|
QuietLion posted:Update on my current group project: the third member of our group - who I will refer to as Fred - has not come to class in the last month. While my friend and other partner Ashley has been formatting our papers and podcast script, I've been hunting down the raw data we're going to be using and pulling the important bits together. Fred has looked at our efforts on Google doc, changed one or two things for grammar's sake, then disappeared off the Earth. The only replies we've been getting in response to our questions concerning if he likes our current outline and script are "Yeah that's good" and "Seems okay". If group participation is included in the mark (meaning sheets are handed out where you score your partners confidentially) you know what to do.
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 03:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 17:50 |
|
|
Justin Godscock posted:If group participation is included in the mark (meaning sheets are handed out where you score your partners confidentially) you know what to do. The one beautiful thing is, if both Ashley and I give him the lowest marks possible, he will get a maximum of 1/3 of what we get on our assignment. So in other words, he's capped at about 33/100 points for the biggest portion of our grade including exams.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 05:17
|
|
|
InEscape posted:gently caress WOU, go to OSU TunaSpleen posted:Words Thanks, you two. I really do appreciate the support and knowledge.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2014 07:44
|
|
|
The grading system at my university is nonsensical. We should be being told points scores/percentages and have the means in our handbooks to confirm whether that is a first, a 2:1, etc. We also need these scores to confirm what our running total is for the year thus far. Instead, we get letter grades. A loving 'A-/B+' or what have you not only doesn't give me the information I require, but makes me feel like I'm doing my loving A Levels again. We've all complained about this and nothing has changed.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 09:37
|
|
|
I didn't know anyone actually still used letter grades. I thought it was just something on tv that was a holdover from an earlier time. Everything I ever did was just a percentage.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 13:10
|
|
|
Dr_Amazing posted:I didn't know anyone actually still used letter grades. I thought it was just something on tv that was a holdover from an earlier time. Everything I ever did was just a percentage. I've had a percentage next to my letter grade since middle school.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 13:31
|
|
|
Dr_Amazing posted:I didn't know anyone actually still used letter grades. I thought it was just something on tv that was a holdover from an earlier time. Everything I ever did was just a percentage. The entire US still uses letter grades. Along with the Imperial system of measurements.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 14:41
|
|
|
Two weeks ago Me: Hey professor your syllabus says that the date of the final is May 6th which is after the term ends. Is that right? Him: Yep that's right Yesterday Him: Hey class I just realized there is a typo in the syllabus, your final is actually three days from now, not May 6th. At least it's an optional final. loving idiot.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 15:17
|
|
|
On the topic of bullshit group work: I'm in my last semester, and really all that is is a senior project, as I'm in engineering. The class was split up into groups of two, and are tasked with making an android app of our choosing. My partner went behind my back to get our project confirmed without consulting me, so we ended up doing something that I don't really know anything about or care about, while it's exactly what he wanted to do. But, this is still just an intro to the big problem. We split up the work into the android app programming, which is in java, and the data processing, which is in C, so that we could stick to a single programming language each. I took the java side, which was a decent amount more work than the C side, because my schedule was a lot more free than my partner's, so I figured that was fair. I also preferred coding in java, and he C. So, at the beginning of our project, I give detailed descriptions of what the input and output formats of the various C functions need to be in order to interface with the java, so it's easy to just plug our parts together at the end, and we part ways. Cue to now-ish. I've finished up my stuff and tested it. After some pestering, I finally got my partner's code, a few days before the due date. Naturally, out of all the functions he was supposed to write, he did only the bare minimum. But, it gets much worse. Not only do his functions not fit the specifications I need to interface with the java, but the code does not even compile. This, of course, means that he clearly did not even attempt to test his code. Big surprise, after spending a few hours on one program trying to fix the typos and data type mismatches and such in a single program, just to get it to compile, the program does not work at all. I have spent the last three days coding nonstop except for brief food breaks and the 6 hours of sleep per night, going through his code, debugging and essentially rewriting it. At this point it's due in about 12 hours, and I've only got one function working, with nowhere near enough time to get anything else working. I'm stuck turning in and presenting an app that does a whole lot of nothing. At least the way it's set up it's easy to prove that everything I made works, so I'm basically just trying to figure out how to make it clear to the graders what situation I'm in so that our final grades are fair for what we've respectively done. I am very ready to graduate. gently caress group work forever.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 16:38
|
|
|
MenschMaschine posted:The entire US still uses letter grades. Along with the Imperial system of measurements. I'm in the UK and still get them bastard letters.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 21:08
|
|
|
Bad Roy posted:The grading system at my university is nonsensical. We should be being told points scores/percentages and have the means in our handbooks to confirm whether that is a first, a 2:1, etc. We also need these scores to confirm what our running total is for the year thus far. I have no idea how you don't understand how the A B C D F system works when it is easily converted to percentages while a first a "2:1" and etc look like some kind of insane system to me. Whats an A level, sounds much more complex than the system we use.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 21:39
|
|
|
A levels are from 16-18. They're usually the first part of school where you get to choose most/all of your subjects and they're also the main thing universities look at. We still have letters, it's A-D if I remember? And a U for unmarked if you fail. None of that +/- poo poo though, that seems so unnecessary. How much fine detail do you really need on school grades?
