A month ago I began New Year by starting a course Roman Architecture on Coursera.
The course itself offers various experiences, not all of them positive, but that’s topic for a later day. What I want to say now, is I am dumbfounded with poor preparedness of a lot of fellow “students”. Yes, some of them are, in fact, young and in university, but scanning the “introduce yourself” discussion forums, I have an impression majority are mature (some – overripe) adults, with wealth of life experiences, professions and skills behind them. Yet, there are so many among us who can not express themselves clearly, do not think clearly, appeal to pity, complain, resolve to blame, even throw tantrums or, reversely, assume an “irritated policeman” role.
About that lack of clarity. Week 3 requires students to write a short assignment and post it; each one then will evaluate 3 assignments by others. Topic is more conversational than technical: “Does New Technology Lead to Revolution or Revolution to New Technology?
Authors are supposed to use examples of Roman construction technology (in particular, Roman concrete) in addition to contemporary ones, and structure 250 words-essay in traditional way: thesis, middle part, supporting examples and re-statement of thesis. What could be easier – especially for people who HAD been to high school and university(ies) and HAVE real-life experience with business/professional correspondence.
My god.
Look at these pearls in the assignments I received for evaluation:
*”invention of concrete opened the way to a succession of monuments and architectonical ideas that have inspired artists and architects untill the last century”
[Romans did not invent concrete; “architectonic” is not what (s)he thinks is; why stop at last century?]
* “In my opinion is the discovery of a new tecnology which leads to the creation of new forms and not the opposite: probably, without concrete, Romans would have still found a way to be innovative and great, as they have become.”
[self-contradiction]
* “Everything depends on technology discovered and thus brings a revolution or a social, cultural, political science can trigger a new technology”
[muddle and bullshitting. besides, when was the last time you heard of political science triggerring technological invention?]
*” From mentioned statements and every day experience it is almost impossible to firmly provide an answer to this question about what causes the other. At the end of the day this is not a critical issue. Important is that human life is of better quality, that people suffer less because of curable illnesses, that they are not hungry because due to new technology it is possible to produce enough food.”
[demagogue! did not listen to lectures: no mention of concrete or Romans whatsoever. and how do you like that condescending dismissal? at least the guy can write]
*”we can consider that a technological revolution can lead us to devise new means, this new medium can lead us to a new revolution either social, political, cultural, etc. ”
[whaaa? means or medium? a medium could lead to a social revolution? merry-go-round]
How the teachers/profs do it and not go nuts? What a patience they must have!
PS.
I had a bonus assignment to evaluate: perfectly done. Structured as requested; thesis supported by examples, thesis re-submitted at the end but rephrased. Perfect, perfect! except one thing: it was written about Egyptian pyramids. Egyptian architects and pharaohs named, archeological sites mentioned, technique of cutting stone wedges explained – but not a squeak about Romans or their use of concrete!
There’s got to be a use somewhere for “architectonical.” The art of designing subterranean plates, perhaps?
LikeLike
Yep, by that Intelligent Designer everybody are giving PR to, but nobody had a chance to hire…
LikeLike
Hey, some were able to string some big words without much meaning in order to produce a snow job! That way it at least sounds like they know the subject!
LikeLike
…and they impressed only themselves.
LikeLike
Here are my thoughts on this matter. The first example you provide reveals someone with poor understanding of the assignment and likely someone who even if instructed thoroughly on what is required, would have very little ability to complete it. However, given his limitations, he tried to write something that was produced by his own mind. The second example is someone who likely copied someone else’s work. It sort of applied to this topic but turned out to be for a different assignment. I would fail both of them in my evaluation, but if you do so you run the risk of making 2 enemies. They will no doubt return the favor by giving a failing grade when a chance to evaluate your work arrives. As far as how do teachers do it: I imagine some of the teachers don’t actually read the assignments and only come to collect their paycheck. Others are there to recruit political pawns to be used in their own unrelated crusades. A few try to teach and find ways to block out all the frustrating nonsense they must muddle through.
