Is anyone taking Chem 1A out there, or Gen Chem????

[BlueAvocado]

I am freaking mad that I get stuck with this idiot of a teacher. I don't know if anyone else out there got stuck with someone like this: This guy talks very fast, he misses crucial steps, He expects you to know almost everything saying things like, "Oh you should know this from Chem 3, this should be a review and etc." It really pisses me off!!!!
I don't get it it's not a difficult subject, science is not difficult in general, but why do some teachers need to make it harder then it really is. I am spending most of my study time trying to clearify what the jerk has thought in class. Has anyone ever had a teacher like this. I speculate that he does this, so he can get a Oh Wow responce from his students who are led to beleive that he is a really smart man, who is soo much above us.
I am getting irritaed the most about not learning this stuff. I mean good grades can always be achieved, but the important thing which is the knowledge of the material is not that easly achievable. I talked to him about dropping the course and taking it next smester, because I predicted that I wouldn't do good in his class, and he basicaly told me that grades arent really important for Med school it's really just the MCAT scores.
Either way i am screwed because I wont get a good grade, and i got a dimwitt of a teacher who is not doing $hit for me in class. His idea is to challenge you to the max, and he does this by giving you very difficult problems many times harder then the ones which are generaly given in the book. He rarelly spends a lot of time on a subject clerifying the material and trying to make his students understand. And then when the test day comes he throws every imaginable curve ball at you. arrgghhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Sorry I have to vent. There is a lot of mistakes in this passage but I am mad, don't patience right now for errors.

Tell me what you guys think????

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[SMW]

That's life, it's annoying, but not much you can do. Try to calm down, accept that he's not going to change, and try to learn as much as you can however you can.

 

[BlueAvocado]

Well yeah you can say thats life, but bottom line is that he is a bad teacher and not the only one out there. I wanted to really get a opinion on what people out there did in my situation. Did they drop or get another teacher.

I actualy have a BS in Business, and now I am in school for my pre med. I was fortunate to have pretty good teachers for my Business degree. It was a private University (Wayland Baptist University) and I was priviladged to have classes with teachers who didn't teach a milion students a semester. It was more personalized atmosphere to learn in. Even if I compare my Business studies to the pre med, I never had a teacher say, " You should know this" I think that is a coup out that this guy is doing because he really doesn't care for our education.

The first thing he told us when we came into his class, "there was only one student who passed my class who didn't have a prerequisite. Judging by the expression he made when he said that, he expressed pleasure in making his class very difficult for no apparent reason then to amaze us with his degree of difficulty.

I just reverse roles and try putting my self in his shoes, and for damn sure I wouldn't do the same.

 

[souljah1]

Here's my opinion..instead of whining on an internet board (which is not going to change the reality of your course)...why don't you go to your professor's office hours and tell him that you are having a difficult time following his lectures. If you come in with specific areas where you are in need of understanding, perhaps he/she can resolve it for you. The fact is that not every teacher is going to be great. As time goes on you will be expected to become more and more independent in your study habits. Maybe you could look at this class as an early glimpse of courses to come.

Does your school have tuturing? Sometimes going to a tutoring session can really clarify issues that may be troubling you. Could you drop it and re-take it with a different professor? YOu could do that to.

You seem to have a defeat-ist attitude, which definitely won't help you maintain a clear and calm mind. Gen Chem exams were intense (as far as time allotted, etc). A calm mind is an absorbant mind, so maybe you should take all of this hostility and squash it for the sake of your own progress.

Peace.

 

[The Hulk]

Good Dr.,

I feel for you. I too come from a business background and am in a post-bac program. Luckily, the professors I have now are amazing. As to your professor, I think you should try and appeal to his bravado and juiced-up ego. Ask him if you can go to his office hours to work on topics you you don't wuite understand. Tell him how you know your having trouble, but how you know that after reviewing things several times with as good a prof as he is, your bound to learn everything. This way you tie his positive self-image to your academic success. Then maybe He'll actually help you out. Of course, he might just tell you he doesn't have time for anything like that. I guess it just depends on how narcissistic he is. Either way, prepare to work hard.

 

[burlypie]

I had an atrocious gen chem 1 teacher as well -- not only were her lectures all over the board but she tended to test on very different type of questions than she ever assigned! Here's how I got an A, never having done well in chem in the past:

1. Post-bacc motivation.

2. Teach yourself. Hopefully you've got a good textbook; use it! read, follow the sample problems, and understand what they're talking about. After doing that...

