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nightmare wrote:Based on the story, it sounds like one of the classes is for people who want to learn about chemistry in community college and the other is for people who want an easy A on their transcript next to the word chemistry.

Was that too honest?

Nope.

I wanted to find out if Thao Shirley Nguyen spoke English as her first language. So I googled her name.

Remind me not to ever make a weird mistake.

The google search was just filled with this story. From USA Today to you name what blog, it was about the teacher teaching the wrong course. I could not find anything on her except this story. Its going to be rough getting a different job.

So you have to give her credit for being honest. That's not found much these days. In some circles you never admit a mistake or a blunder, its just deny deny deny. blame someone else and deny some more.

My first point was, I remember how hard it was when a class was taught by a GTA, and the GTA spoke English as a second language. If that is the case, no wonder they did bad. However, if your really a straight A student, introduction to chemistry and general chemistry should not be that different. Chemistry 2, sure a big difference.

However, introduction to chemistry could be a real easy course for people getting a degree in (you fill in the blank) vs. someone who is going to take Chemistry 2 and be a geologist or an engineer.

philip964 wrote:My first point was, I remember how hard it was when a class was taught by a GTA, and the GTA spoke English as a second language. If that is the case, no wonder they did bad. However, if your really a straight A student, introduction to chemistry and general chemistry should not be that different. Chemistry 2, sure a big difference.

This is a community college so I doubt they have GTAs.

I remember taking a Chemistry lab from a GTA who was from Hong Kong. At the beginning of the lab he explained to the students the purpose of the experiment: We had to measure the "Waypa Presha" of an organic liquid.
At the end of his explanation, probably 90% of the class had no idea what he was taking about.

Edited to add: I don't have any experience in this, but maybe some of instructors at the community colleges are graduate students from local universities.

WildBill wrote:I remember taking a Chemistry lab from a GTA who was from Hong Kong. At the beginning of the lab he explained to the students the purpose of the experiment: We had to measure the "Waypa Presha" of a liquid. Probably 90% of the class had no idea what he was taking about.

I hope he didn't ask a cop where they keep the nuclear wessels.

nightmare wrote:

WildBill wrote:I remember taking a Chemistry lab from a GTA who was from Hong Kong. At the beginning of the lab he explained to the students the purpose of the experiment: We had to measure the "Waypa Presha" of a liquid. Probably 90% of the class had no idea what he was taking about.

I hope he didn't ask a cop where they keep the nuclear wessels.

This was a long time ago when most wessels still ran on gasarine.

nightmare wrote:Based on the story, it sounds like one of the classes is for people who want to learn about chemistry in community college and the other is for people who want an easy A on their transcript next to the word chemistry.

Was that too honest?

Sorta true, but another way to look at it is this: does someone who is majoring in accounting or, say, emergency management need to take the same chemistry course as someone whose major is pre-med or chemical engineering.

n5wd wrote:

nightmare wrote:Based on the story, it sounds like one of the classes is for people who want to learn about chemistry in community college and the other is for people who want an easy A on their transcript next to the word chemistry.

Was that too honest?

Sorta true, but another way to look at it is this: does someone who is majoring in accounting or, say, emergency management need to take the same chemistry course as someone whose major is pre-med or chemical engineering.

Emergency management, yes.

Chemistry....easy?

Maybe for you. I fought tooth and nail and studied my butt off in High School to just get a B (and I was a 4 A 2B sort of person). If you want to take an easy A course I reccomend oceanography. If you can multiply, divide, and read a book with comprehension you can get through it no problem.

I remember complaining about the final for Physics 1.

An interior decorating major said there Physics final was easy.

There physics course was called "man's physical world".

Some courses of study are harder than others.

Of course to this day, I have not had a need to calculate the velocity required to achieve a 200 mile orbit of Earth, but if it ever comes up, I'm ready.

philip964 wrote:I remember complaining about the final for Physics 1.

An interior decorating major said there Physics final was easy.

