Entire class failing an exam?

[frosted_flake]

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Has this ever happened to anyone else here?
My physics class just took an exam 2 days ago and the class average was 2/19, the highest grade was an 8/19. He is allowing for "half credit corrections" but this will still keep the entire class below a passing grade of 60. Is this something to go to a higher up about, or just wait to see how it all works out after he (hopefully) curves it?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Goro]

Where I am, we would say that something is NOT wrong with the class...the problem is the test, or the Professor!

Has this ever happened to anyone else here?
My physics class just took an exam 2 days ago and the class average was 2/19, the highest grade was an 8/19. He is allowing for "half credit corrections" but this will still keep the entire class below a passing grade of 60. Is this something to go to a higher up about, or just wait to see how it all works out after he (hopefully) curves it?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[youmed]

No mean and standard deviation?

 

[phantomcello]

Has this ever happened to anyone else here?
My physics class just took an exam 2 days ago and the class average was 2/19, the highest grade was an 8/19. He is allowing for "half credit corrections" but this will still keep the entire class below a passing grade of 60. Is this something to go to a higher up about, or just wait to see how it all works out after he (hopefully) curves it?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I've been in similar courses where this has happened, and the professor has always curved in the end.

 

[frosted_flake]

Where I am, we would say that something is NOT wrong with the class...the problem is the test, or the Professor!

My class was dumbfounded when he walked in with the exams laughing saying the average was in the single digits.

 

[bofocion]

these type of exams will be curved in some way, either per exam or at the end of the course where the entire class grade gets curved. I have never heard of an entire class with not one person getting an A in the class.

 

[La Presse]

Laughter indicates curving.

 

[frosted_flake]

That is going to be one enormous curve.

 

[Kochanie]

Wow, that's so low, but yeah in my school the average score doesn't matter, the top x% get As.

 

[WillburCobb]

That is going to be one enormous curve.

I had a class in undergrad where only one student out of ~40 passed the first test. The prof let students "pro-rate" the final towards the first test and the class was curved. It was an intense class, but I learned a lot and the prof was awesome even though he was hard as hell.

 

[Apoplexy__]

I failed every test in my Physics 2 class and got a B. Not sure what the point is in making a test so hard it necessitates that kind of curve...

 

[frosted_flake]

Thanks for all of your replies, I have a little glimmer of hope now 🙂
Will let you know how it all works out.

 

[bearded frog]

​

 

[Kochanie]

I failed every test in my Physics 2 class and got a B. Not sure what the point is in making a test so hard it necessitates that kind of curve...

Because even if the average is a 50, a few students could have gotten As. My professors like to make the test as challenging as possible to have a wide distribution of grades.

 

[frosted_flake]

I had a class in undergrad where only one student out of ~40 passed the first test. The prof let students "pro-rate" the final towards the first test and the class was curved. It was an intense class, but I learned a lot and the prof was awesome even though he was hard as hell.

My chem professor is letting us do this!!

I failed every test in my Physics 2 class and got a B. Not sure what the point is in making a test so hard it necessitates that kind of curve...

Disgruntled professors who want to ruin kids dreams?
🙄

I once got a score in the 70s on an anthropology mid term but the class average was in the 40s so i ended up with 98%...

Sweet! I love your avatar by the way, it cracks me up

EDIT: Just learned how to use the multi-quote feature!

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

That's insane. I've experienced averages in the 30's and 40's in which a 75+ was like a golden ticket. I think some professors enjoy punishing pre-meds. While others are just on another level and do not realize it until they grade exams.

 

[Lucca]

So in my e&m class the first exam of the semester had an average of 30/100. The class had no curve or drop. Prof just decided to drop the exam

 

[frosted_flake]

That's insane. I've experienced averages in the 30's and 40's in which a 75+ was like a golden ticket. I think some professors enjoy punishing pre-meds. While others are just on another level and do not realize it until they grade exams.

I think he is one of these. He will go through examples and say 'oh, I know this will confuse you guys but let's do it anyways!' or something like 'yeah, I have no idea how to do this problem' (and he will spend 45 minutes working it out on the board) then ask if we have any questions about it....

 

[frosted_flake]

So in my e&m class the first exam of the semester had an average of 30/100. The class had no curve or drop. Prof just decided to drop the exam

My goodness....
How do these people not realize the impact that these grades have on our future, and not just the people who want to go to med school.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

I think he is one of these. He will go through examples and say 'oh, I know this will confuse you guys but let's do it anyways!' or something like 'yeah, I have no idea how to do this problem' (and he will spend 45 minutes working it out on the board) then ask if we have any questions about it....

I don't think a lot of these science professors understand that they should be somewhat practical when making exams. They are just too caught up in the esoteric subjects within their field and are unable to teach basic Newtonian physics (or any other subject). I have come across "Einstein-like" professors that were excellent in terms of using the appropriate material for exams, homework, etc. So it is possible.

 

[The Buff OP]

Yeah, my intro bio class (at a CC) the class started with 30+ students and at the end 7 were left. The one's that stayed were re-taking the class. The professor wasn't good most of us dropped because we were borderline failing.

