Favorite student emails

[Langue_doc]

2) hs teachers are very eager to be shown deference and respect from their students

Hah! Not here in the city. My neighbor, a high school teacher reports that she's been called every name under the sun except hers, especially the b-word. I've also been called the b-word by at least a couple of male students.

[apl68]

2) hs teachers are very eager to be shown deference and respect from their students

Hah! Not here in the city. My neighbor, a high school teacher reports that she's been called every name under the sun except hers, especially the b-word. I've also been called the b-word by at least a couple of male students.

If I witnessed somebody doing that to a staff member here, he would be out on his rear end.

[EdnaMode]

Hello Dr. Mode,

I understand that there is a standard for [deletes boring engineering standard stuff, which Stu got incorrect on his assignment]. I am by no means arguing with the standard just the fact of the circumstances in this case. I am in no way trying to be rude by continuing this argument. I just think the penalty on my assignment is unfair due to the fact that it was my whole intention to do it correctly.

Thank you,

Stu

At least he said thank you. Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

My reply was:

Stu,

The standards exist for a reason, please refer back to the assignment information. The points deducted for making that common mistake were indicated on the grading rubric, and on the assignment itself, as well as discussed at length in class before you started work. Your grade, as posted, is correct.

See you in class,

Dr. Mode

[Liquidambar]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I didn't intend for that bridge I designed to fall down...

[marshwiggle]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I didn't intend for that bridge I designed to fall down...

I guess Stu is unaware of the road surface on the way to Hell.

[apl68]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I didn't intend for that bridge I designed to fall down...

I didn't intend to adjust that torque wrench using the wrong units, and apply sixteen times the specified amount of torque, and twist the heads off all those bolts on the engine (True story shared by a vocational-technical teacher of my acquaintance).

[EdnaMode]

Thanks for the responses apl68, marshwiggle, and Liquidambar. I needed a good laugh today :)

[fosca]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

[marshwiggle]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

Participation trophies are so 90's; intention trophies are where it's at now! Who cares about all that pesky effort; after all, it's the thought that counts.

[EdnaMode]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

Participation trophies are so 90's; intention trophies are where it's at now! Who cares about all that pesky effort; after all, it's the thought that counts.

I didn't intend to get middle-aged and gain weight and get wrinkles... I want an intention trophy that will magically make me look young again.

Seriously though, I know I make some of these students angry by saying no to their requests for leniency. But I also figure that it is part of my job to make them understand that rules are rules, standards are standards, and if they want to advance in their career as an engineer without killing somebody or making million dollar mistakes, they need to pay attention to the details.

[apl68]

I've seen video of an engineer who signed off on a fatally-flawed project that ultimately caused a number of fatalities issue a mea culpa in an interview.  He accepted that the buck stopped with him.  It must have been one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

[EdnaMode]

I've seen video of an engineer who signed off on a fatally-flawed project that ultimately caused a number of fatalities issue a mea culpa in an interview.  He accepted that the buck stopped with him.  It must have been one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

We talk about things like that with our students a lot. One colleague, when covering ethics, shows videos of the man who signed off on the KC Hyatt Regency Skywalk, someone who messed up on a bridge, and a couple others I can't remember. I tell my students that often the BIG mistakes, someone will usually catch, it's the little ones, changing a fastener, incorrect rounding when calculating a load, etc., that cost a lot of money to fix and/or potentially kill people. Sometimes I think they all believe that it couldn't happen to them, that when they have a real job, they'll pay more attention than what they do in class.

[apl68]

I've seen video of an engineer who signed off on a fatally-flawed project that ultimately caused a number of fatalities issue a mea culpa in an interview.  He accepted that the buck stopped with him.  It must have been one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

We talk about things like that with our students a lot. One colleague, when covering ethics, shows videos of the man who signed off on the KC Hyatt Regency Skywalk, someone who messed up on a bridge, and a couple others I can't remember. I tell my students that often the BIG mistakes, someone will usually catch, it's the little ones, changing a fastener, incorrect rounding when calculating a load, etc., that cost a lot of money to fix and/or potentially kill people. Sometimes I think they all believe that it couldn't happen to them, that when they have a real job, they'll pay more attention than what they do in class.

I think the Hyatt Regency disaster was the one I had in mind.  I saw a documentary about that quite recently.  Yes, that seemed like such a small modification, and yet proved so catastrophic.  Even a lay observer can see--certainly in hindsight--that that was a bad idea.  And yet somehow somebody had a lapse and didn't think it through, and nobody else caught it.

I can see why the retired engineer who used to be my main boss on the library's Board of Trustees was so obsessive about keeping an eye on every detail.  Whenever I have cause to go through the old records and specs on our building's construction around the turn of the century, the amount of detail involved is mind-boggling.  And this is just a relatively small single-story structure, built on a slab on level ground, with no architecturally radical or daring features.

I hope that budding engineers not only have to go through high-standards courses to graduate, but are also still subjected to rigorous on-the-job, real-world apprenticeship work before they can advance far enough to do any damage.  My father wanted to be an engineer, but was called to preach and studied for the ministry instead.  He continued to support the family as a mason.  When I worked for him in the summers, he was very insistent on paying attention and doing a proper job in every aspect of the work.  That was an education in itself that carried over into my college career and my work today.

[poiuy]

My father wanted to be an engineer, but was called to preach and studied for the ministry instead.  He continued to support the family as a mason.  When I worked for him in the summers, he was very insistent on paying attention and doing a proper job in every aspect of the work.  That was an education in itself that carried over into my college career and my work today.

My father was an engineer, and his obsession for detail was legendary. The house he supervised construction of is standing unscathed almost 40 years later, while other structures around develop leaks, cracks, tilts, whatnot. At the time however, his meticulousness and refusal to budge an iota drove the contractor and my mother crazy and prolonged the construction time greatly.

I am sorry to say I am way more slapdash (I am not an engineer thankfully), but off and on, his meticulous ways re-emerge in me (and siblings), and we never regret it when we follow that path.

[fosca]

Does he really think he should earn points because he didn't intend to do it incorrectly? Ugh. I've heard a lot of excuses over the years, but this at least is a new spin on things.

I swear all of my plagiarists say this and seem to assume that I'll just automatically say "Well, that's all right then, no penalty for you!"  I do know they get really indignant when I don't say that.

Participation trophies are so 90's; intention trophies are where it's at now! Who cares about all that pesky effort; after all, it's the thought that counts.

I really, really wanted to suggest to one of my plagiarists using this excuse that if they actually wanted to go into criminal justice they might want to consider what a plagiarism note in their file might do to that future.  But I suspect that would be considered being too mean.