this is fucked up.
for most of this semester an instructor has been telling us about an extra credit project. the syllabus mentions it, something along the lines of there will be 2 opportunities for an extra credit assignment that will count as 10% of the final grade. the instructor mentioned time and time again the deadlines for signing up for an extra credit assignment.
then today, well after the deadline dates have passed, the instructor explains that the extra credit project was in fact obligatory. obligatory. not optional. obligatory. there was an unusual, hushed silence in the large auditorium as the instructor explained this.
i had understood that the extra credit project was optional. ya know, extra. that was why i chose not to sign up for an extra credit project.
so this afternoon i went to his office to see him about this. after sitting down across from him i stated that i have a problem with the extra credit assignment. the instructor flew off the handle. he seemed quite livid as he strenuously reminded me how often he had explained the extra credit project and how to sign up for it and who to talk with etc etc. by the end of his tirade he was pounding the side of his hand on the desk. he finished saying that was it that was the end of it. saying this he made an unmistakable motion toward the door with the pounding hand.
i took that as the sign to leave because he was fed up with and tired of explaining the hows and whens of the extra credit project. so i stood and turned to leave. he hollered for my name. i told him. he said he was dropping me from the class.
baffled i stopped and stood at the door. "What? Why?"
he said he would drop me because i wouldn't sit down and finish the conversation. i sat and tried to explain that i thought he had ended it.
he went into another tirade about irresponsible students and how he knows what's going on here and how i've been irresponsible and it's my own fault &c...
eventually he gave me my grades for the class as of now and explained that he would give me an opportunity to do a project for the remaining 10% if and only if i got a 90 or better on the next test.
i said okay and we parted ways.
i'm not the only person in the class who misunderstood the nature of this so-called extra credit project. i haven't missed any class days; i was there every time he explained how to sign up for the extra credit project and whatnot. but what was different about today was that this was the first time he made it clear that the extra credit project was not optional. he even admitted that he should not have called it extra credit.
so now i feel i must pick a fight with the instructor. a classmate and i want to take our complaint to the next level.
the syllabus did not make it clear that the project was not optional.
the only place it does reference the necessity of the project is a mathematical formula to compute the final grade. how many times have you seen a typo on a syllabus? who investigates a mathematical formula on a syllabus for a non-mathematical course to determine the import of something labeled extra credit?
the odd hush during the explanation in class today indicates, to me at least, that many many other students in this class of nearly 500 people were under the same impression -- the extra credit was optional.
he never explicitly explained the obligational nature of the extra credit until today.
one day, during class, a student walked out in the middle of the lecture. this instructor ordered an assistant to catch the person in the hall and get the student's name so that he could drop the student from the class. this man seems quick to anger, quick to judge, and seems to overreact. he never gave me a chance to explain or elaborate on my initial statement, that i had a problem with this extra credit project.
i don't want blood. i don't want revenge.
something just would be fine.
please excuse me. i am off to investigate my rights and responsibilities as a student at this school, as well as those of an instructor.
for most of this semester an instructor has been telling us about an extra credit project. the syllabus mentions it, something along the lines of there will be 2 opportunities for an extra credit assignment that will count as 10% of the final grade. the instructor mentioned time and time again the deadlines for signing up for an extra credit assignment.
then today, well after the deadline dates have passed, the instructor explains that the extra credit project was in fact obligatory. obligatory. not optional. obligatory. there was an unusual, hushed silence in the large auditorium as the instructor explained this.
i had understood that the extra credit project was optional. ya know, extra. that was why i chose not to sign up for an extra credit project.
so this afternoon i went to his office to see him about this. after sitting down across from him i stated that i have a problem with the extra credit assignment. the instructor flew off the handle. he seemed quite livid as he strenuously reminded me how often he had explained the extra credit project and how to sign up for it and who to talk with etc etc. by the end of his tirade he was pounding the side of his hand on the desk. he finished saying that was it that was the end of it. saying this he made an unmistakable motion toward the door with the pounding hand.
i took that as the sign to leave because he was fed up with and tired of explaining the hows and whens of the extra credit project. so i stood and turned to leave. he hollered for my name. i told him. he said he was dropping me from the class.
baffled i stopped and stood at the door. "What? Why?"
he said he would drop me because i wouldn't sit down and finish the conversation. i sat and tried to explain that i thought he had ended it.
he went into another tirade about irresponsible students and how he knows what's going on here and how i've been irresponsible and it's my own fault &c...
eventually he gave me my grades for the class as of now and explained that he would give me an opportunity to do a project for the remaining 10% if and only if i got a 90 or better on the next test.
i said okay and we parted ways.
i'm not the only person in the class who misunderstood the nature of this so-called extra credit project. i haven't missed any class days; i was there every time he explained how to sign up for the extra credit project and whatnot. but what was different about today was that this was the first time he made it clear that the extra credit project was not optional. he even admitted that he should not have called it extra credit.
so now i feel i must pick a fight with the instructor. a classmate and i want to take our complaint to the next level.
the syllabus did not make it clear that the project was not optional.
the only place it does reference the necessity of the project is a mathematical formula to compute the final grade. how many times have you seen a typo on a syllabus? who investigates a mathematical formula on a syllabus for a non-mathematical course to determine the import of something labeled extra credit?
the odd hush during the explanation in class today indicates, to me at least, that many many other students in this class of nearly 500 people were under the same impression -- the extra credit was optional.
he never explicitly explained the obligational nature of the extra credit until today.
one day, during class, a student walked out in the middle of the lecture. this instructor ordered an assistant to catch the person in the hall and get the student's name so that he could drop the student from the class. this man seems quick to anger, quick to judge, and seems to overreact. he never gave me a chance to explain or elaborate on my initial statement, that i had a problem with this extra credit project.
i don't want blood. i don't want revenge.
something just would be fine.
please excuse me. i am off to investigate my rights and responsibilities as a student at this school, as well as those of an instructor.