Sometimes you can't help but get a B because some professors are so horrible that they can't teach well enough for someone to get an A or they're so self-righteous they refuse to give out any A's.
Sorry, but unless you actually do end up in a class where not a single A is awarded, I don't buy this. No matter how bad the professor, you the student are the one spending your time and money to learn. It is not the professor's fault if they teach poorly - the student has to figure out how to make the necessary adjustment to still do well.
Mind you I don't like poor/lazy professors and I'm not excusing them. I'm just sayin', our grades are OUR responsibility and blaming the professor is weak.
Sometimes you can't help but get a B because some professors are so horrible that they can't teach well enough for someone to get an A or they're so self-righteous they refuse to give out any A's.
Sorry, but unless you actually do end up in a class where not a single A is awarded, I don't buy this. No matter how bad the professor, you the student are the one spending your time and money to learn. It is not the professor's fault if they teach poorly - the student has to figure out how to make the necessary adjustment to still do well.
Mind you I don't like poor/lazy professors and I'm not excusing them. I'm just sayin', our grades are OUR responsibility and blaming the professor is weak.
Mary
I respect your opinion but I disagree 100% with it. My girlfriend /has/ been in one or two classes where the professor was just a grumpy old person who has been teaching too long and felt nobody could work hard enough for an A therefore he never gave one out.
Secondly, if the student doesn't learn the information in the class because the professor is a horrible teacher, how on earth do you think it's not his fault that the students in his class don't do well? You state you don't like or excuse lazy/poor professors yet that's exactly what that statement does. Ultimately it is the student's job to get the most out of his/her education, but in some instances such as a terrible professor and/or terrible textbook, there are circumstances beyond the student's control that are preventing him/her from doing what they need to.
This comes off as a terrible endorsement of the broken university system we have. I will never agree with that viewpoint, sorry.
I tend to agree with Mary as well. My sister-in law is an MD at the University of Michigan, and she also thinks it abusrd that it is impossible to obtain an A in a course. She teaches genetics as well.
It is our responsibility to achieve what we put into our work. Sorry Tim, I just don’t see that as an excuse to put it onto the profs…
There is a professor at our school who won’t give lower than a C…no matter what…his daughter committed suicide after failing a class (not sure if that is the reason, I tend to think that is not the entire story) but he won’t give anyone lower than a C. Never has since that happened.
But I do tend to agree with Mary, for the most part people get what they deserve in a class.
I tend to agree as well, but am a tad nervous knowing that they’ve reworked the grading scale for the entire bio dept to say anything 89 and up as an A. Everything else is a standard scale.