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 22:12
|
|
|
GCSEs (14 to 16 for those not in the know, examined mostly at 16) still have A* as a grade, and there was some talk a year or two ago about bringing it in for A-levels as well. No -s, though, nor any *s on other grades than A. A levels go down to E, GCSEs go down to F. We just need our grades to keep going up because more kids are doing better (arguably the testing is getting easier which would explain why, but that's probably a derail right there), so they keep adding higher ones. It wouldn't surprise me if we get an S grade before 2020. University grades are *commonly* but not always 70%+ is a first/distinction, then 60 is a 2:1, 50 is a 2:2, 40 is a 3, below 40 is a fail. E: but even in the department where I work, some of our programmes break that rule, let alone outside the university, and we don't technically offer letter grades, only distinction/pass/fail in an official capacity at the end of the programme.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2014 23:41
|
|
|
Strategic Tea posted:None of that +/- poo poo though, that seems so unnecessary. How much fine detail do you really need on school grades? NOT THAT GODDAMN MUCH  My ideal system is what most liberal arts postgraduate programs use: A - Your work is excellent. You demonstrate a mastery of the subject and are capable of making meaningful contributions to the field. B - Your work is passable. You understand the subject, but more time and effort are necessary before the field will benefit from your contributions. C - Your work is unacceptable. You have not put the time or effort necessary into your work, and it shows (this is a failing grade). D - Why did you register for this course? I've never seen an F in grad school. Doing C work for too long (or, in some cases, D work once) gets you kicked out of the program with a grade of I (incomplete) on your transcript (barring serious extenuating circumstances). I'd love to see this down in undergraduate education, but the mindset there is that "C's earn degrees," and C-level work is average, meaning that you'd be failing every student that didn't deviate far enough from the mean. It would be so cool, though--earn an A if you're doing great, a B if you're doing ok, and anything less means you're doing it wrong. It would never fly, but a guy can dream 
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 00:18
|
|
|
This is it, it's gotten to the point where I am now drinking to drown my frustration and sorrow at Fred the Useless Group Member. Upon reading his edits on the first draft of our podcast script (He just cut anything he wanted to edit, instead of using comments), I've gotten some real gems. On talking about how the Romani of Europe probably stemmed from a single founder group that experienced some good old genetic drift and endogamy: quote:Remember, this podcast is supposed to be for the average scientifically-interested layperson, not for people who already deeply understand anthropological terms. This is an advanced bioanthropology class, beyond the 400 level for those in the United States. Genetic drift isn't a super advanced anthropological concept, why are you in this class?!
