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We might idolize our university and college professors as authority figures who put the pursuit of knowledge and education above everything else. However, they’re as human as you or I. From time to time, these Ravenclaws take a break from unearthing the secrets of the Universe and show their gossip-loving Muggle sides in public. Or rather—online. Because the way that some students act makes it hard not to share.
Redditor Redmambo_no6 asked the professors of Reddit to share their stories about the students they encountered that made them shake their heads and wonder how they ever graduated. And, wow, some of these have made our eyebrows shoot into our hairlines. We’d say they’re unbelievable, but we’ve met students like this ourselves. Heck, we’ve been in some of these situations.
We’d love to hear which of these posts you liked the most. Be sure to slap the ‘upvote’ button and leave us a comment so we know! Now, let’s charge head forth into the weird land of (un)education.
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#1
I worked with students in a class that was supposed to prepare them for real life. Things like making resumes, finance, etc. Part of the class was job interviews. One of the stress questions often asked in interviews is, "What's your biggest weakness?" I always told the students to have something prepared for that because the only wrong answer is, "I don't have any weaknesses."
So I'm doing mock interviews and I get to this guy and throw out that question. Without missing a beat, he says, "I steal sometimes."
I now tell my students that there are two wrong answers.
RELATED:
#2
Student handed in a 1-page essay of complete gibberish. Like, utter stream-of-consciousness of a gerbil on LSD kind of garbage.
After receiving an F on this assignment, this muffin had the audacity to come to my office hour and demand that I explain this grade to them. After I walked them through their river of word-garbage, they tried to tell me that I just didn't understand their writing because I am not an English native speaker.
First time I almost kicked somebody out of my office.
Ryan Deschanel 3 years ago
"You do not understand because it is too complex for you". It takes a lot of courage to say that straight into your teacher's face... And also some stupidity.
#3
I taught English as a Second Language at a community college for a decade. My colleagues and I were pretty tough on the academics, but it paid off when our students started regular classes. Often I ran into my former students around campus & asked them how things were going. I lost count of the number of times they expressed disbelief at how badly their native-speaking American classmates were at writing sentences, doing math, and giving presentations in front of a group.
The redditor’s thread got 6.5k upvotes and over 3k comments. This goes to show just how many university and college professors there really are browsing Reddit and other similar sights. This might just change how you view your own professors in the future: after all, you might be fans of the same online communities!
The anonymity that Reddit provides means that the professors can share their stories pretty much without any chance of others finding out who they are. It also lets these educators vent about their students without exposing their identities either. It’s a win-win for everyone, including online users who get to grab some popcorn and absorb all of these entertaining tales.
#4
I once got an exam essay that mentioned how much Mandela hated the Jews. After scratching my head for a bit and wondering if I’d missed some obvious signs of his anti-Semitism I realized she meant Mengele. As in Josef Mengele, the Nazi “Angel of Death.” Hard to think of a worse person she could’ve confused him for.
#5
My wife has had multiple students who are fundamentally technologically illiterate. Numerous students have had no idea how to use Word or Excel--including one who used their email as a word processor (the University provides students with Office). There have also been students who struggle with installing programs on computers. What's disconcerting is it's becoming an increasingly common issue--as an older millennial, the idea that kids are becoming less technologically proficient is so bizarre.
#6
Once had identical twin sisters who turned in identical essays. Both were directly plagiarized from a Google search and received identical zeroes.
I’ve been a student and I’ve seen my fair share of coursemates and professors. Some educators were (and still are) so magnificent that I miss their lectures like Harry Potter misses Quidditch. They’re the people who still make me consider doing my PhD sometime in the future. Meanwhile, others were petty, bureaucratic, and concerned only about following the curriculum instead of being beacons of knowledge.
However, just like there’s a range of professors, from great to gruesome, there’s a spectrum for students, too. On one side we have young adults who are diligent, ambitious, and see education as a gateway to bettering themselves into veritable giants of intelligence. On the other side, we’ll find the slobs, the endless party-goes, and the cheaters who want the diploma without the hard work. It’s the eternal debate between doing things the right way vs. doing them the easy way.
#7
I had a girl come in with a research paper bibliography that listed "my mom" as a source several times.