 

[frosted_flake]

Yeah, my intro bio class (at a CC) the class started with 30+ students and at the end 7 were left. The one's that stayed were re-taking the class. The professor wasn't good most of us dropped because we were borderline failing.

Mine is at a CC too. All I can think of is he is trying to prove himself and intimidate us.

 

[The Buff OP]

Mine is at a CC too. All I can think of is he is trying to prove himself and intimidate us.

Most of dropped because she demanded a lot of stuff we didn't even know yet. She wanted us to know chemical structures and other baloney. I have talked about this class before and I was told some of the stuff I did was only done in microbiology majors (advanced stuff).

 

[Theafoni]

Yeah, my intro bio class (at a CC) the class started with 30+ students and at the end 7 were left. The one's that stayed were re-taking the class. The professor wasn't good most of us dropped because we were borderline failing.

Ratemyprofessor always helps in avoiding poor professors.

 

[galianowu]

I have never heard of an entire class with not one person getting an A in the class.

 

[Lucca]

My goodness....
How do these people not realize the impact that these grades have on our future, and not just the people who want to go to med school.

The physics department here does not care about your future plans. They care about physics.

 

[optimistic3]

My current pchem class exam averages are in the 30s (out of 100). No one knows what they are doing because the professor can't teach. That is going to be one hell of a curve at the end.

I've always felt that some professors know so much about their subject that they forget what it's like to learn the basic stuff the first time around and don't know how to teach it to us. I fear this is the case for this class.

 

[SOOyC52H1Sof]

Has this ever happened to anyone else here?
My physics class just took an exam 2 days ago and the class average was 2/19, the highest grade was an 8/19. He is allowing for "half credit corrections" but this will still keep the entire class below a passing grade of 60. Is this something to go to a higher up about, or just wait to see how it all works out after he (hopefully) curves it?

Thanks for the advice everyone.

this is how almost all of my engineering classes were. Averages were usually in the 40%. With only 2 grades in the class, you never knew if you were failing or not. Most teachers would not discuss curves, so you never really knew where you stood. In retrospect, I wish I didnt choose an engineering major.

 

[The Buff OP]

Ratemyprofessor always helps in avoiding poor professors.

That's my guide every semester, but that one time all biology classes got full really quickly.

 

[Lucca]

To be fair, I've never felt antagonized by a professor. When this kind of stuff happens it's best to not feel "entitled" to any grade or come off that way and instead approach the professor in a humble way looking to improve - even if the test was just unfair as balls.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

this is how almost all of my engineering classes were. Averages were usually in the 40%. With only 2 grades in the class, you never knew if you were failing or not. Most teachers would not discuss curves, so you never really knew where you stood. In retrospect, I wish I didnt choose an engineering major.

From SDN and a few other sources, I've gathered that engineering is like a perpetual cage match when it comes to getting certain grades (i.e. 3.6 and above). Is this some sort of conspiracy? Engineering students have to be among the hardest working students. Why are they punished?

 

[mrh125]

Some community college professors (i am speaking from experience dealing with them) are total airheads with a hard-on for power and have ultra-tenure so the department chair or whatever won't do a god damn thing (this happens at universities at times too, but community colleges are like the wild west when it comes to this). I wouldn't necessarily rule out the prospect of him letting everyone fail because he could probably pull something like that and get away with it honestly. If you can withdraw without issues and take it after you transfer (this is a huge part of why I didn't take science courses until after I transferred) that would be a great idea.

 

[frosted_flake]

Some community college professors (i am speaking from experience dealing with them) are total airheads with a hard-on for power and have ultra-tenure so the department chair or whatever won't do a god damn thing (this happens at universities at times too, but community colleges are like the wild west when it comes to this). I wouldn't necessarily rule out the prospect of him letting everyone fail because he could probably pull something like that and get away with it honestly. If you can withdraw without issues and take it after you transfer (this is a huge part of why I didn't take science courses until after I transferred) that would be a great idea.

I am currently just a visiting student at that college, it is not my home institution.
That may have been an option but as of April 12th I had an A in the course.

 

[nothing gold can stay]

Tell me about it. One of the professors for a class I'm taking right now has over 30 reviews on ratemyprofessors.com and his score is 1.1. Two midterms, averages were 58 and 59. I got 85 and 71. Bitch of a class. Apparently I'm a low B even after the curve...

 

[hoihaie]

wow. 1.1??? that's thel owest i've ever seen on ratemyprofessor... what kinda class is it? engineering?

 

[nothing gold can stay]

wow. 1.1??? that's thel owest i've ever seen on ratemyprofessor... what kinda class is it? engineering?

Nope. Physical chemistry.

 

[Lamel]

Average is 2/19? Either the professor sucks at teaching or the exam was way too hard for what you guys covered.

 

[frosted_flake]

Average is 2/19? Either the professor sucks at teaching or the exam was way too hard for what you guys covered.

Both, hahaha
I have never been allowed to do test corrections in college until now. We tried doing them as a class and we are still struggling.

 

[QuantumJ]

Not quite. The first physics 2 test had an avg of 31. The next two had an avg of 50 or so. Not everyone failed but it's safe to say most of the class

 

[bakedbeans18]

I once got a score in the 70s on an anthropology mid term but the class average was in the 40s so i ended up with 98%...

Someone went to Yale...