<p>mstee:
I am not aware that I made any gender-specific comments. The differences between science and humanities applies to both sexes for both students and for teachers. My D is facing the same challenges with the science weed out courses that I had. Right now she is worried, i.e., challenged, with second semester physics. She had one exam and placed about the bottom third of the class. That is a C or C-. If she drops a little bit on next week's exam or the final, she will have a serious setback and will not be able to continue with higher level courses without retaking physics. Physics in college is a lot different than high school where she had no problems with A's in AP physics and AP calculus.</p>
<p>It appears that she is facing a challenging course and the teacher is supportive. She attends a weekly study session with a TA. Both the TA and professor have office hours and will spend time helping a student. She has a study buddy. The course includes interactive online exercises. If she requests it, she can get free tutoring. I would call that supportive. The challenging part is also there. My D is at a selective college where all her fellow students did really well in high school science, but the bottom quarter or third will not meet the standards and will be weeded out. The weedout can be even worse at much less selective State U. I TA'd for intro chem at a State U and we usually weeded out 60-70% of the students. They just did not have the skills to meet the standards and progress to higher level courses. There can be very large differences in the standards between highly selective and less selective colleges. We all want our kids to be accepted into their reach schools - along with good FA. That may not be best for all students. Some might be happier at a match or safety school where they are towards the top of the pile and are less challenged in meeting standards.</p>