When I pressed, she told me her mom looked up everything and sent it to her and she just...put it in the paper. She told me she had always done it that way.
Sleepyhead 3 years ago
That’s sweet, but I also hope her mom knows how to Google credible sources.
#8
A friend who taught in the politics department received a paper about ‘gorilla’ warfare in South America. It was so poorly written she couldn’t tell if it was a typo, or if they genuinely thought Colombia had been overrun by a Planet of the Apes style revolution.
This was in the UK and English was the student’s first language.
#9
One student wrote in a discussion board about Lord of the Flies, 'I like how they saved all the flies. That was my favorite part.' If you've read the book, you can guess the look on my face.
Being a bad student is as easy as gobbling down a greasy kebab or slice of pizza after a fun night out. Stepping up, taking charge, and being a good student is much, much harder, however. It’s less about getting good grades and more about who you are as a person and your attitude towards hardship.
#10
I had a student include numerous emojis in a term paper.
A different student came to my office a week after the final, and asked me why she had failed the course. She hadn’t turned in a single assignment, or written the final.
White Paper Tsuru 3 years ago
All the comments so far are about the second student not doing jack sh1t. I'm still tickled over the emoji student!! :p
#11
I had a student put in their presentation, 'Women's suffrage has destroyed the American family structure,' and 'feminism has turned women away from their naturally obedient nature.'
Ian Koch 3 years ago
everyone chant with me "burn them" Burn Them Burn Them Burn Them.
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René Studer 3 years ago
I would actually like to hear this presentation out of morbid curiosity.
Wendillon 3 years ago
Same...I'd love to hear exactly how those two ended up in a single presentation
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tuzdayschild 3 years ago
Eve (the first woman) defied God and ate the forbidden fruit. WE WERE NEVER OBIEDIENT!
Harrison Miller 3 years ago
I literally said, out loud, in the middle of my class, what the f**k.
Coli Erasmus 3 years ago
*Grabs a picnic basket* It might be a long talk none the less. We'll need snacks.
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François Carré 3 years ago
This is very difficult for a teacher, because you cannot do otherwise than giving this a bad grade, and probably later will have to explain why when the student comes back to you aggressively. Then you reluctantly start a discussion on sexism and they go "oh come on, you're not allowed to express you political views to students, are you ?"
Grumble O'Pug 3 years ago
They probably think Mandala was a Nazi mastermind.
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Mike Beck 3 years ago
Ok, women's suffrage DID destroy the American family structure (or, at least, it was one of many things) but it needed destroying. (Still does, I think) But any moron who actually thinks women are naturally obedient probably can't operate a computer anyway so we can add cheating to the list here.
that rando_;) 3 years ago
Here is an F-. Cherish it. It will forever be a reminder of your stupidity and sexism.^w^
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
"Naturally obedient nature." LOL. Tell me what to do, and I'll likely do the exact opposite out of spite.
AlmightyOne 3 years ago (edited)
This is the same as saying "a vaccine has destroyed a virus" or "diversity has helped get rid of racism" only much, much worse
Val Izhakevich 3 years ago
Well. at least there's a rather successful attempt of using formal logic and grammar. Rara avis. Time to educate and go deeper into the subject! (Might work).
Just a person eating a potato 3 years ago
If this was a little kid then you can’t really blame him or her. They probably heard it from their dad. But still this is HORRIBLE
New Prometheus 3 years ago (edited)
Remember what suffragettes went through... And what feminists are experiencing every day. It is a constant battle this little s**t has no idea and respect for. What a shitty set of values.
Cory Tollman 3 years ago
It could be interesting if the author could provide decent arguments and good sources. Probably didn't happen but doing a good job on a crap idea can show a lot.
Night Owl 3 years ago
Women were never naturally obedient. They were socialized into being obedient
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Becky Samuel 3 years ago
Everybody else here seemed to understand it just fine. Nice of you to 'explain' it to us lesser mortals.
