I have a health class where we just took a test about drugs. And more than half of the class failed. Like with 27 percent to 60 percent. I personally got a 65. But the thing is, I genuinely did not feel prepared for this test because all the teacher did was give us 6 pages of notes that we'll have to copy down each day and talk when we're copying down, so none of us can possibly hear him and jot down the note at the same time. And then, if we get distracted for a little bit, he'll threaten us with words like, "Well, I guess you guys aren't going to copy down this whole page of notes and possibly fail your test". And I really did study for the test, I wrote rewrote down almost 20 pages of notes over and over again without a study guide or anything to determine if I was studying the things I should be. Since the teacher expects us all to memorize everything he taught within 2 months.
So currently, I feel frustrated because this 65 is really not something I deserve or something anyone in my class deserves because I believe that it's not our fault that we don't even know what to study for and end up getting questions about the very little details that the teacher told us that we don't have to copy.
Damn, I ranted a lot. please keep in mind that it's the teacher's second year of teaching health.
Just think about this, your lectures are the highlights of the day's lecture/material. There is simply isn't enough time in a day to review ever single detail of the materials that will be on an exam.
If the instructor handed out readings, etc, always consider that they might be on the exam. If the instructor did not think that these materials were important, they would not have handed them out.
Another possibility is that the instructor is also providing a different format for learning, some are audio, visual, and kinesetic learners. Written materials are a good format of learning for some.
For this next exam, approach it from the concept that every paper the instructor has given you is fair game.
I am glad the instructor is kind enough to help those students in need. Not every instructor will do this. It is not a recognition that the instructor messed up or anything like that, it may just be some points to help out those in need. However, you still have to do well for it to help your grade.
You should actually read/study the material before class so that you can ask questions about the parts you don’t understand in class. Does this really need to be explained?
So if you don't do your job, you get fired, and that makes sense. If a college instructor doesn't do their job, "The student was supposed to teach themselves?" Am I seriously the only person here who sees how incredibly stupid this logic is? If they're not going to teach you, what are they getting paid for? If you have to teach yourself the material, what are you paying thousands of dollars for?
So if you don't do your job, you get fired, and that makes sense. If a college instructor doesn't do their job, "The student was supposed to teach themselves?" Am I seriously the only person here who sees how incredibly stupid this logic is? If they're not going to teach you, what are they getting paid for? If you have to teach yourself the material, what are you paying thousands of dollars for?
1. You are paying to be guided in your learning - to have a teacher facilitate your learning by providing you with information and guiding you to learn the things that are most important -- to be given objectives, topics, facts, etc.
2. You are paying to be provided with some materials (lecture, notes, packets, etc.) that will help you learn -- assuming you study them
3. You are paying for someone to be available to answer the questions that you may have as you study the material
4. You are paying to be evaluated -- to have an accredited institution evaluate your knowledge and abilities. Hopefully, they will find that you meet the established standards and confer a degree upon you that is accepted by society as evidence that you meet the standards.
Maybe this guy is not the best teacher in the world. That's what course evaluations are for. Is your school fully accredited? If not, go to one that is. Find a better school.
Edit: What I meant to say is that if this is just one bad class in a school that is generally a good, accredited one -- deal with it. Do what you need to do to pass, use the course evaluation to comment on the quality of the teacher, etc. One class that is less than ideal is not the end of the world. Don't assume that the teacher is giving you readings that you can ignore. Study everything.
However, if you have lots of classes that everyone is struggling with and/or the school is not accredited, then find a better school. But remember, just because a class is difficult and requires that you study a lot (including the readings), doesn't make it a bad class or a bad teacher.
I don’t think it sounds bratty. But to the poster who said that you’re paying for them to guide you in teaching that’s correct. They lecture you for say 6 hours, and that is the tip of the iceberg. There is another 18+ hours of learning you need to do in addition to that. What they teach you in class gives you a framework to go learn all of the inbetween. Just because it isn’t mentioned in class doesn’t mean it isn’t important. The “you didn’t mention it in class why is it on the test” is grade school level. We are adults and must be able to teach ourselves.
I mean look at the NCLEX, are you taught every exact thing you see on the NCLEX?
I don’t think it sounds bratty. But to the poster who said that you’re paying for them to guide you in teaching that’s correct. They lecture you for say 6 hours, and that is the tip of the iceberg. There is another 18+ hours of learning you need to do in addition to that. What they teach you in class gives you a framework to go learn all of the inbetween. Just because it isn’t mentioned in class doesn’t mean it isn’t important. The “you didn’t mention it in class why is it on the test” is grade school level. We are adults and must be able to teach ourselves.
I mean look at the NCLEX, are you taught every exact thing you see on the NCLEX?
Then
Why
Do
We
Have
To
Pay
For
College
Classes?
If we're expected to teach ourselves so much of the material why not just let us learn on our own, pay a fee to take a test and that's it? Do you really not see the complete lunacy that you're paying for instruction yet not holding your instructor liable for giving you that instruction?
