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

[smallcleanrat]

Proctoring an exam for an upper level course for majors, one of the exam questions was something like "Name 2 molecules that are essential for Biological Process X."

I had over a dozen students wave me over so they could ask: "Does a protein count as a molecule?"

It got worse.

One student asked me, "Is a cell considered a molecule?"

Another student: "When the exam says 'molecule', does that mean, like, a certain population of cells?"

If this were a gen ed course for non-majors I would find these questions disappointing. As a required course aimed at juniors and seniors in the major, I find them rather frightening. It's not like "molecule" is some obscure technical term. Is it not typical for the concept of molecules to be taught at least by the end of middle school? Certainly by the end of high school, I would hope. And they must have encountered the word many times over in their first two years of college science courses... What happened?

[mamselle]

We learned it in seventh-grade science.

By the 10th grade, we had to write  down 10 cell organelles and define them (some of which had been identified and described only a few years before....). I could probably still do them....we had an exigent biology teacher.

My 11th grade English composition paper was on the "Chronological History of the Discovery of the Chemical Elements" (my 10th grade paper was on the history of ballet..).

So...yeah.

M.

[Aster]

Proctoring an exam for an upper level course for majors, one of the exam questions was something like "Name 2 molecules that are essential for Biological Process X."

I had over a dozen students wave me over so they could ask: "Does a protein count as a molecule?"

It got worse.

One student asked me, "Is a cell considered a molecule?"

Another student: "When the exam says 'molecule', does that mean, like, a certain population of cells?"

If this were a gen ed course for non-majors I would find these questions disappointing. As a required course aimed at juniors and seniors in the major, I find them rather frightening. It's not like "molecule" is some obscure technical term. Is it not typical for the concept of molecules to be taught at least by the end of middle school? Certainly by the end of high school, I would hope. And they must have encountered the word many times over in their first two years of college science courses... What happened?

This is modern America. Many secondary schools no longer teach basic chemistry. Or they do teach it, but a high percentage of high school students flunk it, but those students are given a high school diploma anyway.

But you said that you were proctoring an upper division majors course, so I'm not sure how any of these students got through freshman biology. They could not have passed freshman biology with the level of knowledge gaps you are describing. It would just not be possible.

They would also have been required to have anywhere between 1-2 years of chemistry already as well if they were junior/senior biology majors.

So unless they took their science courses fully online at Grand Canyon or Keiser and were just a money funnel for the corporate shareholders, these students should be not only exposed to basic freshman biology/chemistry vocabulary but well also well familiar with it.

If these unfortunately incompetent students took their freshman biology and chemistry at your university, then your university has a very serious problem with some of its faculty.

[the_geneticist]

Proctoring an exam for an upper level course for majors, one of the exam questions was something like "Name 2 molecules that are essential for Biological Process X."

I had over a dozen students wave me over so they could ask: "Does a protein count as a molecule?"

It got worse.

One student asked me, "Is a cell considered a molecule?"

Another student: "When the exam says 'molecule', does that mean, like, a certain population of cells?"

If this were a gen ed course for non-majors I would find these questions disappointing. As a required course aimed at juniors and seniors in the major, I find them rather frightening. It's not like "molecule" is some obscure technical term. Is it not typical for the concept of molecules to be taught at least by the end of middle school? Certainly by the end of high school, I would hope. And they must have encountered the word many times over in their first two years of college science courses... What happened?

Honestly, I'm not too surprised. They might have been having a panic-ing moment of uncertainty.  I'm sure they remember that an ion is a molecule, but might be forgetting that a protein is a molecule too.  For the whole "is a population of cells a molecule?" student, I have no idea.  I pity whoever has to grade that question.

[apl68]

I suspected that some students weren't taking notes or doing the reading for this course, but the answers on the first exam are surprisingly bad.

Q: Define "Visible Sanctity" and explain how it applies to Rowlandson's captivity narrative?

A: She's a liar and everyone knows that she's a liar but now she's in the public eye and we know it.

Q: List some of the main tenets of Enlightenment thinking and explain how either Paine or Franklin demonstrate those tenets.

A: Paine says that we should do what makes us feel good, like Buddhism.

Q: What was the spiritual and emotional movement that arose in the 1730s in response to Enlightenment thinking?

A: Somnambulism

Q: Where does Crevecouer argue that Americans get their "goodness and virtue?"

A: In the essay.

Q: Define "perverse" and explain how it applies to Charles Brockden Brown's story?

A: Charles says that we have to perverse our way of life and make America great again

.

