.com:

• in some countries like in the united states, canada and india, individuals often use the term professor as a polite form of address for any teacher, lecturer, or researcher employed by a college or university, regardless of rank.

• the equivalent of a tutor in the united states is known as a teaching assistant.

so there you have it! hope that helps!

[kasia2]

Hello people this is college, nobody should hold you by your hands, in Europe all the proffesors are like that, and no one complains, its up to you if you want to attend the lecture, there is no homeworks, sometimes you have clinicals, there is no homework, this is not high school, that is why this is called college, its not mandatory to go, its in your interest to finished it, and at the end there is one huge test and you pick your questions like lottery numbers and you have to answer them...

[kasia2]

since you want to go definitions lets see

professor

a teacher of the highest rank in a university; the head of a university department

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

since you want to go definitions lets see

professor

a teacher of the highest rank in a university; the head of a university department

yes, but if you see the definition i posted of the use in the united states, then she would not be correct for this country.

we're all entitled to an opinion here. it's insulting to refer to instructors in the united states as tutors. period.

[Soup Turtle]

I had the same problem last semester. I had a professor who was dyslexic and none of the tests made sense. He'd print tests with answer sheets and they didn't coordinate. For example, 35 on the answer sheet would as for a Letter answer but 35 on the test would ask for a written or word answer. He'd be like "Switch 35 and 54, 23 is supposed to be 62 and number 75 is really number 12" You'd leave feeling like you got your brain sucked out. I also had a teacher who didn't care about any of us. When we had problems and got bad grades, he'd tell us it was ok and the grades would even out. He graded papers backwards. He'd mark off for correct and when you tried to fight it, he'd defend it or try to accuse you of changing the answer after the fact. The entire class ended up failing. When we asked him if he cared if he looked bad, he said we were the ones who looked bad. Um, hello, you're a professor and your entire class failed...hmm.

The semester is almost over! Hang in there:)

:lol2::lol2::lol2:

[kasia2]

Yes, but if you see the definition I posted of the use in the UNITED STATES, then she would not be correct for THIS COUNTRY.

We're all entitled to an opinion here. It's insulting to refer to instructors in the UNITED STATES as tutors. Period.

I dont know why are you trying to put all this on me...Exactly everyone is entitled to their own opinion but when someone states their opinion escpecially FOREIGNER, he or she is criticized right on the spot, I came here with good intention but as foreigner but to a lot of you Im a " outsider with bad intentions toward US" this is ridiculous, you guys give advice, I give advice on the improvement of American education system, and I never said that my country is superior, or my people are superior...

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

I dont know why are you trying to put all this on me...Exactly everyone is entitled to their own opinion but when someone states their opinion escpecially FOREIGNER, he or she is criticized right on the spot, I came here with good intention but as foreigner but to a lot of you Im a " outsider with bad intentions toward US" this is ridiculous, you guys give advice, I give advice on the improvement of American education system, and I never said that my country is superior, or my people are superior...

Nowhere in your definition does it point out that professor is only used correctly with that definition. The definition I posted clearly uses the words United States as to how it is often used in this country. We have a silly tendency to do that in this country. It is often done to quite the consternation of those who are learning English as a second language. Funny people, us Americans, with our slang.

No one anywhere ever said it was perfect,

As for the "truths", I think it pertinent to examine a few of your own truths. I find it hard to take "truths" from someone who apparently comes looking for a mirror image of their "truths" on boards like these.

That's the beauty about America, no one gets to make the decisions about what we do with our lives. No one can tell me or my child that because he was in the top 10% of his graduating class that he can't go on to work in a camp for the disabled or disadvantaged for a paltry sum of money (we don't all do what we do for the money in this country) after 6 years of college and a Master's degree. And you don't get to make that judgment either. That's a "truth" you can take to the bank in this country.

[Cymy]

since you want to go definitions lets see

professor

a teacher of the highest rank in a university; the head of a university department

if you follow that link and scroll down the page, you'll note that professor is also used to indicate any university teacher and comes from the latin "profiteri" which generally means any public teacher.

the definition provided by allwords.com seems to be an abridged definition, though. if you visit http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/professor, you'll note that other established print dictionaries refer to a professor as any teacher.

in the end, it really just comes down to what is appropriate where you are located at the time you are referring to the teacher in question. if you are referring to an instructor at a us college or university who is not also a student (i.e. is not a grad student teaching assistant), then it is polite to refer to them as professor, regardless of the actual title on their contract with the institution.

this may not be the case in other countries. in those countries the teachers might be referred to as "master," "instructor," "teacher," or just "hey you!". but that was not the question--the question was "can anyone enlighten me as a foreign nurse, why do you refer to your instructors as 'professors'?"

i don't think that the question should have prompted any argument whatsoever. the original poster was confused as to why we call our instructors "professor" when in her country of origin that is not the case. she was not indicating that it was inappropriate here, she was simply requesting clarification of a custom with which she was unfamiliar.

in response to your question, a college in the united states is a two or four year post-secondary institution--in other countries it is often a secondary institution. most people use college and university interchangeably unless there is a specific need to differentiate. for example, i attended boston university, but i don't say, as my friends from other countries do, "when i was in university." i instead say, "when i was in college."

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

Most of my instructors have only gone by first name, with mainly a couple using the "Dr." when applicable. Our first semester instructors were referred to with either a Mrs. or Ms. A lot of times it is teacher-dependent. And I have attended both community colleges and universities.

We do have some strange customs in this country...but then, a big part of my education in NS these past 2 semesters has been about being sensitive to other cultures and customs, not ramming any American customs down our foreign patients' throats.

I hope we're ALL getting that in our NS educations.......

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Closing thread for a bit. Reopen later.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Okay, let's get back to the subject at hand please...this is not a debate over semantics!

The original topic was about instructors at college that are difficult to deal with.

Since this bulletin board is based in the US, that is the frame of reference. Please be respectful when you disagree and not personalize it. Thanks everyone.

[justme1972]

Most of my instructors have only gone by first name, with mainly a couple using the "Dr." when applicable. Our first semester instructors were referred to with either a Mrs. or Ms. A lot of times it is teacher-dependent. And I have attended both community colleges and universities.

We do have some strange customs in this country...but then, a big part of my education in NS these past 2 semesters has been about being sensitive to other cultures and customs, not ramming any American customs down our foreign patients' throats.

I hope we're ALL getting that in our NS educations.......

I know every school is different, but in my orientation class, we were told that it was improper ettiquette to call a professor by their first name, unless they specifically asked us to do so.

They also told us that when you receive your first Bachelor degree and start graduate school, that being on a first-named basis with your instructor was common.

I remember walking into an office once (this is funny), and one of the Professors was joking that another had signed his name: Dr. John Doe, PhD on a document. He said, "Anyone that feels the need to plaster their degree that many times, probably is insecure about something else, other than his education." ....and he winked at me.

I kidded him, "Why, don't you have a doctorate?"...I had never met this man, but was pretty sure he did. He said,

"Young lady, I'll have you know that I have three degrees. The first is a BS, which is complete bullsh*t, an MS, which is more of the same, and a PhD which is piled high and deep!"

I found out years later that it was improper ettiquette to sign your name, "Dr. John Doe, PhD"...that you either include the "Dr" or the "PhD", but not both...and his joke, was an old one, but I had never heard it before, so at the time, was hilarious!