There physics course was called "man's physical world".

Some courses of study are harder than others.

Of course to this day, I have not had a need to calculate the velocity required to achieve a 200 mile orbit of Earth, but if it ever comes up, I'm ready.

This must have been a long time ago. Today it would be "Humankind's Physical World."

I am not very familiar with today's vernacular, but we used to call them "Mickey Mouse" courses.

WildBill wrote:

philip964 wrote:I remember complaining about the final for Physics 1.

An interior decorating major said there Physics final was easy.

There physics course was called "man's physical world".

Some courses of study are harder than others.

Of course to this day, I have not had a need to calculate the velocity required to achieve a 200 mile orbit of Earth, but if it ever comes up, I'm ready.

This must have been a long time ago. Today it would be "Humankind's Physical World."

I am not very familiar with today's vernacular, but we used to call them "Mickey Mouse" courses.

I think it would actually be "The Physical World That Humankind is Destroying."

But the difference in classes can be very significant. My "Physics for Engineers" classes were significantly harder than the same school's "Physics" classes. The most significant difference was the application of calculus - the basic classes solved simple formulas based on theoretical points while the engineering classes applied those formulas to complex, real-world shapes that required integration of he formulas.

But Powell maintains: “They were taught the right class.”
So we asked about the possibility of an investigation.

“As a rule we don’t do investigations of classes,” said Powell.

KHOU: “I’m asking about a formal investigation by the college after a teacher allegedly told students that she taught the wrong class.”

Powell: “No. We wouldn’t do a formal investigation.”

After all, lawyers need work too.

VoiceofReason wrote:But Powell maintains: “They were taught the right class.”
So we asked about the possibility of an investigation.

“As a rule we don’t do investigations of classes,” said Powell.

KHOU: “I’m asking about a formal investigation by the college after a teacher allegedly told students that she taught the wrong class.”

Powell: “No. We wouldn’t do a formal investigation.”

After all, lawyers need work too.

This is one significant problem with education today - the idea that teachers can never be wrong. When customers complain, always assume the employee is correct. Granted, they are dealing with a segment of society that is known to complain a lot about everything, but to have a blanket policy of not investigating classes is ridiculous. I bet dollar signs, in the form of tuition refunds, factor into the policy.

WildBill wrote:

philip964 wrote:My first point was, I remember how hard it was when a class was taught by a GTA, and the GTA spoke English as a second language. If that is the case, no wonder they did bad. However, if your really a straight A student, introduction to chemistry and general chemistry should not be that different. Chemistry 2, sure a big difference.

This is a community college so I doubt they have GTAs.

I remember taking a Chemistry lab from a GTA who was from Hong Kong. At the beginning of the lab he explained to the students the purpose of the experiment: We had to measure the "Waypa Presha" of an organic liquid.
At the end of his explanation, probably 90% of the class had no idea what he was taking about.

Edited to add: I don't have any experience in this, but maybe some of instructors at the community colleges are graduate students from local universities.

I have been attending Tarrant County College for the past 2 years. Every instructor I have had either has a PhD or a Masters and is working on PhD.

MasterOfNone wrote:

VoiceofReason wrote:But Powell maintains: “They were taught the right class.”
So we asked about the possibility of an investigation.

“As a rule we don’t do investigations of classes,” said Powell.

KHOU: “I’m asking about a formal investigation by the college after a teacher allegedly told students that she taught the wrong class.”

Powell: “No. We wouldn’t do a formal investigation.”

After all, lawyers need work too.

This is one significant problem with education today - the idea that teachers can never be wrong. When customers complain, always assume the employee is correct. Granted, they are dealing with a segment of society that is known to complain a lot about everything, but to have a blanket policy of not investigating classes is ridiculous. I bet dollar signs, in the form of tuition refunds, factor into the policy.

I don't think this is a new problem. I had a few profs that were total idiots and incompetent, but complaints by students fell on deaf ears. I have never even heard the concept of tuition refunds.