Reminds me of the Colonial Latin America course I assisted with years ago.  We gave an exam that yielded all kinds of nuggets like this.  This was at a "U.S. News & World Report" top 25 university, too.

Love the one about Thomas Paine and Buddhism. 

[onthefringe]

I suspected that some students weren't taking notes or doing the reading for this course, but the answers on the first exam are surprisingly bad.

Q: Where does Crevecouer argue that Americans get their "goodness and virtue?"

A: In the essay.

I like the one about "perverse"-ing our culture.

But I have to admit I had a brain cramp with the one above. Did you mean "where" as in "in what work" did he describe it or where as in "from where" do Americans get their goodness?

The answer is wrong in both cases, but it's also a pretty cute way to acknowledge  "I can't remember"  if you wanted the title of the essay...

[RatGuy]

I suspected that some students weren't taking notes or doing the reading for this course, but the answers on the first exam are surprisingly bad.

Q: Where does Crevecouer argue that Americans get their "goodness and virtue?"

A: In the essay.

I like the one about "perverse"-ing our culture.

But I have to admit I had a brain cramp with the one above. Did you mean "where" as in "in what work" did he describe it or where as in "from where" do Americans get their goodness?

The answer is wrong in both cases, but it's also a pretty cute way to acknowledge  "I can't remember"  if you wanted the title of the essay...

I was hoping for "the soil" or "geography" or somewhere in that ballpark. It's a literal "where," but I guess I'll have to reword that question for future exams.

[mythbuster]

To smallclean rat. I just wrote my exam for upper level (Jr/Sr majors) microbiology. One question asks them to rank items in order of increasing size. The terms include glucose (a molecule), hemoglobin ( a protein), a bacteria, and a human cell. I know from past experience that many students fell this is one of the hardest test questions I have ever written!

So it's not just you.

[smallcleanrat]

...

So unless they took their science courses fully online at Grand Canyon or Keiser and were just a money funnel for the corporate shareholders, these students should be not only exposed to basic freshman biology/chemistry vocabulary but well also well familiar with it.

If these unfortunately incompetent students took their freshman biology and chemistry at your university, then your university has a very serious problem with some of its faculty.

This was exactly why I was so perplexed and, frankly, disturbed. They had to have read/heard about molecules so many times to get to this course. Like the_geneticist suggests, some of this could have simply been exam nerves making them second-guess themselves; and I've definitely blanked on basic knowledge when in a state of high anxiety. But I was surprised by the sheer number of students who seemed to have stumbled upon reading this question. Perhaps, since proteins are so often composed of subunits, they weren't sure if a protein would be considered a single molecule?

Honestly, I'm not too surprised. They might have been having a panic-ing moment of uncertainty.  I'm sure they remember that an ion is a molecule, but might be forgetting that a protein is a molecule too.  For the whole "is a population of cells a molecule?" student, I have no idea.  I pity whoever has to grade that question.

As for the "population of cells" query...the only thing I can think of is the possibility the student somehow muddled "molecule" with "module" (as in a network of cells/cell populations contributing to a particular physiological function). But that seems a bit of a stretch...

Generally, I'm not supposed to help students with definitions during exams, but the first student asking the question surprised me so much, I said, "Wha..? Yes! A protein is a molecule!" before I could stop myself. So for the sake of fairness, I verified this for everyone that asked. For the students who wondered whether cells are molecules: "N-no...no, they're made of lots of molecules aren't they? Think smaller..."

To smallclean rat. I just wrote my exam for upper level (Jr/Sr majors) microbiology. One question asks them to rank items in order of increasing size. The terms include glucose (a molecule), hemoglobin ( a protein), a bacteria, and a human cell. I know from past experience that many students fell this is one of the hardest test questions I have ever written!

So it's not just you.

Hmm...which comparison do you suppose they are finding the trickiest? My guess would be bacteria vs. human cell; since they are both cells perhaps students imagine them as about the same size? I would hope that nobody thought glucose or hemoglobin would be bigger than a cell...

[mythbuster]

They find the sub cellular components more difficult, since we overtly discussed the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in lecture. But the difference in size between one glucose and a hemoglobin protein they find really difficult to grasp.

[Biologist_]

This was exactly why I was so perplexed and, frankly, disturbed. They had to have read/heard about molecules so many times to get to this course. Like the_geneticist suggests, some of this could have simply been exam nerves making them second-guess themselves; and I've definitely blanked on basic knowledge when in a state of high anxiety. But I was surprised by the sheer number of students who seemed to have stumbled upon reading this question. Perhaps, since proteins are so often composed of subunits, they weren't sure if a protein would be considered a single molecule?