3. Go to office hours and ask about what you didn't understand after reading the text and about anything your prof "mentioned" in class but didn't really explain. Get specific; have an agenda. Even if you should hav known something from the past, prof's are usually a little more understanding and will review during office hours.

4. Do as many problems as possible and understand why they're right or wrong!

I guarantee you take responsibility for your learning to a greater extent, which is necessary with a bad teacher, you will know the stuff inside out. That helps with the MCAT too...

Good Luck!

 

[Toots]

I totally know where you're coming from. I'm taking post-bacc Gen Chem right now, and luckily my prof is cool, but my TA SUCKS big ones. We, the *****ic non-science post-baccers, were explaining the problems to HER last week. I too would recommend going to office hours, it really helped me this past week.

Good luck and keep doing problems!

 

[CD]

When I took gen. chem. I had a prof. who lacked in his lecture skills. He did, however, know chemistry inside and out. I took to visiting his office three days a week for 10-15 minutes or so. I always came prepared with specific questions. He willingly answered them and because I never questioned his teaching ability we became friends. When the end of the year came around and we took the ACS national exam I did extremely well because of the time I had taken with my prof. and the hours I spent teaching myself chemistry. Chemistry is what YOU make of it. Put in the hours by your self and THEN ASK THE PROF. (or T.A.). Most are willing to help an excited student with a good outlook on life. I always took the time at the end of our question and answer times to sincerely thank him for going beyond the "norm" and working with me.

Oh, yes he also chose to ask things that didn't seem to have much to do with lectures or homework. (for example he asked second term how many electrons could be in g orbitals. WE NEVER EVEN TALKED ABOUT G ORBITALS. It required understanding how they are constructed to deduce the correct number....18 by the way). To combat this problem I made sure I understood EVERYTHING in the book even if he didn't touch on it in class

Good luck!

 

[Raptor]

I took Chemistry 111 about two years ago and I don't remember anything. I would suggest like every other science class to work a lot of problems. Do all the problems in the back of the book and it will all clarify all your questions. I wish I had a good chemistry 111 professor but he was very confusing so i taught myself. Also get tutoring, that certainly wouldn't hurt.

 

[BlueAvocado]

Hey guys I just want to say thank you for your replies. souljah all I have to say buddy is that, yes I am a little hostile right now. I know that it doesn't benefit me to be that way, but it's very frustrating that when a medical admissions board looks at applicants cold hard grades are the big determening factor and not your perservierence for your education and your passion for Medicine. I joined the Air Force after High School and I had to grow up very quickly, there are no second chances in life something I picked up from day one while I first took my step into the military life. But to get to my point some things in life like a bad teacher or a bad grade can haunt your for the rest of your life. I don't mean to cry on the public board but I sure like to vent. I don't see anything wrong with that, and as I expected I got a few responses from people who are or who were in the same boat as me.

I don't think I have a defeted attitude I just have a realistic look on my situation. I spend more then 5 hours a day for this chem class, and most of that time is spent undoing the conffusion from my lectures. I attend tutor sessions twice a week(although not 1 on 1) and meet once a week with fellow students. A month has gone by and I am barelly pulling in a C. Oh well I ll stop bitching, but for the other people who took the time to tel me their experiences thank you again hopefully we can help each other out. I put some of you guys on my buddy lists.

 

[SMW]

Sorry if I came across as unsympathethic. I think it's terrible that people are hired to teach who are horrible teachers. I've had some at every level of my education, as have most of us. If you can drop or get another teacher without penalty, then do it. If not, then make the best of the situation by trying some of the approaches other posters have suggested. If what you're doing now isn't working, then do something else/more. Your negative/hostile mindset is fueling your anger and doing you no good. Letting go of the anger will probably make the 5 hours you are spending more productive. Btw, one bad grade is not going to haunt you for the rest of your life. Many SDNers have gotten grades of C or worse and still been admitted to med school. I wish you the best in this course and the rest of your pre-med studies.

 

[BlueAvocado]

No Problem, by the way how is Alaska right now? My wife and I almost got stationed there with the Air force.

 

[SMW]

Well, at least it's not snowing yet! Really, it's actually a quite beautiful fall up here this year. Not raining too much, Temperatures between 50 and 60. A light dusting of snow on the Chugach Mountains. Yellow birches and alders and the tundra turning reds and oranges. No med school up here, though.

 

[BlueAvocado]

My sister in Law was in Fairbanks, her husband was in the army. I heard it's very nice up there, we might try to fly out there next summer. I rather see it in the summer then the harsh winter. That sucks there are no medschools up there. You should write a letter to the governor, maybe they can start one.