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My dad taught junior college biology and A&P, and at times zoology and botany, for 25 years. He has soooooo many stories, from multiple people showing up with roadkill for him to identify, asking advice on growing weed and shrooms, and thinking he was a medical doctor. The one that sticks out to me was a poor girl who lingered after class to ask "if pregnancy tests can ever be wrong, because I took a bunch this morning". He explained about human growth hormone and told her false negatives are possible, but not false positives. He said her face just kept falling as it slowly dawned on her. She told him, "three were negative". He asked if any were positive and she said yeah... he asked how many and she said, "Twelve... so... you're saying... it's not possible that I'm NOT pregnant?" He was like, "Sorry honey, unfortunately yes, that's what I'm saying. You need to go see a doctor". She came back a couple semesters later and let my dad meet her very adorable baby.
You’ve got a paper due in a month. What do you do? Do you put it off until literally the last moment, working through the night and pounding energy drink after energy drink, only to turn the paper in ten minutes before the deadline? Or do you get started right away, getting to grips with the issues, tackling the problems, and handing it in early so it doesn’t weigh on your mind? It’s everyday choices that draw the line between a good and bad student.
#13
I had a football player in class, and he could barely write on the sentence-level. I think he had just never been expected to learn how to write since he was an athlete. When he failed his first paper, he came to me and asked how to improve. We agreed that he’d come to my office hours, and we would work through the process of writing a research paper together. Y’all, this kid worked so hard. Every week he’d show up, and we’d talk about how to write an intro paragraph or how to build evidence in the body of a paper, etc. He wasn’t going to get an A in my class or anything, but he was definitely on track for a C- (with a little extra recognition for how hard he worked all semester).
When he turned in his final paper, he had SIGNIFICANTLY improved over his previous paper. I pulled him aside and asked him about his process this time around. With absolutely no guile, he told me that he told his brother what he wanted to say, and his brother wrote it down for him.
I was bound by the Honors Council and a sense of duty to my other students to do what I saw as the ethical thing, which was to fail him, but I do think about him sometimes and that was 20 years ago. He tripped at the very last step.
#14
One student wrote a paper about the causes of the Salem Witch Trials. She sided with the accusers because she'd 'seen some stuff,' clearly not understanding the assignment.
#15
I was a graduate instructor for a scientific writing class, where students were trained in how to consume and report on research in the form of a literature review. One student kept quiet the whole semester and declined help when I reached out to him periodically throughout.
His term paper came in with the rest, but it was…uh…markedly different. He had written 20 pages on why science was a tool of the devil, complete with quotes from the Bible, and didn’t even format the paper the way I had been teaching students all semester. Included in the paper was a snippet of an interview he conducted with his pastor.
I gave a failing grade on the paper and recommended to him that he change majors to religious studies or something.
Excelling in your studies requires discipline and having structure in your life. If you wake up whenever you want and only study sporadically, in between parties and meeting up with your friends, you’ll be relying on luck rather than skill.
#16
My old History of Modern Art prof loves to tell the story about an exam essay featuring the topic of "the male gays" instead of "the male gaze".
#17
I have taught numerous students who are unable to read for meaning. They can read the words on a page out loud to you, but ask them to explain what they just read, they will repeat the words on the page. Our country's education system is very broken.
#18
Teaching an English subject on academic writing, including the structure and importance of paragraphs, and a student then handed in a first essay that looked more like poetry - one sentence per line.
When queried, she insisted "they don't have paragraphs where I come from".
Turns out she was British...
The more orderly and less chaotic your schedule, the easier it will be to focus on your studies. Naturally, that means avoiding distractions like having Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter open while you’re supposed to be doing research. Multitasking isn’t as efficient as focusing on one thing at a time because you’ll have your flow broken. (Pssst, this works for everything, not just devouring books and articles for your studies.)
#19
Two girls were swapping thoughts on the exam and a asks b who she wrote about. B says ‘I wrote about Lenin’. A says ‘really? I don’t remember him mentioned in the lectures a lot’. B says ‘oh I know but I know a lot about him. My mum is a huge fan of his music.’
She had written about John Lennon. Not Vladimir Lenin, who’s name was clearly printed on the exam paper.
This is the same girl who, while we’re being taught about the Holocaust and shown pictures of dead inmates, said ‘what diet do you think he was on? I want my ribs to show like that’.
We were in a teaching degree, btw.
Ryan Deschanel 3 years ago (edited)
It is called the "genocide diet". But most doctors actually don't approve, and neither do basically decent human beings.
#20
I used to cover for some of my profs in their intro classes. I thought it was ridiculous, but one of the profs decided she wanted to test her students on the states.