Or perhaps they were thinking that proteins are composed of amino acids, and not remembering that the protein is a single molecule even though it can be broken apart. That's a bit less reassuring.

Generally, I'm not supposed to help students with definitions during exams, but the first student asking the question surprised me so much, I said, "Wha..? Yes! A protein is a molecule!" before I could stop myself. So for the sake of fairness, I verified this for everyone that asked. For the students who wondered whether cells are molecules: "N-no...no, they're made of lots of molecules aren't they? Think smaller..."

My usual answer would be, "What do you think?" If I'm generous, I might follow up with "Go with that" if it's appropriate or "Keep thinking about it." But I can easily imaging being surprised enough to answer more directly.

To smallclean rat. I just wrote my exam for upper level (Jr/Sr majors) microbiology. One question asks them to rank items in order of increasing size. The terms include glucose (a molecule), hemoglobin ( a protein), a bacteria, and a human cell. I know from past experience that many students fell this is one of the hardest test questions I have ever written!

This is a cool visualization:
https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/scale/

I try to emphasize paying attention to the general size or number of things, but most students find it difficult. When I ask questions that rely on that perspective, even to within one or two orders of magnitude, they tend to have a hard time with them and consider them to be mean or unfair. I also expect junior and senior bio majors to know basic SI prefixes, but I have learned that many of them don't know what micro- means and some of them can't reliably convert between milli-things, centi-things, and deci-things. I should probably make a handout listing things like that which they should already know and post it on the CMS at the start of each term so they can't say they weren't warned.

[mamselle]

This may be similar to the named book up thread, but this issue made me think of Kees Boeke' 1957 book, " The Cosmic view," too...

M.

[polly_mer]

...

So unless they took their science courses fully online at Grand Canyon or Keiser and were just a money funnel for the corporate shareholders, these students should be not only exposed to basic freshman biology/chemistry vocabulary but well also well familiar with it.

If these unfortunately incompetent students took their freshman biology and chemistry at your university, then your university has a very serious problem with some of its faculty.

This was exactly why I was so perplexed and, frankly, disturbed. They had to have read/heard about molecules so many times to get to this course. Like the_geneticist suggests, some of this could have simply been exam nerves making them second-guess themselves; and I've definitely blanked on basic knowledge when in a state of high anxiety. But I was surprised by the sheer number of students who seemed to have stumbled upon reading this question.

Are you new at this institution?  I ask because I, too, was horrified at what upper-division biology students didn't know in their major that should have been well established in their minds by the end of high school.  I was not at all surprised to learn that even seniors didn't always graduate (not just on-time, but failing enough courses that they just went away) and almost no recent biology graduates were in jobs that required a college degree, let alone one using their major.

At least at Super Dinky, the meme was true that students majored in biology because STEM means a high-paying job, but they really didn't learn or like biology nor did they manage to pick up much along the way for other parts of STEM.

[Aster]

The upside to working at a 4-year university is that you can calibrate your freshman classes to properly teach your students what you expect out of them for upper division classes. And you can calibrate your upper division courses to align properly with where the freshman classes end off.

So if your microbiology students are shockingly bad at basic level freshman content, your department can get its act together and make sure that essential freshman-level content is taught. Or the department can decide that some basic-level stuff will now be taught at the upper divisional level. Either way, there is a mechanism in place to correct for upper division course expectations.

The ideal situation at 4-year universities is for most faculty to periodically rotate through freshman level classes. This gives professors direct experience in understanding and shaping lower division curricula to optimally align with upper division curricula.

[onehappyunicorn]

I have taught this computer art class for five years now and this was, by far, the saddest set of first projects I have ever had. I always expect a couple of stinkers as many students have not used the computer as an art tool before but holy cow. It's not so much the lack of technical ability it is the almost across the board ignoring of all the warnings I gave about the process.

Changing your idea multiple times before the project is due is a terrible idea, didn't stop a third of the class from doing it. Missing the critique is a terrible idea, didn't stop multiple students from doing it. Not doing multiple test prints to adjust your color before presenting for critique is a terrible idea. Telling me that you had the project finished at home but your laptop failed so now you don't have your file does not, in fact, make me sympathetic. I told you at the beginning of the class that losing your files was equivalent to telling me that the dog ate your homework.

I believe in giving students room to fail and boy did some of you take me up on that. I do appreciate that the majority of you had the decency to at least look embarrassed when we hung the work up.