"Students Want Below-Average Grades Abolished, Midterms Replaced with Conversations"

[Garnier Fructis]

Sounds like you got a lot out of the 6,000 you spent on that class.

Not a big deal to me. It's not related to the fields I'm working in, but on the off chance that I need that specific theory I can just teach myself in like a month.

And it's not like we were slacking. Not only is it one of the hardest courses, but we were expected to know a lot of prerequisite material. Prerequisite material that should have been covered in the previous course, but wasn't, because that Professor decided to cover something else for 5 weeks that other Professors teaching the course don't.

The only reason I did 'well' is because I used what little spare time I had teaching myself the prerequisite material.

[Dragoncurry]

Not a big deal to me. It's not related to the fields I'm working in, but on the off chance that I need that specific theory I can just teach myself in like a month.

And it's not like we were slacking. Not only is it one of the hardest courses, but we were expected to know a lot of prerequisite material. Prerequisite material that should have been covered in the previous course, but wasn't, because that Professor decided to cover something else for 5 weeks that other Professors teaching the course don't.

The only reason I did 'well' is because I used what little spare time I had teaching myself the prerequisite material.

Trust me, I know that you worked hard. Doesn't change that it didn't add much value to your life, and definitely not 6000 dollars worth of value. Ties back to this thread in that these below average grades, and midterms don't add value to your life either. Should be taught trade, critical thinking, and ways to apply it to real world problems, and not that trash that is our education system.

[triplesdsu]

Guess college isn't for them. It isn't for everyone. Perhaps a job in fast food where they don't have to think beyond looking up what a #2 is.

[Kretan]

No one gives a shit about college degrees. To piggyback off what Kretan just said, I have a BS in Cell Bio, BA in History, MA in Asian Studies, and an MBA in Finance and I finished my MBA with a 3.92. I had the hardest fucking time getting an interview for anything, and now after 2 yrs here, I'm getting calls left n right for a senior position w my qualifications. They don't even give a shit about my education.

Whatever makes dumbass kids get out of school and into the workforce faster with a better mental health, I approve of. Midterms are fucking retarded.

Yup. A college degree is like your ACT/SAT score......it help you gain entry in to college/the work force, but once you get there it all means nothing in the end and you start from zero. A degree is only good for trying to get that first shot at a job. It's unfortunate that colleges aren't tougher on their students and willing to do what is necessary to give their degrees credibility. Because of that most engineers are relegated to these soul suckingly awful positions that offer no challenge at all but still require some engineering knowledge. The company is forced to start even the smartest engineering students out with training wheels, arm floaties, and a safe space for feelings in fear of them causing serious damage because they can't trust a college degree to not produce a shithead.

Your reduced personal credibility from said shithead/terrible students being allowed to graduate doesn't end at the job search for the start of your career either oh no. This then slows your own career growth trajectory because you have to struggle your way up the ladder and out of the super training wheels basic position that offers little to no chance at all of proving you can take on the hard stuff because your degree doesn't give enough credibility to say you should get hard stuff. These super basic positions don't pay very well, and it takes years to prove your worth before you get in to a position and pay grade you should have started in from day 1 except for the idiots getting through college based on crying and helicopter parents slowing you down....YEARS of growth, learning, and money are lost.

I got lucky because I got "networked/word of mouthed" in to a technical position that was much higher up than I could have ever gotten without the word of a very highly respected friend already inside the job who was already a manager. I got lucky; most people have to struggle to overcome the lack of credibility inherent their degrees.

[Spiffums]

I shouldn't have to spend 6 to 8 more years in school and I should have a job that pays half a million a year right after they hand me that piece of paper with my name on it.

[Dragoncurry]

Yup. A college degree is like your ACT/SAT score......it help you gain entry in to college/the work force, but once you get there it all means nothing in the end and you start from zero. A degree is only good for trying to get that first shot at a job. It's unfortunate that colleges aren't tougher on their students and willing to do what is necessary to give their degrees credibility. Because of that most engineers are relegated to these soul suckingly awful positions that offer no challenge at all but still require some engineering knowledge. The company is forced to start even the smartest engineering students out with training wheels, arm floaties, and a safe space for feelings in fear of them causing serious damage because they can't trust a college degree to not produce a shithead.

Your reduced personal credibility from said shithead/terrible students being allowed to graduate doesn't end at the job search for the start of your career either oh no. This then slows your own career growth trajectory because you have to struggle your way up the ladder and out of the super training wheels basic position that offers little to no chance at all of proving you can take on the hard stuff. These super basic positions don't pay very well, and it takes years to prove your worth before you get in to a position and pay grade you should have started in from day 1 except for the idiots getting through college based on crying and helicopter parents slowing you down....YEARS of growth, learning, and money are lost.

I got lucky because I got "networked/word of mouthed" in to a technical position that was much higher up than I could have ever gotten without the word of a very highly respected friend already inside the job who was already a manager. I got lucky; most people have to struggle to overcome the lack of credibility inherent their degrees.