Yes, a map of the states that they just have to fill in the name of the state. The students knew a month in advance and she said they did a lesson on it.
I had to proctor and grade the test 3 times. The international students passed with flying colors just as consistently as the American students epically failed. She kept making them retake it until they, at the very least, made something more than an F.
Pilot Chick 3 years ago
I wonder about the backstory for college level assignments like this considering this was a test I took in fourth grade.
#21
I used to TA for undergrad organic chem lab courses. Had a... challenging student once who was not great at reading directions or thinking critically. We were setting up an experiment that required GENTLE heating of a volatile solvent. I explicitly told the class, multiple times, “only turn your hot plates up to 2 when heating, these things get very hot.” Maybe 30 minutes later I’m making my rounds through the lab and I pass said guy’s fume hood and notice his reaction is smoking. I look closer and see that all of the liquid in his flask is gone and its just a charred, black smoking mess (which is still heating). I ask, “Student! What’s going on with your reaction??? What’s the temperature set at?!” The guy goes, “oh, I wasn’t sure how hot to heat it, so I just turned the plate all the way up to 10. Is my reaction going to be ok?” No, no man, it’s not going to be ok... he literally boiled the thing dry
Meanwhile, being a good professor has more to do with how you communicate with people rather than how disciplined and orderly your life is. Even the most brilliant specialist, a true Einstein in their chosen field, will be derided by their students if they’re full of themselves, dismissive of others’ views, and poke fun at their ‘colleagues-in-learning.’
#22
There have been disturbingly high numbers of students on a performance based music degree who can't read music. Not musicologists or conceptual composers who could in theory get away with it. No, these were people turning up expecting to study western classical performance.
Sleepyhead 3 years ago
I always felt the same way about guitar tablatures, but to be honest, I haven’t memorized by notes either. Fun fact, my phone doesn’t recognize tablatures as a real word, so is tablature a singular noun? Please lemme know
#23
In undergrad I was taking an American history course. Our professor was from Maryland and was probably in her early forties. This kid asked her if she was one of the pearl harbor survivors. He couldn't grasp the fact that she was very much not alive at that time and that Pearl Harbor was not a harbor in Maryland.
Marcellus the Third 3 years ago
My kids keep asking me how stuff was in the Olden Days. I still don't know when these were --- I suppose they keep sliding? It used to be the 19th C, then the Interbellum (1920s--1930s), so now it's when...?
#24
I was teaching a class about college campuses in the 1960s and 70s centering on protests and activism during that time. The final paper asked the students to take an example from that time period and compare it to a more recent instance of activism on campus.
One student chose to write about instances of Martin Luther King, Jr. visiting college campuses to speak on issues of equality. That's when the student said that he had won the Nobel Prize in Sports and I just had to stop. I reread that paragraph about 10 times before I confirmed with myself that this student did indeed write what I thought they did. The rest of the paper was equally well researched and, needless to say, they did not get a good grade.
On the plus side, Martin Luther King, Jr., sports superstar, has become a running joke among my friends who were around at the time.
‘Inside Higher Ed’ suggests that educators should look at students as real people and complex individuals instead of a grey and problematic mass that’s full of the new generation’s issues. There’s a lot to be said in favor of treating people as, well, people in all areas of life. Crafting genuine connections with others will always, always trump a purely mechanical approach where every student is seen as interchangeable and a ‘temporary nuisance.’
When a professor sees their students as partners in learning (however cheesy that might sound!), learning becomes a collaboration, an unending brainstorm of ideas, a feedback loop where everyone’s a learner and a teacher at the same time.
#25
I worked at my university writing center and saw a lot of really terrible writing. SO MANY poorly written essays. I really don’t know how you can graduate from high school without at least being able to perform simple tasks like “Point to your thesis statement.”
The whole point of a writing center was to teach students to correct their own work, but there was a direct correlation between how awful a paper was and how likely the student was to throw it at you and say “I’m going to go have lunch. Will you have it fixed in an hour?” then try to leave.
The tutors all got really good at an authoritative, “Stop right there! Sit down. Now let’s talk about how YOU are going to improve YOUR paper.”
The most frustrating papers were the science majors. I could never tell if the paper was terrible or I just wasn’t following the details of their experiment on chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons or whatever.
