Concerns about instructor?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I have concerns about an instructor (he's not even a professor) and I'm trying to find out who I'd bring up the issue with. The problem is essentially that I think the content of the course and required assignments are unreasonable. For instance, let's say that he is a calculus instructor, and for 50% of the final grade, you must give a 45-minute speech to the class about world war II. I simply don't have the time for that nonsense. and, It's too late to drop it. Who handles this kind of thing?</p>

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<p>I would take it to the department head if it were me, or to the dean of students.</p>

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<p>I suggest you put up with it. </p>

<p>99.9999999% of the time, the dean or the dept head will not interfere with class assignments.</p>

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<p>Did the Professor explain the reason behind the 45-min. speech as part of the final? Is he allowing the students to choose the topic? Could this be the professor’s way of giving the students the opportunity to add some easy extra points to an otherwise difficult final?</p>

<p>Honestly, it does sound ridiculous to research WWII for a calculus class? Has he explained his reason for this? Is this something that he has required from his previous students?</p>

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<p>These quirky types are usually very easy graders. Enjoy!</p>

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<p>His reasoning: “Everyone needs to develop public-speaking skills.” </p>

<p>Regarding the final: This isn’t 50% of the final exam… this is 50% of the overall course grade, i.e. it counts for more than the quizzes, homework, midterms, and final. And he has all these crazy rules like “If even ONE citation isn’t in proper MLA format, you’ll get a 0 on the whole thing!”</p>

<p>This is his first year as an instructor, and I don’t know anyone who was in his first semester class, so I don’t know if he was like this with them too.</p>

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<p>So is this in fact a calculus class?</p>

<p>Or are you just saying that in your opinion the topic of your speech is as relevant to the class as WWII would be to a calculus class?</p>

<p>If the speeches are 45 minutes long, I have to assume that this is a small class, and most calculus classes aren’t small.</p>

<p>My guess is that the instructor regards the topic as fitting into the class and that you disagree. If you don’t give us the actual facts, it’s hard for us to know whether we agree or disagree with you, but I’m of the opinion that it’s very unlikely that this individual would have been hired as a lecturer without being qualified to know what is and isn’t relevant to the topic at hand.</p>

<p>And as I’ve said in another post, things may have changed without my noticing over the years, but I’ve taken plenty of classes where one exam or paper or something was worth 50% or more of the grade. In some cases (though these are mostly graduate courses) a single assignment or exam was the sole basis on which grades were assigned. So the 50% part doesn’t strike me as odd at all.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/618987-professor-literally-told-us-he-does-not-give.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/618987-professor-literally-told-us-he-does-not-give.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Man, you really hate professors don’t you! Which school do you go to?</p>

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<p>Seconded, where do you go to school?</p>

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<p>I think that you may be exaggerating. If you aren’t then give us the full story instead of a bunch of insinuations. </p>

<p>I don’t have too much sympathy for you. Presumably you’ve known about this assignment from day 1 because it was listed on the course syllabus.</p>

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<p>I got to a top 75 school (near the bottom of that top 75). I’m thinking of transferring to a small LAC nearby though…</p>

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<p>What is the name of the school you go to?</p>