We got our second test back in calculus class last night. It's supposedly worth 20% of our grade. I got a C-. Okay, it might be a D+, but I'm trying to think positive. No letter grade was given; only the points were marked.
A classmate who I've been riding BART back to the city with was so upset by her grade that later in the class the instructor stopped mid-logarithm lecture to see if she was okay. "You look extremely unhappy," he pointed out to the class. I'm sure she appreciated this public discussion of her distress. "Well, I just got my test back," she said, flushed and clearly uncomfortable. He replied, "Do not worry -- it will be okay by the end of the class. No one should worry." Though vague, this reassurance did make me feel better for some reason.
He then went on to explain that calculus is not easy to understand and the material that we have managed to pack into one month of classes is normally covered in four or five months. To help illustrate his point, he asked us, "In English the saying is, 'It's all Greek to me,' yes?... I hope this is not offensive to the Greeks."
At the end of the class I asked him if there would be some way to raise our grade, since I'm worried about the prerequisite requirement for Haas. He reassured me again and said that in one of the final classes he would give us "personal questions" to complete and then we would discuss with him how we did the problems. I'm pretty sure that means personalized problems covering areas he wants to test us on again, but I'm perfectly happy to discuss my personal life if it will result in my getting a B in calculus.
The upset classmate mentioned later that she failed the test. I'm sure she was exaggerating, because she always seems to know the right answers during lectures. She also said that Engineer Dude who sits next to her got 100% on his test. All I have to say to that is -- just you wait until our business writing evaluations Engineer Dude. Just you wait.
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3 comments:
Do you think Haas told him to make sure everyone gets a B, or did he decide to do that all on his own?
I really don't think he'd just give everyone a B. But, I think he's willing to help you out if he sees that you're really trying, which seems fair and humane to me.
RB, your grades are probably curved, so i doubt you got a c-. engineer dude's grade would've been dropped from the curve, so it won't affect yours, so you probably did better than you think. i think that's what your professor meant when he said it'll be okay and not to worry.
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