The absolute worst was the ENGLISH MASTERS DEGREE STUDENT who came in several times with absolute gibberish. To be fair, English was his second language but... are you absolutely sure you do not want to consider a career change, my good sir?
#26
One time we had an indigenous guest speaker give a lecture about misrepresentation of First Nations culture in media at my art university. During the Q&A a student MEANT to ask the question “how do you feel about cultural appropriation of imagery from your culture by corporations?” Instead she asked “how do you feel when like H&M sells like... underwear and stuff that has like feathers on it” I have never cringed so hard in my life. The guest speaker had no idea what she was even asking him.
Julia Atkinson 3 years ago
Gross overuse of the word "like" when it serves no purpose in a sentence is a crime in itself
#27
Professor at a middle of nowhere medium sized state school with a 80-ish% acceptance rate. Had a graduate student who couldn't code for the life of him but was a software engineer at an undisclosed incredibly large aviation company. He couldn't accept that other students who didn't have jobs were better than him and that the people grading him "didn't have jobs". Sent death threats because we failed him on an assignment where his code didn't run.
He complained to the higher ups and got a C.
However friendly a professor might be, they still have to have authority in the classroom. So if their students are taking advantage of their good nature or trying to pretend they’ve read a text when they clearly haven’t, the educator has to risk being blunt and call them out on this. Politely but firmly. Bluntly but with a knowing smile.
#28
I taught a new remedial algebra class for students who had a non-traditional pre-college experience or who hadn’t taken enough math in high school to take even basic college level math.
An early section on exponents really tripped up one student. When a professor saw his grade, he instructed me to meet with the student to try to help get him on course. Upon reviewing his exam, I realized he had problems with negative numbers. I quickly sketched up a lesson about how exponents worked with negative numbers, but I was floored when his first question was “What are negative numbers?”
I spent an hour and a half working with him to no effect. I’m not even sure he even believed there was such a thing as a negative number.
Deborah B 3 years ago
Well... it's a weird idea, if you think about it. Less than nothing. If you have a glass of water, and you empty it, you have zero water...you can't have negative water. If you have temperatures, and you go below 'zero' 'zero' was an arbritary point. In personal banking, it is a change in relationship, from saving to borrowing. If you have five apples, and you give away five apples, you have zero apples. You can't give away more than you had to start with, there are no negative apples. You can promise someone more apples, and have apples you owe someone else, but these are imaginary future apples, and they still aren't negative. I was very confused by negative numbers at about age 8, and the teacher finally explained it as 'numbers moving in the other direction' and we did imaginary steps backwards from the zero line.
#29
As a college freshman I took Advanced English with a student who didn’t know how to write a research paper or even possibly read (I don’t know). When I realized she didn’t know how to research, I gave her my sources and showed her how to navigate them. The next class when we were supposed to edit each other’s rough drafts. I handed her my paper to edit, she gave it back to me after 10 seconds without reading it and said it was good. She then handed me her “paper” and it was just a list of random dates.
#30
I had a student who told me, being 100% serious, that he wouldn’t be presenting on his assigned day because he 'didn’t do the assignment and he’d go the next day.'
What do you think ?
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Stop worrying about their computer skills at age 5-13 and teach them grammar, please. I am appalled by the fact that my friends and family who speak English as a second or third language use better written English than most native speakers. (This includes US, UK, NZ, Australia, &, yes, Canada.) And BAN AUTOFILL/AUTOCORRECT. Give quizzes on meaning of similar words. If I see "palatable" for "palpable" one more time? And that is in a *medical setting*... Palate and palpate are *reallllly* different, FFS. Argh. *headdesk to tenth*
More Thinking Needed 3 years ago
Educators have a tough job. But this is nothing more than teachers complaining about how poorly their students have been previously taught. It's not amusing, it's sad.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
My one friend recently retired fro teaching high school. She often had to re-teach them common concepts like sets and fractions before she could begin basic algebra. It's a tragedy. "No Child Left Behind".... Not so much.
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Raine Soo 3 years ago
How did these college students even make it this far in life? That is a mystery to me.
Tim Haight 3 years ago
it was dubya's no child left behind bulls**t. Teachers taught to the test to get the test scores so the school gets more money. Fail them. No can do. Pass them on to the next level so now their snowflake is some one else's problem.
