My poor instructor!

pjgarrett1388 · Feb 7, 2007

I'm sorry to hear about this happening to you! I hope everything turns out okay with the class. We had our first test in Psychology yesterday and had people coming in and complaining about the test because they said they didn't know about it, but she had already told us about a week and a half before the test and we reviewed the class before the test. I don't know I feel like some people just like to complain about tests and grading if they think something is too hard and don't want to put more effort into studying!

RNfromMN, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2007

It's been my experience that - unfortunately - this is something you're going to have to get used to. I'm certainly not putting down all nursing students since I only have my group to compare, but it's been my experience that overall, nursing students are big fat whiners. I feel bad for my instructors all the time!

It struck me from almost the first day of class how whiney the students in my group are (I'm a student, BTW). It is honest to God, always something. The test was too hard, you didn't give us enough time to study, it's not fair that we have to do homework over Thanksgiving break, clinical runs to late, it's not fair that parking isn't provided for us at the hospital, I have to drive too far away to get to clinical... One day when I missed class, my instructor told me that after she'd given an exam, she asked everybody how it was & they all started complaining about how hard it was & what killed her was that of the 2 that complained the most, one got one question wrong on the test & the other scored 100%. It's ridiculous.

Hopefully you're instructor isn't just out of school his/herself & has dealt with this kind of attitude before. Seeing as how he/she posted the message for all to see, I don't think it would be out of line, or too suck-up to send him/her a private email saying that for what it's worth, you thought the test was fair.

Good luck. Also wanted to mention that because of all the complaining I've had to listen to in class, I now take every class I can online.

casi, ASN, RN · Feb 7, 2007

I hate those kind of students. I'd send her a signed card thanking her for her dedication, since fill in the blank tests takes loads more time to grade than bubble sheets. I'd also thank her for setting higher expectations instead of holding you to the skills you learned in kindergarden of coloring within the lines of a circle and identifying the first 5 letters of the alphabet!

luvmy3kids · Feb 7, 2007

It's funny that you two mentioned sending her a note.. I did that yesterday right away... I just sent her an email stating that FWIW a few of us were talking after the exam and we thought it was very fair and balanced.

I agree... while the short answer/fill in the blank exams take longer to grade... for me they are much easier because I feel I can give my answer with an explanation as to why I feel that way.. with the scantrons you don't get to back yourself up...

We'll see how tonight goes... I'm sure she will address the situation... I hope I can tell who is squirming in their seats!

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2007

I hear you loud and clear! What used to burn my a** was the students who'd complain that they didn't have enough time to study, or enough time to do their homework, or couldn't get the info needed for the project etc..it was always something..mind you at the time I was a married woman with a child in school, I worked full time and took enough classes in community college that I was considered full time. I pulled a 4.0! I really had NO time for anything but here are these kids, going to school part time for the majority of them (hey gotta have party time, time right) live at home with mommy and daddy, no kids of their own, hell most of them didn't even work and they had the gaul to complain that THEY didn't have time...GRRR!! All they had was time..and no responsibilites. Those whinney brats caused our professor to start grading much much harder, she also went from fill in the blank tests (very subjective and there were really a few answers..hard to get it wrong..) to much harder tests. Those students complained so much when it was a decent class, you should have heard them when the professors kicked it up a notch LOL

WDWpixieRN, RN · Feb 7, 2007

And we wonder about the "dumbing down" of America....I can bet in a lot of countries (like it used to be here), it's just TOUGH if you didn't like the test, didn't feel it was fair, found you should have actually OPENED the book, etc...it's absolutely infuriating to those of us who pay attention to the syllabus and what the instructor tells us is going to happen....

Only thing that's on the upside for a lot of us is that it appears most nursing schools are no-nonsense and it'll be too bad if they're unhappy with a test...not that sometimes there's not justification for unhappiness, but for the most part, who's fault will it be when your pt who "just" had a hernia operation all of a sudden goes in to cardiac arrest, etc., and didn't have the courtesy to notify you that there would be a change in his status?!?! DUH.........

MB37 · Feb 8, 2007

Both of my classes last semester were full of whiners. My psych prof actually took the whole class session after each exam to go over each answer with us and explain why the answer was what it was, and all people did was raise their hands and try to dispute the questions. They frequently opened with, "I picked the right answer but I still thought this was ambiguous..." Shut up already! She told them not to, and if anyone had a problem to come see her during office hours. It didn't really work. My other class, Jessica, WAS online, and instead of raising their hands people sent out mass e-mails to all 150 classmates whining about not having enough time and not being given adequate review material. Never mind that he had no obligation to give out any review material at all...and when we came in for our proctored exams a few of them made fun of me for actually making flashcards.

sddlnscp · Feb 9, 2007

I understand totally. I currently feel horrible for our instructor. She is a very hard-working woman who is continuing her education herself and is a wonderful lecturer. However, we seem to have this small group of hateful, disrespectful students that make me absolutely embarrassed to be a part of the class. Another student and I were talking about that last night after class. It is really too bad that they have to act like such babies. They whine about the stupedist things and are forever criticizing the poor teacher, who invariably gets frustrated after putting up with it all night and loses her good mood. She doesn't really have a chance as they are always badgering her and it just drives me insane. It is really hard on those of us who know she is doing her best and that she is actually doing a good job. We are studying and doing what she tells us to do and we are doing just fine. It is my experience, like many of the above have said, that those that do the most complaining are those that do the least studying - they want it handed to them. It's sad really that they can't just go away.

Oh well, I know that there are people like this in all walks of life, so we have to learn how to deal with them and move on. Hopefully they don't poison others with their words along the way.

Best of luck to you - I feel awful for your poor instructor and hope that she has the courage to get through it and keep going because lord knows we need good instructors out there!