My biology lab professor is not the greatest…she’s actually pretty damn horrible.
She assigns homework on things she hasn’t taught us, gives quizzes on things she hasn’t taught us, and pretty much spends the entire hour and a half of class yelling at us instead of teaching us (for reasons we still don’t know)…more than half of her class is failing…I’m part of that half.
I record her class, take notes, pay attention, write down whatever she puts on the board…etc., but I’m still suffering in her class.
It’s not a matter of me “not knowing the material”…if she was actually TEACHING, I’d understand what was going on (I got an A in high school biology and I currently have an A in the lecture portion of biology).
My GPA is suffering because of this professor and if I fail the lab portion of biology, my lecture grade will be lowered to a C (possibly a C-).
Here are some thoughts: You say it’s not a matter of not knowing the material, but actually it is. You don’t know the material that she expects you to know in her class. It sounds like you are capable of learning the material, but you need to do more work on figuring out what you are expected to know.
First, make sure you are doing all of the assigned reading. It could be that the material you need to know is in there. I was having a similar problem in chem one year, until I realized that all of the material was covered in the (extensive) readings, and I would have to buckle down and really study it from the reading.
Next, make an appointment to see her or go to her office hours. Ask her for additional reading that you can do to help prepare for quizzes and to do the homework. Ask her if she is willing to help with the homework problems you are struggling with; if not before you turn it in, perhaps afterwards so at least you will understand. Ask if there is any tutoring available. Make the focus of the conversation what you can do to learn more.
Stay as positive as you possibly can while talking to her. Now is not the time to complain or hint of any dissatisfaction.
Are you able to learn from the textbook, lectures on Youtube from other colleges, etc.? I’ve had a lot of classes where I couldn’t get much out of the lectures (I guess I learn more slowly than most people, at least in the classes I’m taking) and ended up teaching myself the material out of the book.
Textbooks? (Doesn’t necessarily have to be one required for the class.) Is there a grad student assistant to ask for help? Talk to the fellow students who are not in the part of the class that is failing and ask for tips.
I had a really bad physics professor one year. When I had a question, I actually went to the office hours of a professor teaching a different section. (All the sections had the same homework at my college.) It was a large lecture class where they really didn’t know who was where!
Agree with visiting, talking to prof about how to improve your grade and at the same time, trying to develop an understanding of the prof’s perspective (skewed though it may be). Rate My Professor can sometimes provide insight into what may work. Needless to say, approach with a friendly, eager-to-please demeanor.
Also, might be interesting to find out what the other failing students are doing.
As worst-case scenario, could you drop bio altogether and take it next semester without messing up your sequence or dropping below the number of credits that you need to retain full-time status? I’m guessing not…
The students getting higher grades may very well have had some of the material before, which gives them a leg up when they encounter a bad teacher. Unfortunately, it gives the teacher a way to hide behind that – “half the class gets it, so something is wrong with you.”
Switch sections, consider dropping if it makes sense, or see if you can find a tutor.