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Zuko 3 years ago
I've posted this on bored panda, ill post it once again. I knew a kid, let's call him LikeBoy, or lb because he says the word like a lot. Anyways, our class was having a discussion post about reducing are carbon footprint and all the eco friendly stuff like that. We are all asked a question and we discuss about it. The question comes to cutting down trees, and LB is asked what he thinks about it: "Like, you know, I think, like it would, like, be bad for the, like, environment, to like, you know, cut down all the, like, trees, but I guess, like, all the rich people, like need, their like, fancy golf courses, and like, mansions, so maybe like, it's ok, like". (Sorry, about like, all the, like, 'likes')
Javiera Gotelli 3 years ago (edited)
It makes me sad to see a large portion of people in the U.S don't know basic grammar. Whether it is the broken school system or people being lazy, I don't know, but grab a damn book if you don't know how to spell!
Pervinca 3 years ago
I think that instead of showing dumb students this post shows poor education. Calling them dumbs would not improve the things. The problem is in the early education thay got, both from schools and from their parents.
Matthew Hoskins 3 years ago
When highly articulate and erudite professors get hauled over the coals 3 times for compromising the institutions security by falling for Phishing attacks. The students seem relatively harmless.
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Logically Reasonable 3 years ago
There's a difference between STUPID and IGNORANT. Stupid means that someone does not have the appropriate mental acuity to understand that what they've learned in their little private bubble of existence, does not work or relate to anything or anyone in the outside world, or in reality. They will never "get it". Ignorant means that someone was raised without the proper tools to learn. These people are open to learn, and most actually like to learn, because they understand the concept of what is needed to function in society and the real world.
Maureen Matthew 3 years ago (edited)
Sorry but why is anyone surprised. We have put education into the hands of governments who have shown over and over and over again that they are pretty much incompetent at implementing most things. And then we as a society decide that the results are just fine. Those with money can take their kids out of failing schools or get tutors, the rest can't but we do nothing about it. In may ways I'm glad that I'm 65 and given my family history probably have 15 - 20 years left, because by that time the Western world will be toast.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I honestly think that two things cause students to fail so badly. The first is bad teaching. The world is full of atrocious teachers who have no business being in a classroom. The second problem is ridiculous expectations of the good teachers, who are expected to get through preposterously overstuffed curricula in overcrowded classrooms, while being required to accommodate any number of special educational needs students, and often having to pay for their own tools, supplies and resources. There are two things that determine a civilized society: investment in healthcare and investment in education. So many nations have failed badly.
Maureen Matthew 3 years ago
I agree - we have lowered the standards for teaching (while at the same time demanding teachers get paid more and have more resources) and we have lowered the standards for student results. But your second point is important - schools have become the dumping ground for any society problem - bullying, drugs, sex education, etc. etc. etc. There is no way that teachers have expertise in any of those things (they barely have expertise in the subjects they teach - don't get me on about math and science 'teachers). So schools spend more and more time on issues like bullying rather than teaching johnny to read, and then we are shocked when johnny can't read or write, or add or multiple, or know anything about basic science. Which might be the plan - if your population is ill educated they can be easily lead.
Load More Replies... Matthew Hoskins 3 years ago
When I was studying computing in the 80s we had an assignment to write a program in machine code and I duly got on with it, 3 days before the due date a pal asked to see my working code which I said was awful but he could take a look. I then rewrote the whole thing and handed my new code in. When the assignment was due to be returned to us the Lecturer sent me and a couple of others off the have a coffee with a stern look. As we left feeling very anxious we saw the head of the first year entering the room after us. Later I learned that the whole class bar myself and the other 2 had handed in my dubious first attempt verbatim. this collective act of plagiarism was a major scandal as it meant a major telling off and 40+ students with permanent black marks on their records. I got 90%.
Joyce Blodgett 1 year ago
Precisely why my niece taught for only one year, then changed to a much better position within the school system (IT, but not teaching it). She said that it was mighty discouraging to see the 'work' the so-called "gifted" students she taught turned in. One year, and she chose to get out of teaching altogether. Can't say I blame her. She's a lot happier now, and both she and her husband have excellent careers without having to deal with the idiocies of teaching.