Haha exactly bro. I'm making 50K a year, because I am technically an entry level financial analyst starting a 2 years ago, and they have me doing like Vlookups and shit in Excel while their senior analysts churn out basic ass reports.

I consolidated all their reports and made dashboards across the companies entire divisions, and they seem super happy, but guess what. I can do all of this technical shit at a much higher level and it won't matter for ANOTHER 2 years because everyone has 6+ yrs of experience. Lol. Thanks my 2 masters, BS, and BA.

[Kuntantee]

It didn't take too long for people with shitty college degrees to shit on college education as a whole.

[Dragoncurry]

It didn't take too long for people with shitty college degrees to shit on college education as a whole.

My bad can you list the non-shitty college degrees? I certainly hope that list is longer than the list of shitty college degrees. Oh wait...

[Kretan]

Haha exactly bro. I'm making 50K a year, because I am technically an entry level financial analyst starting a 2 years ago, and they have me doing like Vlookups and shit in Excel while their senior analysts churn out basic ass reports.

I consolidated all their reports and made dashboards across the companies entire divisions, and they seem super happy, but guess what. I can do all of this technical shit at a much higher level and it won't matter for ANOTHER 2 years because everyone has 6+ yrs of experience. Lol. Thanks my 2 masters, BS, and BA.

Yeah even with my word of mouth/network, I had to agree to start at a lower salary than average for my field/degree with an understanding that if I proved myself I would get raised up in salary at an accelerated rate. Fortunately I got everything agreed upon and I will be given salary way beyond average for my area/experience, but I had to get really lucky to get an opportunity to accept less money for a job that would give me every chance to prove my worth because of a lack of credibility in degrees.

[Triggered Fridgekin]

We're closer and closer to eating from tubs of butter while watching Ow! My Balls! or the Masturbation Channel.

[The Stormbringer]

The 'below a C' thing is bullshit, but I actually don't see a big issue in the idea of expressing your knowledge through a conversation. Some people are better oriented towards verbal expression.

That said, I also think there might be some who are just illiterate trying to hide that, which I think shouldn't be allowed. If someone is illiterate and somehow they've slipped through the system for years without properly learning how to read and write, they damn well need to be taught.

[Kretan]

Ow my balls!

This movie is fantastic.

[enragedgorilla]

I would like to just buy my degree as well....shame it didn't work out that way, it would have been much easier if I could have just worked full time then got my degree in the mail after 4 years and the check clearing.
Not having to compete with other students ? Not having to listen to idiots asking questions already covered in the material? Not having to listen to TA's talk ...when I was paying for the "Professor" to do the job?
Yeah, would have loved that.

[Kretan]

The 'below a C' thing is bullshit, but I actually don't see a big issue in the idea of expressing your knowledge through a conversation. Some people are better oriented towards verbal expression.

That said, I also think there might be some who are just illiterate trying to hide that, which I think shouldn't be allowed. If someone is illiterate and somehow they've slipped through the system for years without properly learning how to read and write, they damn well need to be taught.

When I taught my class I gave written homework (very easy..20 minutes effort), lab reports (graded on writing ability and engineering content), and then one final project with a presentation that was graded off of oral questions. The written part is preferred more from a practicality sense than it is because it's better......60 oral exams can take an insane amount of time to have any meaningful depth to them.

[Damajin]

Shit, their coming reality is going to destroy these kids and that's just fine by me. Let them be wrecked, ruined and utterly fail at everything they do. Zero sympathy for them.

[Drakain]

Boy, they're in a for a rude awakening when they get out into the real word.

[Deleted]

To be fair, the current system is pretty garbage and places more emphasis on memorizing test answers over actually learning. Though this plan doesn't sound better.

This is how I feel as well, people with decent enough memory get a free pass in school up to an age of 18-22 and than it usually goes beyond just memorizing shit.

[Dragoncurry]

50k a year to do vlookups in Excel?

Where do you guys find these jobs? :|

Hahaha I oversimplified. I don't just do Vlookups in excel. The point was that with my degrees, I should be doing a lot more than what I'm doing now or compensated higher than I am, but won't be because of my lack of experience.

That's ofc partly due to my fault on relying on the education system, but I think it speaks to the uselessness of "Midterms".

[Polyxo]

So do they want like Montessori school style grading? Or just no Ds and Fs?

Some of the things they've suggested aren't bad ideas, just currently not feasible. You can't expect a professor to interview all of his students extensively on a subject in order to replace midterms. However, in the future, with natural language processing, and good AI, you could have a computer do it. It just can't be done now.

Also, it does make sense for a lot of students that they're not going to just drop everything they've been living and become shiny happy gated community middle classers. A lot of them are going to be social workers, or researchers in social science, back in the same urban communities they grew up in.

[Kellhound]

They are already taking classes you can miss most of and still pass with a "C". Liberal Arts degrees are mostly about putting money into the University for those seeking real degrees anyway, or giving athletes a degree while playing sports. The classes are stupid easy....