Student Exams
I'm breaking down . . . I just can't keep these inside, so here's some of the best of the Spring final crop. They are from my history survey course, which covers ALL of US History from colonial founding to the present. Whoosh, I know. I am the professor on Red Bull . . . ha ha, I know. Lotta, lotta in one semester.
For the record, I do what I love, and I love what I do. I wouldn't keep up the fight otherwise. For the most part, I am told that my classroom skills are excellent . . . but there is always a bunch along the way . . .
I have corrected spelling.
1. From an ID for temperance
Temperance was a belief that you should not drink alcohol. It was started by farmers and grew popular for a couple of years but then died down pretty fast until prohibition. Reading about it reminded me a lot about the pioneers from Ireland.
2. In 1937 Japanese planes sunk the Great Gatsby.
The Ten Percent Plan counted slaves as ten percent of the census because they weren't equal to people yet.
3. Dred Scott reversed Pleussy v. Ferguson.
4. In 1945 the Pearl Harbor was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
5. The 19th Amendment passed in 1989. (I really have no response to this one. I guess Geraldine Ferraro didn't happen then, eh?)
Seriously, all jokes aside . . . What disappoints me, and truly disturbs me, is that students do not care that they do not know the basic foundations of their histories. They are proud to fail exams, and they laugh with outright glee when the see marks on their papers telling them that the Second World War did not BEGIN in 1917 for the United States. They think they should get points for getting the right century/decade, and they get upset when they are asked to write complete sentences, form essays, and develop their own thesis statements.
One group of students even told me "you can just give us a curve." After the midterm, the same group was downright irate that they didn't get a curve. Seriously. Why should I be expected to curve so that students can be relieved of having to put in a consistent and concise effort?
In the end, I gave a curve.
For the record, I do what I love, and I love what I do. I wouldn't keep up the fight otherwise. For the most part, I am told that my classroom skills are excellent . . . but there is always a bunch along the way . . .
I have corrected spelling.
1. From an ID for temperance
Temperance was a belief that you should not drink alcohol. It was started by farmers and grew popular for a couple of years but then died down pretty fast until prohibition. Reading about it reminded me a lot about the pioneers from Ireland.
2. In 1937 Japanese planes sunk the Great Gatsby.
The Ten Percent Plan counted slaves as ten percent of the census because they weren't equal to people yet.
3. Dred Scott reversed Pleussy v. Ferguson.
4. In 1945 the Pearl Harbor was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
5. The 19th Amendment passed in 1989. (I really have no response to this one. I guess Geraldine Ferraro didn't happen then, eh?)
Seriously, all jokes aside . . . What disappoints me, and truly disturbs me, is that students do not care that they do not know the basic foundations of their histories. They are proud to fail exams, and they laugh with outright glee when the see marks on their papers telling them that the Second World War did not BEGIN in 1917 for the United States. They think they should get points for getting the right century/decade, and they get upset when they are asked to write complete sentences, form essays, and develop their own thesis statements.
One group of students even told me "you can just give us a curve." After the midterm, the same group was downright irate that they didn't get a curve. Seriously. Why should I be expected to curve so that students can be relieved of having to put in a consistent and concise effort?
In the end, I gave a curve.
Comments
One colleague said, "They [meaning students who don't want to put in any work] just want to get their ticket punched."
1. Sputnik was the first nuclear bomb.
2. Sputnik was the satellite sent to the moon by the U.S.
3. Sputnik was the first American space shuttle to be launched.
You might think that with a name like Sputnik that maybe it wasn't from the US? Doubt if I'll try using that as an ID again.
Also got some real winners from the Equal Rights Amendment...another ID I probably won't try again, because so many responses were along the lines of:
4. The ERA gave minorities and women the right to vote.
5. The Equal Rights Amendment ensured equality so every citizen excluding ethnic background could have an equal oppotunity to prosper fairly.
And, finally...
6. Watergate was caused by FDR.
7. Silent Spring is the fallout after a nuclear explosion.
Yup, I had to give them a curve.
Yup Sandra . . . gotta love the lack of logic.