DDmaybeandor 3 years ago
I worked with a girl who was a senior in college who didn't know how to use a broom. She literally held it on front of her and patted the floor...
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
I had to stop reading this before I facepalmed myself into unconsciousness. The educational [sic] system in the U.S. is in desperate need of a serious overhaul!
Tim Haight 3 years ago
In the case of the for profit colleges like ITT Tech and Corinthian College, they make money pressuring students to take out these predatory loans. ITT Tech charged something like $20K for an AA degree that can;t be transferred. Most likely they recruiters (more like used car salesman) went to the unemployment offices and homeless shelters. Then when they default they are screwed.
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Kuroka 3 years ago
Once I was in a 9th grade class (world history) and the teacher had us do an assignment where we'd go over and label the continents. Apparently there was an issue with kids not knowing where/what the continents were. Then the teacher went on to say that anyone who had a problem with the assignment had a ''high superiority complex'' and that he was ''glad you have such an ego, but some still have to go over it.'' Mind you, the kids in class were 15-16.
u brio 3 years ago (edited)
Now do professors. I once had a professor come to my office and asked me how to use the microwave. I said just put the food in, press how many minutes and then hit the start button. She asked me to show her in person. I did, even though I had never used this particular microwave before. I will make an allowance for her since even though she had a PhD, it was in women's studies. Similar issue with copiers. All the professors had a Phd, but all asked how to use the copier. No one showed me how to use it, I just figured it out. But I had to show all the "brains" how to use it.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
Stop worrying about their computer skills at age 5-13 and teach them grammar, please. I am appalled by the fact that my friends and family who speak English as a second or third language use better written English than most native speakers. (This includes US, UK, NZ, Australia, &, yes, Canada.) And BAN AUTOFILL/AUTOCORRECT. Give quizzes on meaning of similar words. If I see "palatable" for "palpable" one more time? And that is in a *medical setting*... Palate and palpate are *reallllly* different, FFS. Argh. *headdesk to tenth*
More Thinking Needed 3 years ago
Educators have a tough job. But this is nothing more than teachers complaining about how poorly their students have been previously taught. It's not amusing, it's sad.
Leo Domitrix 3 years ago
My one friend recently retired fro teaching high school. She often had to re-teach them common concepts like sets and fractions before she could begin basic algebra. It's a tragedy. "No Child Left Behind".... Not so much.
Load More Replies... Raine Soo 3 years ago
How did these college students even make it this far in life? That is a mystery to me.
Tim Haight 3 years ago
it was dubya's no child left behind bulls**t. Teachers taught to the test to get the test scores so the school gets more money. Fail them. No can do. Pass them on to the next level so now their snowflake is some one else's problem.
Load More Replies... Zuko 3 years ago
I've posted this on bored panda, ill post it once again. I knew a kid, let's call him LikeBoy, or lb because he says the word like a lot. Anyways, our class was having a discussion post about reducing are carbon footprint and all the eco friendly stuff like that. We are all asked a question and we discuss about it. The question comes to cutting down trees, and LB is asked what he thinks about it: "Like, you know, I think, like it would, like, be bad for the, like, environment, to like, you know, cut down all the, like, trees, but I guess, like, all the rich people, like need, their like, fancy golf courses, and like, mansions, so maybe like, it's ok, like". (Sorry, about like, all the, like, 'likes')
Javiera Gotelli 3 years ago (edited)
It makes me sad to see a large portion of people in the U.S don't know basic grammar. Whether it is the broken school system or people being lazy, I don't know, but grab a damn book if you don't know how to spell!
Pervinca 3 years ago
I think that instead of showing dumb students this post shows poor education. Calling them dumbs would not improve the things. The problem is in the early education thay got, both from schools and from their parents.
Matthew Hoskins 3 years ago
When highly articulate and erudite professors get hauled over the coals 3 times for compromising the institutions security by falling for Phishing attacks. The students seem relatively harmless.
Load More Replies... Logically Reasonable 3 years ago
There's a difference between STUPID and IGNORANT. Stupid means that someone does not have the appropriate mental acuity to understand that what they've learned in their little private bubble of existence, does not work or relate to anything or anyone in the outside world, or in reality. They will never "get it". Ignorant means that someone was raised without the proper tools to learn. These people are open to learn, and most actually like to learn, because they understand the concept of what is needed to function in society and the real world.
