Pa. Grad Student Sues, Says C-Plus Cost Her $1.3M

[PhinsPhan11]

The wierd thing is, I'm actually pretty extroverted in class while I'm very introverted the rest of the time.

That's funny because I'm the complete opposite. I listen and get my stuff done in class, and then I'm very extroverted once I'm outside of class.

[rob19]

My participation points are based on not sleeping, not goofing around/texting/etc, and attending class. It's not about raising your hands, blah blah. I, and most other teachers I speak with, understand different people learn in different ways. It's not fair to force learning styles on people. Personally, I retain most of what I need from listening and taking notes. The other 20% or so I remember after some light studying. I also almost never need stuff broken down, expanded on, etc for me to understand it, so I usually don't have questions. So I'd lose points in a class where the professor needs you to ask questions. And I agree on the group work, I work better when I don't have to rely on anyone else. I think you're thinking of a specific kind of participation points. Most teachers just use it to make sure people come to class...

That's a fair way of going about it.

[tylerdolphin]

Basically, if your class is a learning experience, people will come and pay attention. The classes with attendance issues are the ones where the students feel like they are wasting their life attending. Thats my experience anyway.

I took Gen Psych a few years back. The professor was excellent. Very interesting. I didnt miss a single class that entire semester and not many people missed more than 1 or 2. I dont think he even had an attendance policy. On the other hand, you have some professors that just recite the textbook to you word for word and make you seriously wonder why you didnt just stay home and read the chapter yourself.

[Valandui]

That's funny because I'm the complete opposite. I listen and get my stuff done in class, and then I'm very extroverted once I'm outside of class.

I'm not so much asking questions usually. In a lot of cases I already know what we're learning. I'm usually just contributing to class discussion in toned down Hank Moody style.

---------- Post added at 08:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------

I really need to go back to school.

[PhinsPhan11]

I'm not so much asking questions usually. In a lot of cases I already know what we're learning. I'm usually just contributing to class discussion in toned down Hank Moody style.

---------- Post added at 08:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------

I really need to go back to school.

And that's cool, I'm not criticizing you at all. I'm usually a close to the vest person when I'm in class and I don't talk a whole lot.

[Locke]

Basically, if your class is a learning experience, people will come and pay attention. The classes with attendance issues are the ones where the students feel like they are wasting their life attending. Thats my experience anyway.

I took Gen Psych a few years back. The professor was excellent. Very interesting. I didnt miss a single class that entire semester and not many people missed more than 1 or 2. I dont think he even had an attendance policy. On the other hand, you have some professors that just recite the textbook to you word for word and make you seriously wonder why you didnt just stay home and read the chapter yourself.

It's so much of an issue in the cognitive psych and learning and memory classes I teach, but the intro to psych class I have is full of people just taking it to cover their core requirements. They couldn't care less about what I'm saying, just want the credit for the class, and can't be bothered to come in, or when they do, be respectful. I'd say it was just my classes, but I know it isn't. These participation points are mandated by the department for all intro classes. It could be that more local students have access to UNM than other states give to their students, so we get more casual students. But it's just frustrating for us as teachers...

[JamesBW43]

saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation

That's a pretty suspect reason for giving zero points, especially to an otherwise A student.