Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis
Honestly, I've always wondered how much I really got out of my Honors Calc 3 class freshman year of college (trust me, after that I didn't take any more honors classes!). I just don't feel that a 65% in the class, considered an A after the professor curved the grades, really indicates a deep understanding of the subject matter. Of course, the professor couldn't just fail the entire class. That would be as good as admitting that he doesn't know how to teach the subject. Before that class, I had never scored less than 95% in any math class, going all the way back to 1st grade!
|
Obviously I wasn't in your class, but I've had professors that deliberately treat tests the way Chris mentioned above. I once had a prof hand me a 300/400-level* chemistry exam (this was in CHEM 102) and say 'just do it'. I got an A with something like 33%. But it truly (trust me) challenged us, and the
thought we took with it manifested in our answers clearly, even if we didn't understand most of the content. Different people "lightbulbed" at different places/questions, and it really showed each of us what was ahead and showed him just how deeply each student understood the knowledge we did have.
Even for heavily curved classes in which my professor didn't indicate intended acceptable-knowledge test score, I have to feel somewhat confident that my A meant something since I definitely understood the knowledge therein well enough to apply it in many subsequent courses and projects.
*In this case that means a good chemistry senior should score around 95%.