Since I function in the role of a teacher: I teach medicine to residents and medical students, I can give you some of my insights. I focus mostly on their organizational skill. Their ability to come up with a correct diagnosis, I often have to ignore because so much time is spent on criticizing their disorganized thoughts. Still, I have something that can be hammered at, and provides some feeling of reward after. The easiest part of my job is when I just to ignore their comprehension completely and lecture on some topic.
Please bear in mind that I work with some very highly achieving individuals, and if I were to work with an average class in k-12, I would probably give up on the thought organization part too. There are probably 1 or 2 individuals in each class that can learn well, and I would probably focus on their development while leaving the remainder alone. I also believe the no child left behind policy is nonsense, and it just wastes too much energy on an impossible goal. In fact many of the patients that I try to teach to take better care of themselves, are incapable of learning. In other countries, they would be forced to change their habits or die, but here in this country we take a very paternal approach to their welfare. I tell them what I think, and remain emotionally detached from the situation. If they don’t understand, they don’t understand.
LikeLike
Thank you for a detailed reply. Now I understand how doctors can keep it together in the active hospital – although not all do, I know several just in LJ-universe who either are complete nuts, or left medicine altogether. Or they drink.
There were 4 assignments, Vinny, not 2 – and they are all anonymous, indicated “Student 1”, “Student 2”, & – so my text is anonymous, too. Besides, there are over 3 thousands of us going through the course, and in the discussion forums there are so many brilliant people who bring professional insight that professor would never have – for instance, one discussion is about chemical composition of Roman concrete and why it withstood millennium vs. contemporary mixes that fall apart in a decade (several professional chemists and engineers participate); or another one, where archeologists from Italy argue with Latinists from various countries of meaning of Pompeiian graffiti. Fascinating!
LikeLike
See, focus your energy on the capable and ignore the ignorant.
LikeLike
Naturally. I am not paid to evaluate assignments, you understand – there will be just two during the course, so my notes are an aside on 2-time deal.
LikeLike
Welcome to my life.
I will say, I get a good solid core – some semesters as much as 20% of the class – who ARE decently prepared, who give a damn, who care about things like spelling and grammar. And they go a long way towards making up for the people who don’t.
But I’ve found that it’s the maybe 5% of the students who just really don’t have their s*** together AT ALL that occupy about 80% of my effort and frustration in the terms of help and accommodation. And in a lot of cases, the problems of the 5% are not even matters of ignorance (which can be fixed) or poor preparation, but bad choices in life, a lack of organization, or a long history and expectation of being “bailed out” when everything goes wrong.
My colleagues and I are generally in agreement that the combination of poor preparedness and sense of entitlement (or sense of their own excellence, even in the absence of any actual evidence) is increasing over time.
I teach for the people who give a damn. It’s the discussions with them outside of class that often make my day. The problem is, it’s the small number of sad-sacks that demand much of my time and also leave me drained, and I’ve not yet figured out how to “scrape ’em off and step up”
LikeLike
I marvel at your resilience, Erica. Seriously.
You are absolutely right that those who are prepared poorly are usually the complainers: right now, after everyone received their evaluation, the forums are full of pissed-off people whining “No Fair!” – and some of them present for public reading their horribly written essays, as proof of their excellence!
LikeLike
We’re doomed. I was just speaking with a woman I know who teaches Dreamweaver, coding, HTML at the local college. She said she was going to stop teaching because the last couple of years kids had showed up so completely unprepared and so woefully unable to even communicate, never mind follow instructions, that she was throwing in the towel.
LikeLike
Those are all subjects I am frightened of; I stand in awe before people who can code – and if they are HS or college kids, that’s double awe. I am so hopelessly behind the times! Your teacher friend would deem me an imbecile
LikeLike
No! She taught first year students and you would find it remarkably easy. It is simple, really. Just a language, with very clear and firm rules. So it is actually easier than most languages. But she said that kids would show up without paper or pens. They wouldn’t do any homework. They couldn’t follow simple instructions in class. It was like working with kindergarten children. She was aghast. She said that she has seeing the slide coming over the last few years but lately it’s like the kids have finally just gone over the cliff into the abyss of stupidity. …sigh…
LikeLike
Well, the college admission made over-easy, filters are off – so what else to expect?
LikeLike