Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

You should show up in a purple cloak with an astrolabe and tell 'em your name is Laurie Cabot ...

M.

Ha! I blow their minds when I tell them there is a 13th constellation of the Zodiac and they get all anxious about their signs changing.

[ciao_yall]

Holy cannoli!

How many students are going to call astronomy --> 'astrology?'

Ugh!

At least there won't be any math!   <<Leaves room with evil laughter...>>

My best GenEd student quote was something along the lines of "this is the third astrology course I've taken and I still can't pass."  Which was almost as good as the student at an elite university that said, during office hours, "I don't understand 4 pi r squared. I read greek and that does not make any sense."

Because pi r not square. Pie are round.

[downer]

Holy cannoli!

How many students are going to call astronomy --> 'astrology?'

Ugh!

At least there won't be any math!   <<Leaves room with evil laughter...>>

My best GenEd student quote was something along the lines of "this is the third astrology course I've taken and I still can't pass."  Which was almost as good as the student at an elite university that said, during office hours, "I don't understand 4 pi r squared. I read greek and that does not make any sense."

Because pi r not square. Pie are round.

Ummmm. Debatable. https://momath.org/square-pie/

[apl68]

You should show up in a purple cloak with an astrolabe and tell 'em your name is Laurie Cabot ...

M.

Ha! I blow their minds when I tell them there is a 13th constellation of the Zodiac and they get all anxious about their signs changing.

All I know is that if the Age of Aquarius dawned decades ago like the song says, it hasn't lived up to expectations.

[the_geneticist]

You should show up in a purple cloak with an astrolabe and tell 'em your name is Laurie Cabot ...

M.

Ha! I blow their minds when I tell them there is a 13th constellation of the Zodiac and they get all anxious about their signs changing.

You could always go all Harry Potter style astronomy and tell them that they all need to buy telescopes & meet you on top of the tallest tower at midnight.

[Stockmann]

Holy cannoli!

How many students are going to call astronomy --> 'astrology?'

Ugh!

At least there won't be any math!   <<Leaves room with evil laughter...>>

My best GenEd student quote was something along the lines of "this is the third astrology course I've taken and I still can't pass."  Which was almost as good as the student at an elite university that said, during office hours, "I don't understand 4 pi r squared. I read greek and that does not make any sense."

Maybe they're reading Pythagoras, who would've surely agreed pi, being irrational, is ridiculous and can't exist.

[mamselle]

Send them to the University of Bern, which has just used math to solve an astronomy problem....

   https://phys.org/news/2021-08-mathematical-solutions-problem-astronomy.html

A-hem...

M.

[waterboy]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

I feel your pain. I had someone ask me what a 'prelab' was today.

[dismalist]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

I feel your pain. I had someone ask me what a 'prelab' was today.

What is a prelab? About a billion years ago we had these labs in which test tubes were made to clash and then we reported the results. Is this, like, pre-clash? :-)

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

I feel your pain. I had someone ask me what a 'prelab' was today.

What is a prelab? About a billion years ago we had these labs in which test tubes were made to clash and then we reported the results. Is this, like, pre-clash? :-)

It's a quiz that they take after reading the background material for the lab. It's outlined in the syllabus. :)

[dismalist]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

I feel your pain. I had someone ask me what a 'prelab' was today.

What is a prelab? About a billion years ago we had these labs in which test tubes were made to clash and then we reported the results. Is this, like, pre-clash? :-)

It's a quiz that they take after reading the background material for the lab. It's outlined in the syllabus. :)

Got it: It's the entrance ticket to the lab! :-)

[the_geneticist]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

I feel your pain. I had someone ask me what a 'prelab' was today.

I've had to explain that the entire point of the quiz at the start of lab is to motivate students to show up prepared for lab.  Yes, I know that students will do better on the quiz at the end of lab since they will have certainly read the lab materials by then.  No, students cannot take the quiz at the end of lab.
The kicker: I had to explain this to the lab TA

[marshwiggle]

New complaint - does anyone read the freaking syllabus anymore? Even after I told them multiples times? Anybody? Anywhere? Class time is CLEARLY marked.  Hmmppff.

I feel your pain. I had someone ask me what a 'prelab' was today.

I've had to explain that the entire point of the quiz at the start of lab is to motivate students to show up prepared for lab. 

Been there, done that. You have my sympathy.

[quote.
Yes, I know that students will do better on the quiz at the end of lab since they will have certainly read the lab materials by then.  No, students cannot take the quiz at the end of lab.
[/quote]

Mine close before the labs start for the week to make this clear. (Of course, that doesn't mean everyone gets it.)

The kicker: I had to explain this to the lab TA

Ow! I did have a TA just not show up to a lab and then when I checked my email he had emailed that he skipped the lab to study for his midterm. I hope he's never an air traffic controller or firefighter.

[apl68]

About a billion years ago we had these labs in which test tubes were made to clash and then we reported the results.

A combination music and science lab?  Sounds like an interesting pedagogical experiment!