Mad as heck, why make biology so hard!

JasmDasm · Jul 7, 2009

If that were me, I would send an email to the Dean of that Department. Attach a test and in a calm manner, tell him/her exactly what was confusing to you. If other students feel this way, give them the same advice. I am not saying to cause a riot or try to get the professor fired, but you are paying her to teach you, and if you are confused then you have every right to speak up. (Just make sure it is done in a serious, respectful and professional manner). Also, there is nothing wrong with bringing your notes to the beach!!!

rholman · Jul 7, 2009

If that were me, I would send an email to the Dean of that Department. Attach a test and in a calm manner, tell him/her exactly what was confusing to you. If other students feel this way, give them the same advice. I am not saying to cause a riot or try to get the professor fired, but you are paying her to teach you, and if you are confused then you have every right to speak up. (Just make sure it is done in a serious, respectful and professional manner). Also, there is nothing wrong with bringing your notes to the beach!!!

You know that is the other thing that ****** me off, she doesn't give us the test back, just the answer sheets. You know the type, the test is in a booklet and the answer sheet is on a seperate piece of paper with a blank space for you to write, A,B, C or D. So you get to take the answer sheet home with your grade but you have no idea what the question was that you got wrong.

I can't do the beach when I am studying, I am a swimmer and don't like to just lay in the sun, so it would not work. I don't think I would get much reading done. Water and books don't mix very well. But again, it shows how dedicated I am to my study time. Sheesh!

Sand_Dollar, BSN · Jul 7, 2009

I don't know about the average marks in my class, but two other people I have talked to in the AP2 class are having a wicked time. My one friend and I are both 4.0 students and yet we can't pull off higher than a B on the tests. Another friend of mine who says she is a 4.0 (but I have my doubts) is lucky if she gets a C. When asked about the difficulty of the tests, both of our teachers said that the local nursing schools have asked for them to make the AP harder. These are the hardest tests I have ever taken in my life, and were even harder than AP1.

I am actually thankful for our huge 16-20 page lab reports that take hours and hours because its a chance to pull up my grade. So... I feel your pain!!!

rholman · Jul 7, 2009

I don't know about the average marks in my class, but two other people I have talked to in the AP2 class are having a wicked time. My one friend and I are both 4.0 students and yet we can't pull off higher than a B on the tests. Another friend of mine who says she is a 4.0 (but I have my doubts) is lucky if she gets a C. When asked about the difficulty of the tests, both of our teachers said that the local nursing schools have asked for them to make the AP harder. These are the hardest tests I have ever taken in my life, and were even harder than AP1.
I am actually thankful for our huge 16-20 page lab reports that take hours and hours because its a chance to pull up my grade. So... I feel your pain!!!

I have received A's and 1 B so far and to not even pull a C is baffling to me. The same for the other A Students, how can you explain them failing the class. It's one thing to get a lower grade because the subject is generally difficult but to fail. Whatever!!!

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Jul 7, 2009

consider it training wheels for nursing school. Most have no life in nursing school either and its hard as heck until you get a hang of it.

mmgirlsmom · Jul 7, 2009

I know exaclty how you feel. I just dropped my A&P1 because I had a D and after barely passing the last test I took after studying my butt of I just didn't feel like it was worth wasting my time and felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall. I am already signed up to retake it in the fall with a different professor. The professor I had previously does have a reputation of being almost impossible to pass the class and the school is very well aware of it. Every test is curved and the finally grades usually have to be curved. The thing that sucks is there is nothing else we could do to help our grades. Our entire grade was based on our test scores we had no other work. I think we had about 30 ish people when I started the class, before I dropped it was down to 21 and 1/2 of them had a D or an F. Last I talked to someone still in the class there were 15 people left.

I too feel like I studied and was very prepared for the class, had index cards, read chapters, did practice test. I even e-mailed the professor prior to dropping the class to ask what they would suggest about studying techniques and did not receive a response. I am scared to death that I will do horrible next semester and if I do will have to look at doing something else.

rholman · Jul 7, 2009

I know exaclty how you feel. I just dropped my A&P1 because I had a D and after barely passing the last test I took after studying my butt of I just didn't feel like it was worth wasting my time and felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall. I am already signed up to retake it in the fall with a different professor. The professor I had previously does have a reputation of being almost impossible to pass the class and the school is very well aware of it. Every test is curved and the finally grades usually have to be curved. The thing that sucks is there is nothing else we could do to help our grades. Our entire grade was based on our test scores we had no other work. I think we had about 30 ish people when I started the class, before I dropped it was down to 21 and 1/2 of them had a D or an F. Last I talked to someone still in the class there were 15 people left.
I too feel like I studied and was very prepared for the class, had index cards, read chapters, did practice test. I even e-mailed the professor prior to dropping the class to ask what they would suggest about studying techniques and did not receive a response. I am scared to death that I will do horrible next semester and if I do will have to look at doing something else.

Sounds like we had the same teacher. We are down to about 15 students as well. I didn't drop because I felt like I still have chance but I'm not so sure now.

Ms. Nurse Assistant, LPN · Jul 7, 2009

Have you tried ratemyprofessor.com? I know this saves a lot of stress that you are going through by knowing which professors to take

rholman · Jul 7, 2009

Have you tried ratemyprofessor.com? I know this saves a lot of stress that you are going through by knowing which professors to take

Yeap... been there done that. I had a choice of two professors for this class and she had the better rating. Although there were plenty of comments about her tests. The other professor had 3 pages of comments and not one of them was good..... so it's a crap shoot either way.

Thanks for all the replies, I am going to muster up whatever little I have left to this class and give these last 2 test the best effort I can give. Hopefully I can pull through... you know the saying "It ain't over till the fat lady sings" :icon_roll

momof4FL · Jul 8, 2009

Your professor must be related to my Micro professor! Only my prof is not just a medical doctor, she is also a lawyer! Sounds just like my class She is the only professor that teaches micro at our community college and I was warned not to take her. But to take it at another campus would have been an hour + round trip.

I already have a bachelor's degree in another area from a large university and I've never had a class this hard. No study guide, no tests returned. Tests are worded differently from the book and from what she teaches in class. We started with 20+ people and there are only 11 of us left. One girl in the class is taking it for the third time b/c she has failed it twice already! Our tests are usually curved about 15 points. Oh, she does give extra credit but it is so time consuming on top of all the lab reports and studying.

I will go to the dean but only after the class is done and I've received my grade. The thing that really upsets me is the fact that others taking it elsewhere get an A with an easy professor and I wind up with a B with this professor after busting my rear all semester. That fact is not taken into account on the nursing program application.

I feel your pain! Hang in there :) I keep telling myself that nothing is going to be as hard as this class, including nursing school!!

Ms. Nurse Assistant, LPN · Jul 8, 2009

Yeap... been there done that. I had a choice of two professors for this class and she had the better rating. Although there were plenty of comments about her tests. The other professor had 3 pages of comments and not one of them was good..... so it's a crap shoot either way.
Thanks for all the replies, I am going to muster up whatever little I have left to this class and give these last 2 test the best effort I can give. Hopefully I can pull through... you know the saying "It ain't over till the fat lady sings" :icon_roll

What about taking that class at a community college with a better professor? Many students do this too