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 00:51
|
|
|
GOTTA STAY FAI posted:NOT THAT GODDAMN MUCH What is a postgraduate program? If you mean liberal arts graduate program I don't think this is true. From my point of view, a ph.d student in political science, the grading scheme is as such: A: Your work is excellent. You demonstrate a mastery of the subject and are capable of making meaningful contributions to the field. A-: Your work is passable. You understand the subject, but more time and effort are necessary before the field will benefit from your contributions. B+: Your work is unacceptable. You have not put the time or effort necessary into your work, and it shows. Anything lower than a B+: gently caress you, why did we even let you in? So, the grading scheme is pretty different from yours but everyone more or less passes if you take the class (unless you really gently caress up). It seems you are advocating an "everyone pass" grading scheme. You realize the requirements to get into a ph.d program are far different from getting into an undergrad program? For a ph.d program, you literally get paid to go to school. Applicants are judged on how well they did in undergrad (plus connections and whatever else) to get in. Trying to compare the grading scheme from undergrad to grad is probably not acceptable. Paper With Lines has a new favorite as of 03:47 on Apr 29, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 03:31
|
|
|
e: nvm; good luck on your dissertation and future career from another poli sci grad
GOTTA STAY FAI has a new favorite as of 04:54 on Apr 29, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 04:49
|
|
|
Why did you nuke your response? I think it was helpful. I was waiting to respond in depth until I had my wits about me.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 06:20
|
|
|
thespaceinvader posted:We just need our grades to keep going up because more kids are doing better (arguably the testing is getting easier which would explain why, but that's probably a derail right there), so they keep adding higher ones. It wouldn't surprise me if we get an S grade before 2020. My high school gave how GPAs greater than 5 on what was nominally the 4-point scale. We're already there.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 08:08
|
|
|
I'm still in my first year of college but so far grading is either VG (good = score over 75% on exam) G (passed = scored over 50%) or U (failed - scored under 50%)  . But as someone mentioned earlier regarding some southern american country, passing the course is more important than getting a good grade (and in some cases, like getting into finance, which school you went to is also more important than grades).For example, 10 years ago when I crashed and burned during the first semester of comp.sci. only 30% of my class passed the exam for the first math class which was apparently what usually happened. In the 4 course block I'm taking now 60% of the class passed the first exam, leaving the rest to take the exam again two months later (they seem to have re-exams every two months).
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 09:02
|
|
|
Paper With Lines posted:Why did you nuke your response? I think it was helpful. I was waiting to respond in depth until I had my wits about me. I didn't want to come across as argumentative, as this isn't the place for it. Complaint of the day: Sly fuckers who wait until after course evaluations are done and then dump a shitton of assignments on students at the last minute. What does this behavior accomplish, other than pissing your students off?
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 12:56
|
|
|
Having course evaluation before a course has ended is for lack of a better term rear end backwards.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 13:07
|
|
|
Boiled Water posted:Having course evaluation before a course has ended is for lack of a better term rear end backwards. Yep. The usual practice is to do them when the only remaining class meetings in the semester will be dedicated to final exam review or turning in final projects. The course is pretty much over at that point, and there are no regular class meetings during or after finals week, so the best time is during the week before. Once in a while, you run into a goober who does them three weeks out and then spends the rest of the time bombarding the class with surprise assignments.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 13:28
|
|
|
Lottery of Babylon posted:My high school gave how GPAs greater than 5 on what was nominally the 4-point scale. We're already there. I went to the local community college during my senior year, and tons of people also did dual enrollment there. If you got an A in a cc class, that was a 5.0 on your high school GPA. I don't think that's unreasonable. In fact, the academic scholarship I received from my university required a 4.3 high school GPA. That said, how did people at your school get greater than a 5.0?
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 14:01
|
|
|
Hummingbirds posted:I went to the local community college during my senior year, and tons of people also did dual enrollment there. If you got an A in a cc class, that was a 5.0 on your high school GPA. I don't think that's unreasonable. In fact, the academic scholarship I received from my university required a 4.3 high school GPA. No community college, they just gave out massively inflated numbers for taking AP classes. An A+ in an AP class was treated as a 5.7. This also discouraged taking electives, since electives could never be worth more than a 4 and taking them would always drag your GPA down no matter how well you did. Lottery of Babylon has a new favorite as of 14:45 on Apr 29, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 14:35
|
|
|
-
Double Plus Good has a new favorite as of 19:33 on Aug 17, 2014 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 15:18
|
|
|
Dear jerks: We buy good staplers that are spring loaded, you don't have to pound down on them with a closed fist. They're just plastic! Also maybe think about returning a pen of two of mine. I work at a circulation desk.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 15:38
|
|
|
Cage posted:Dear jerks: We buy good staplers that are spring loaded, you don't have to pound down on them with a closed fist. They're just plastic! Also maybe think about returning a pen of two of mine. My school's circulation desk just got a shiny new red swingline stapler. I'm surprised it hasn't been stolen yet.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 17:06
|
|
|
.
