Are your students needlessly stupid?

[Skat Bo]

And of your students aren't challenged enough, than you should try harder to impress upon them that they don't know everything, Yahweh. I know someone who looks at things philosophicaly, and he never feels he's wrong. Try to debate him, you lose. He talks you into corners too, ba*****. , if he had a teacher like you, he might be able to discuss with you like an equal, really debating you and getting to the bottom of his arguments, possibly learning more than the rest of your class because of it.

And for the slow ones, just joke with them - they're stuck with you as much as you are with them, so might as well make some friends (and bodyguards).

 

[Yahweh]

Philosophy is not a class about debating (that doesnt mean theres never been at least few good ones). Its a class about learning how to understand using logic. No one is really fast or slow in my class. Philosophy is an amazingly easy topic to discuss and pick up. I make my class fun. Its a "playful" (for lack of better words) class.

 

[gnome]

I'm not sure of whether this is a situation that has occured in different places or not, but I can 100% vouch for it having occured in 1994 at QUT in one of my life-science tutorials. I know this because I was sitting directly behind the girl who asked it. We later became good friends (now get those dirty thoughts out of your heads....I know what you're thinking!). And it wasn't for show - she was so embarrassed (not the sharpest tool in the shed, mind you), she ran out of the room close to tears.

Mind you, we all thought it was pretty funny.

I got pretty angry when I later shared that story, only to be told it was an urban myth. So whether the story spread (I'd doubt it), or it has happened elsewhere, or what, I don't know.

But it did happen!

This caught my attention... if it truly did happen it is an example of "ostention" where an established legend coincidentally becomes true.

http://www.snopes.com/college/sex/salty.htm

Their story was collected in 1993 off the internet, and was recalled as being "from the 80s."

However, they mention that they have heard many claims from people to have been present for such an incident.

I would wonder if your recollection of the incident has slightly morphed as a result of exposure to the legend...

For example, did she really run from the room? This is an element very common in urban legends but less so in reality, I am led to believe.

Excuse my curiosity, I don't mean to doubt you but the subject (UL's) fascinates me. If there was something about it that might be especially convincing it could wind up on their page as a case of ostention.

 

[Tony]

"I should have liked to be asked to say what I knew. They always tried to ask what I did not know. When I would have willingly displayed my knowledge, they sought to expose my ignorance. This sort of treatment had only one result: I did not do well on examinations.
This was especially true of my Entrance Examination to Harrow. The Headmaster, Dr.Weldon, however, took a broad-minded view of my Latin prose; he showed descernment in judging my general ability. This was the more remarkable, because I was found unable to answer a single question in the Latin paper. I wrote my name at the top of the page. I wrote down the number of the question '1'. After much reflection I put a bracket round it thus '(1)'. But thereafter I could not think of anything connected with it that was either relevant or true. Incidentally there arrived from nowhere in particular a blot and several smudges. I gazed for two whole hours at this sad spectacle; and then merciful ushers collected my piece of foolscap with all the others and carried it up to the Headmaster's table. It was from these slender indications of scholarship that Dr.Welldon drew the conclusion that I was worthy to pass into Harrow. It is very much to his credit."

Who wrote this? And what was the learning disability that he suffered from?

I believe this is from "Churchill: A Life" by Martin Gilbert.

 

[Hypocolius]

Who wrote this? And what was the learning disability that he suffered from?

Churchill of course. Clearly not many Brits reading this thread as it's one of the best known anecdotes about him.

 

[Azathoth]

I don't want to go into the many lame excuses I've heard or flagrant cheating I've discovered, but as for 'stupidity', one of my favorite stories is from when I was a Physics TA.
A student couldn't solve a problem because there appeared to be missing information. It involved the rotation of the Earth, but no hard data was given. The ensuing Socratic dialogue went something like this:

Student: But what's the angular velocity of the earth?
Azathoth: Well, what is the period of the Earth's rotation?
S: I don't know that!
A: Sure you do... How long does it take for the earth to complete one rotation?
S: I don't know!
A: Well.... what's it called when the earth turns around once?
S: Ummmm....
A: We're standing on the earth, and as it turns, we see different things, right?
S: Ummmm....
A: What do you call it when the earth is turned so that you can't see the sun anymore?
S: Ummmm.... an eclipse?

I couldn't help breaking into laughter.

I recently taught for a year at a Catholic girls' high school (No, this is not a Penthouse letter). Nearly all the students were abysmally prepared in math. I understand that the Catholic K-8 schools hardly even bother to teach math, and it showed. I'd say that a sizeable fraction of the seniors in the regular physics classes couldn't reliably solve a linear equation.

My girlfriend has a lot of more amusing stories of when she taught History. A bungled equation is just a bungled equation, but getting an essay in which the ancient Egyptians are described as Christian is golden.
I think her favorite was a map test, where the students had to match placenames with numbered dots on a map of the Mediterranean. One person had located Mecca in Sicily. I like to imagine the devout Muslims going on the hajj, riding their sea-going camels.

As much as I know that my education doesn't match that of 1900, when every college graduate knew classical Latin and Greek, I know that the generation after me seems to be even more badly prepared. Poor preparation and lowered standards seem to feed off each other, and now college has basically turned into high school.

 

[Sundog]

I used to tutor English at the College level, and it was appalling how bad these students wrote, and then when I corrected them or explained simple rules, so many would argue with me, and state that it didn't really matter.

Oh my. Rosencranz, is your award still alive?

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Re: I teach computer classes to retired and seniors

Adults are generally easier to teach than kids, but this doesn't hold true with computers.

My lab is open to the general public right before class, and I have to boot out the hangers on with a great deal of firmness.

Last Friday, one of these hangers on was in a panic over an e-mail. I said: "You can go ahead and finish what you're doing, but I need the lab for my class"

"Help me!" she said.
"Whats the problem?" I ventured helpfully.
"I can't send or save this e-mail!" I walked over and glanced at her desktop. In the address line of the e-mail was an actual street address. I'm well known for being a patient, non-patronizing sort, but I found myself biting back laughter.
"You need to put an e-mail address in that line."
"Whats that?"
"You have an e-mail account, and you're in it right now. In order to send that, you need to put in a user name followed by an @whatever dot com. Just like what you registered to get your account"
"But I don't want to send it now".
"I thought you said you were having difficulty sending it"
"Well, I AM going to send it, but I need to print it first."
"Do you mean you want to physically send this?"
"Yes."
"Why don't you just type it up in Word?
"Oh...thats too hard."

I found out that she had been using e-mail as a wordprocessor for some time; she refused to believe that messages were actually sent electronically. She typed out a message and printed it, affixed a stamp...that was e-mail.

Hey, can I email that to a few people? It won't be a 'look how dumb this person is' scenario. Just a fun anecdote to add to some others.

 

[KelvinG]

Re: Re: I teach computer classes to retired and seniors

Hey, can I email that to a few people? It won't be a 'look how dumb this person is' scenario. Just a fun anecdote to add to some others.

Personally I think it plays better as a "look how dumb this person is" scenario.

 

[Eos of the Eons]

Yeah, and there are other scenarios where things should be obvious. There's a news story about a mom who left her two kids in the bath tub and went outside to talk to a neighbor (one under 1, the other around two but handicapped) and claims she didn't know they could drown after she found them dead. Didn't see if she was charged with anything like child neglect.

Some people are just stupid, but that stupid??

The story was sent with this

"it reminds us how pre-conceptions can lead to confusion and 'difficulty' "

so not to be too harsh. It's got to be good for a lot of laughs.