<p>Today, my Calc III prof gave us a 15 minute quiz with 5 questions. Each question required a minimum of half a page of work (if you write small). They weren't that hard, but they were extremely computational and tedious. I'm at a top engineering school, and not a SINGLE student in my class finished the quiz. Not one. His reviews on ratemyprofessor.com are the worst I've seen, with at least ten people urging readers to drop his class. He was recently released from probation for failing too many students. He boasts on his website that he has among the lowest class averages at my school. </p>
<p>Could it be any worse? Yup.</p>
<p>His lectures are totally useless and I have to teach myself all of the material. He will spend 30 minutes proving something on the board, just reading aloud what he's writing as he writes it ("ds/dt equals 2z therefore the magnitude of u is less than or equal to..."). </p>
<p>His first quiz was pretty ridiculous and a lot of students complained about the time limit. He rewarded us with a second quiz with much more material and computation in the same amount of time.</p>
<p>Also, if you miss a negative on a page full of work on a quiz where you've got about 3 minutes to do that problem, you only get half credit.</p>
<p>I am a slow test taker but I still managed to get A's in Calc I & II, but honestly if I am being tested only on my speed, I will be on the low end of the curve. I am feeling totally helpless. I am studying really hard and FULLY understand the material, but it does me no good. Tutoring won't help... what am I supposed to do, ask a tutor how to integrate xdx faster?</p>
<p>Last semester, 6% of his Calc III class got A's. What the heck am I supposed to do? Dropping his class means delaying graduation... but failing it means delaying graduation AND tanking my GPA.</p>
<p>In a significant number of classes, you will be largely tested on how fast you can complete the test, not simply that you “can” do it given unlimited time. Maybe he’s on the extreme end, I don’t know, but I’ve had plenty of tests (easily 15-20) where not a single person in my exam room left before the time was finished. You’ll need to learn how to work fast to finish a test.</p>
<p>And if he really is way on the extreme end with his tests, it’ll be fine. You’re not the only one. 6% As is pretty awful, but it’s one class.</p>
<p>Sounds like a real turd monkey. It may behoove you to drop.</p>
<p>There is a math professor at my school (who claims to have solved one of the Millenium problems) who is so bad, they say, that it is worth it to graduate late to avoid taking one of his classes (he tends to teach vector analysis). The undergrad advisor for my department told a classmate of mine that she would drop him from the program if he took the class with…this guy (heh, I actually typed his name).</p>
<p>You could wait it out till closer to the drop date to find out what kind of grade you are sitting at. If you are failing…Drop. If not, take the C and forget about it. They suck, but one C won’t be the end of the world.</p>
<ol>
<li>I am assuming that there are no other classes you can transfer into. </li>
<li>Have you considered either an online calc 3 or taking it at a local CC? Does your school require you to take THEIR calc 3? </li>
</ol>
<p>Most teachers are in it to teach, a few are in it for perceived power.</p>
<p>Good call on the CC thing actually. I know that if you fail a class once, you have to take it again at my school the second time, so I’ll have to look into whether or not I can withdraw from a class, then take it at a CC. I know someone else who took a night class at a CC during the semester… Physics I think.</p>
<p>Many CC’s will have an online version of Calc 3 because not many kids sign up for it at the CC. You probably need to do this quickly if you want to take it this semester at the CC.</p>