TheShrike has a new favorite as of 20:30 on Nov 18, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 17:14
|
|
|
GabrielAisling posted:My school's circulation desk just got a shiny new red swingline stapler. I'm surprised it hasn't been stolen yet.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 17:34
|
|
|
Cage posted:Oh we started tying them down with string when they started walking a little too often. We also have an electric stapler that sounds like a gun went off. I used to not care about staplers. I have a mini stapler and sometimes consider standing outside of comp classes on paper due dates, selling staples to all the idiots who didn't use the automatic staple function on the printers when they printed it out five minutes before class.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 18:14
|
|
|
Not a complaint: finished my last final this morning. Summer 
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2014 19:55
|
|
|
Lottery of Babylon posted:No community college, they just gave out massively inflated numbers for taking AP classes. An A+ in an AP class was treated as a 5.7. It's bee a long time since I first went to college, but I recall having to recalculate my GPA using the college's guidelines. I would think that this is a common practice, especially since grade inflation has only gotten worse in the last 16 years.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 06:00
|
|
|
Where are all these high schools with the massively inflated GPAs? I don't think my high school offered a single class where it was possible to get above a 4.0 and no students were allowed to take college courses for dual credit.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 07:05
|
|
|
My school weighted honors classes one point higher than other classes. So a student taking the normal track with all A grades would have a 4.0 while an honors student with the same would have 5.0. Though to be fair they got assigned way more projects and work in general (that their almost uniformly white yuppie parents
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 08:51
|
|
|
My high school had the 2nd lowest standardized test scores in the state while I was there, and I'm sure it's no coincidence that they also didn't bother with AP or honors courses (who would take them?). During junior year, though, we'd actually started turning poo poo around and a couple of us needed advanced-level courses. I like to think that it was because the school was so goddamn proud that they bent over backwards to partner with a local community college so we could take courses for dual credit while in high school, but the sad truth is probably that there was no existing honors curriculum, no time to make one up, and nobody skilled enough to teach it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 12:24
|
|
|
I just spend 4 hours typing up my lab notes and doing weekly "reports" ie intro,aim,method highschool type poo poo for our weekly pracs because I thought I needed to submit them because the tutor for my pracs said I need to. I don't. All I have to do is 2 semi easy questions related to the first half of the pracs. Fuuuuuuuuuck I could have been done by now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 12:37
|
|
|
BumikiIsFreaky posted:Where are all these high schools with the massively inflated GPAs? I don't think my high school offered a single class where it was possible to get above a 4.0 and no students were allowed to take college courses for dual credit. Mine was one of them; the so-called 'weighted grade' classes made it possible to get a 5.0 but I'd never heard of it being possible to get higher than that....
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 13:16
|
|
|
A Saucy Bratwurst posted:I just spend 4 hours typing up my lab notes and doing weekly "reports" ie intro,aim,method highschool type poo poo for our weekly pracs because I thought I needed to submit them because the tutor for my pracs said I need to. I don't. All I have to do is 2 semi easy questions related to the first half of the pracs. Fuuuuuuuuuck I could have been done by now. This reminded me of something I hated: Graded class notes. How I remember your stupid class is my business, just grade me on how well I know the material. I understand note-taking is a skill but not one that should be a graded part of a humanities or mathematics class, assholes! To be fair this happened way more in middle/high school than in college (only once to me personally) but drat does the practice piss me off. Plus class notes have to be boring as poo poo to grade, so I don't even understand why someone would want to do it. (I took 18 credits of math as an undergraduate and my math notes are all r-rated as hell. F-bombs help me remember things.)
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 17:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 17:50 |
|
|
sudonim posted:(I took 18 credits of math as an undergraduate and my math notes are all r-rated as hell. F-bombs help me remember things.) Oh thank God, it's not just me.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2014 18:18
|
|