The idea of having to learn on my own is 100% IF I'm not paying to be taught. I have better things I can be doing with my thousands of dollars than being forced to teach myself. FFS if this is what is expected, I'm better off using that money for private tutoring instead. At least there, I'd be getting what I'm paying for.
That was my point about this complacency when it comes to college. The internet is free, you can teach yourself anything you want to learn. So why are you content with paying thousands of dollars to do what you can do completely free?
Go to med school and tell them that, see how far it gets you, lol. If it shocks you at how independent you have to be to pass nursing, check that out.
You pay the money to play the game. My nursing education cost about 38,000 total, and I made six figures a year when I only worked, and 66,000 a year as a full time premed student. I’m definitely not complaining.
Go to med school and tell them that, see how far it gets you, lol. If it shocks you at how independent you have to be to pass nursing, check that out.
You pay the money to play the game. My nursing education cost about 38,000 total, and I made six figures a year when I only worked, and 66,000 a year as a full time premed student. I’m definitely not complaining.
You understand that expectation exists 10000000% beacuse the STUDENTS refuse to hold their instructors to a higher standard, right?
You know what, I fix computers, I'm A+ certified. Next time you have a problem with your computer, give me $500 and I'll tell you to google how to fix your problem. Sounds stupid right? That's exactly what we're letting our college professors do to us.
They’re doing what we pay them to do... they’re giving us framework to learn. I don’t know about you but I got a syllabus, lectures, textbooks, etc. And if I asked to meet to go over tests or have something explained that I didn’t understand, they were willing.
You have to know which questions to ask. Not say “okay teach me everything that I need to know”. That’s unrealistic. No one could ever scratch the surface on what you need to know to be a nurse.
At some point you have to realize that YOURE responsible for learning. They give you the tools, but YOU have to put in the effort.
I was A+ certified too. I took that high school course ?
1. We pay the school, not an individual instructor for education. The instructor serves as a guide, imparter of information, resource, and, role model. The instructor has many tools to use to give information, some of that learning is from direct lecturing, some could be youtube videos, some could be reading materials. There are so many ways to learn and to help students gain the information. Some of that is independent reading, some could be supplemental readings. This outside work the student must do is homework, also teaching students how to use resources outside of a single lecture.
2. Instructors responsibility is to teach the students in the best way possible, this includes using all available resources. Instructors are not meant to just spit out information to students and only test on that. Instructors also want to give students different ways to learn the information. Only testing on lecture materials really does a disservice to everyone.
I would much rather have an overview lecture where an instructor highlights the main points of the topic at hand and then give me other materials or videos that s/he selected to best illustrate their point.
Right. My organic chemistry professor would focus on just one particular thing and it made the class very difficult. I wish he would have skimmed over a broader view and allowed us to delve in on our own.
You understand that expectation exists 10000000% beacuse the STUDENTS refuse to hold their instructors to a higher standard, right?
You know what, I fix computers, I'm A+ certified. Next time you have a problem with your computer, give me $500 and I'll tell you to google how to fix your problem. Sounds stupid right? That's exactly what we're letting our college professors do to us.
You are "certified" ... and that certification tells the public that an appropriate person/institution that you are qualified. One of the things students "pay for" is for the approved educational institution's evaluation to declare them qualified. That's part of the system that protects the public from people claiming to have expertise they don't really have. Before we can call ourselves "nurses" and provide healthcare to the public, not only do we have to pass the NCLEX, but a approved educational institution has to evaluate us and find us worthy of the public's trust.
The 2 situations are not as similar as you think. If I pay you to fix my computer, I am paying you to fix my computer -- not paying you to teach me to fix my own computer. With education, it is always the student who has to do the learning. No one can "learn" for you. All a teacher can do is provide materials and information and learning opportunities. Even the best teacher in the world can't learn for the student. The student always has to invest in the learning to actually learn the material. The same is not true with getting my computer fixed.
In the OP, the teacher provided readings that the OP chose to ignore. (The student's fault, not the teacher's.) The teacher also provided factual information via lecture -- and probably was available during class to answer questions. The student chose to study by trying to memorize the lectures -- not a strategy conducive to learning/understanding the material. For example, the student should have done the readings before class and been prepared to ask questions about anything he/she did not understand.
RNNPICU, BSN, RN
1,310 Posts
Just think about this, your lectures are the highlights of the day's lecture/material. There is simply isn't enough time in a day to review ever single detail of the materials that will be on an exam.
If the instructor handed out readings, etc, always consider that they might be on the exam. If the instructor did not think that these materials were important, they would not have handed them out.
Another possibility is that the instructor is also providing a different format for learning, some are audio, visual, and kinesetic learners. Written materials are a good format of learning for some.
For this next exam, approach it from the concept that every paper the instructor has given you is fair game.
I am glad the instructor is kind enough to help those students in need. Not every instructor will do this. It is not a recognition that the instructor messed up or anything like that, it may just be some points to help out those in need. However, you still have to do well for it to help your grade.
Good luck