Maureen Matthew 3 years ago (edited)
Sorry but why is anyone surprised. We have put education into the hands of governments who have shown over and over and over again that they are pretty much incompetent at implementing most things. And then we as a society decide that the results are just fine. Those with money can take their kids out of failing schools or get tutors, the rest can't but we do nothing about it. In may ways I'm glad that I'm 65 and given my family history probably have 15 - 20 years left, because by that time the Western world will be toast.
Jo Choto 3 years ago
I honestly think that two things cause students to fail so badly. The first is bad teaching. The world is full of atrocious teachers who have no business being in a classroom. The second problem is ridiculous expectations of the good teachers, who are expected to get through preposterously overstuffed curricula in overcrowded classrooms, while being required to accommodate any number of special educational needs students, and often having to pay for their own tools, supplies and resources. There are two things that determine a civilized society: investment in healthcare and investment in education. So many nations have failed badly.
Maureen Matthew 3 years ago
I agree - we have lowered the standards for teaching (while at the same time demanding teachers get paid more and have more resources) and we have lowered the standards for student results. But your second point is important - schools have become the dumping ground for any society problem - bullying, drugs, sex education, etc. etc. etc. There is no way that teachers have expertise in any of those things (they barely have expertise in the subjects they teach - don't get me on about math and science 'teachers). So schools spend more and more time on issues like bullying rather than teaching johnny to read, and then we are shocked when johnny can't read or write, or add or multiple, or know anything about basic science. Which might be the plan - if your population is ill educated they can be easily lead.
Load More Replies... Matthew Hoskins 3 years ago
When I was studying computing in the 80s we had an assignment to write a program in machine code and I duly got on with it, 3 days before the due date a pal asked to see my working code which I said was awful but he could take a look. I then rewrote the whole thing and handed my new code in. When the assignment was due to be returned to us the Lecturer sent me and a couple of others off the have a coffee with a stern look. As we left feeling very anxious we saw the head of the first year entering the room after us. Later I learned that the whole class bar myself and the other 2 had handed in my dubious first attempt verbatim. this collective act of plagiarism was a major scandal as it meant a major telling off and 40+ students with permanent black marks on their records. I got 90%.
Joyce Blodgett 1 year ago
Precisely why my niece taught for only one year, then changed to a much better position within the school system (IT, but not teaching it). She said that it was mighty discouraging to see the 'work' the so-called "gifted" students she taught turned in. One year, and she chose to get out of teaching altogether. Can't say I blame her. She's a lot happier now, and both she and her husband have excellent careers without having to deal with the idiocies of teaching.
DDmaybeandor 3 years ago
I worked with a girl who was a senior in college who didn't know how to use a broom. She literally held it on front of her and patted the floor...
Freya the Wanderer 3 years ago
I had to stop reading this before I facepalmed myself into unconsciousness. The educational [sic] system in the U.S. is in desperate need of a serious overhaul!
Tim Haight 3 years ago
In the case of the for profit colleges like ITT Tech and Corinthian College, they make money pressuring students to take out these predatory loans. ITT Tech charged something like $20K for an AA degree that can;t be transferred. Most likely they recruiters (more like used car salesman) went to the unemployment offices and homeless shelters. Then when they default they are screwed.
Load More Replies... Kuroka 3 years ago
Once I was in a 9th grade class (world history) and the teacher had us do an assignment where we'd go over and label the continents. Apparently there was an issue with kids not knowing where/what the continents were. Then the teacher went on to say that anyone who had a problem with the assignment had a ''high superiority complex'' and that he was ''glad you have such an ego, but some still have to go over it.'' Mind you, the kids in class were 15-16.
u brio 3 years ago (edited)
Now do professors. I once had a professor come to my office and asked me how to use the microwave. I said just put the food in, press how many minutes and then hit the start button. She asked me to show her in person. I did, even though I had never used this particular microwave before. I will make an allowance for her since even though she had a PhD, it was in women's studies. Similar issue with copiers. All the professors had a Phd, but all asked how to use the copier. No one showed me how to use it, I just figured it out. But I had to show all the "brains" how to use it.
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