I just had the most torturous test a professor could ever devise. It was a computer applications exam. Two hours. Two problems. One problem was to be solved with Excel, the other with Mathcad (an engineering software). The only problem was there weren’t enough Mathcad licenses for every one of the students to have access to the program. In fact, there were only 7 licenses available*. Did I mention only two hours to take the test? And far more than seven students? By the time I was able to sign in to Mathcad, there was only 15 minutes left. The worst part was the actual exam content, which was practically hilarious in its difficulty. At this point, several students were having major meltdowns and letting the TAs know (as only engineers can) what moron decided on this venue and this format for the exam. The TAs grudgingly allowed the students till 6 PM the next day to complete the exam.
*Engineering students can access the software from home computers, too, and it's a fairly common program in engineering so there could possibly have been other students who were not in my class accessing the software on top of us. The whole thing was pretty much a nightmare.
I swear this one will get written up by every student when it comes time to evaluate the instructor.
Go gettem, kid! And the rest of you....any war stories from skool you'd like to share?
OOOooo you know everything! I am impressed. I knew that the Belian flag had vertical bands, I was just having a senior moment, they seem to come more frequently these days. Thanks for the info. It's in good condition cos I think it must have been in my family since new. And I've just had it in the cupboard for the past 40 years!
ReplyDeleteI mean Belgian... duh!
ReplyDeleteshammy, i know you are talking about my comment on the WWI commemorative tea set on your blog, and that's ok....but just in case the pore beleaguered student whose tribulations are the topic of this post wonders, here's a message for him/her..."it's ok, dear. she's canadian, and it's been a very long, hard winter up there."
ReplyDeleteanyway, i don't really KNOW anything except how to look things up on Google. and most of the time it's sheer dumb luck that i type in just the right combination of words. this time i started with the MOTTO on the china and went from there....
as for the fine condition, it is quite clear that no little people have had their hands on it except on rare occasions or under strict supervision. all the things i have from the past, books mostly, have been re-decorated by youthful artists. i never had a tea set to begin with. or a grandma, either.
The students today can thank the b-boomers for the opportunity to evaluate their profs. Remember our day? They were like gods who came to the heads of the classroom and did whatever they wanted--utterly without accountablity. Which makes it all the more amazing that most of them were drop dead wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWelllll...probably the poor prof was a young adjunct, working 17 jobs in 16 different universities and just got his classes mixed up and gave a test for one class to another class...The TA was prob'bly scared. Thinkin' ahead to a full time job...Thinkin; how he or she needed a recommednation.
That's my .75 cents.
Cat
The students today can thank the b-boomers for the opportunity to evaluate their profs. Remember our day? They were like gods who came to the heads of the classroom and did whatever they wanted--utterly without accountablity. Which makes it all the more amazing that most of them were drop dead wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWelllll...probably the poor prof was a young adjunct, working 17 jobs in 16 different universities and just got his classes mixed up and gave a test for one class to another class...The TA was prob'bly scared. Thinkin' ahead to a full time job...Thinkin; how he or she needed a recommednation.
That's my .75 cents.
Cat