I just finished grading my second exam of the semester - an exam that covered only four chapters. The chapters covered supply and demand analysis and health care economics. Here are the numbers:
A - 2
B- 5
C - 17
D or F - 60
71.4% of my students failed with a D or F.
Here is the most amazing part: The highest grade was a 99 - earned by a Chinese male. The second highest grade was a 96 - earned by a Russian female. The third highest grade was an 86 - earned by an Indian male.
There it is. While my American students - spend their time on Facebook, playing video games, YouTubing, texting and generally goofing off, my Chinese, Russian and Indian students are reading, studying and representing a picture of where this nation is heading.
Happy Thanksgiving.
It should only be a matter of time before Valencia tries to stifle you on this blog. Most will ignore your facts and label you a racist, sexist, xenophobic professor. You appear to have the courage to ignore those labels and the truth to support your opinions. I wish you luck in your defense.
ReplyDeleteThis is only conjecture on my part, but I would guess that your foreign students that are excelling are only a generation removed from either poverty and/or oppression and are motivated to learn. I'm afraid that until those conditions exist here, the majority of kids will still only care about the superficial electronic distractions and the poor grades will continue. I still believe that there will be a select group that will be motivated to thrive, but the reward system for that seems to be under attack. That's an argument for a later time.
If and when my son attends your class in a few years, at my recommendation, you have my permission to smack him in the back of the head if he gets out of line and tell him he is an idiot for getting a C, D or F. Some people will view this as barbaric or draconian, but maybe it help our coddled young overcome the mediocrity that they have come to accept as the norm.
Maybe you should just become a nice guy and round up their grades to at least a C or better. If you would just do that, we would instantly have a smarter population.
I'm sure somehow, some way, in their minds, this is all your fault.
you'd never get a cabinet position in this administration...maybe the next one
ReplyDeleteWELL DONE superior teachers like you are our only hope
Martin! I am a foreign student, and I can assure you that coming from poverty is not the main reason why foreign students excel at Pr. Chambless's classes. Yes, we have a great motivation for we do not want to go back to poverty. The elementary-through-high school educational system in Russia - where I am from - is so strict and demanding that it is impossible to get a good grade without studying. Whatever is college algebra here - kids in Russia study it at the 6-th grade! We had to memorize incredible number of tables and theorems for math, chemistry, and physics classes! We never had a multiple choice test - if you want to have an "A", you have to work really hard for it, you have to know any chapter by a heart. All that was based on a very high discipline. And this what I think is the core for academic success. Remember, Bastiat called any labor a "pain", so learning is not an exception. It was painful for me, it was not fun. Here, they teach math via games! Kids cannot even do simple multiplication without using a calculator. If schools continue on nourishing laziness, nothing will change. School assignments and tests have to become harder, otherwise young brains will become numb forever!
ReplyDeleteValentina.
ReplyDeleteAs I stated, it was conjecture on my part. Thank you for the firsthand insight.
I was trying to point out what you clearly stated, that our education system has lowered the bar to unacceptable levels. There are many social variables that factor in to this education equation. We, as a nation, tend to reward mediocrity and expect less of our youth. I believe we are experiencing the ramifications of that.
It was my experience in school that the foreign students I knew told me of the poverty they came from and/or the oppressive governments, and the motivating factors that shaped their decisions and work ethic. This experience, as well as my comment above, may have been an over generalization, but was only one example of the many factors of why foreign students tend to thrive. There are many more, of which there is not enough time to discuss here. I don't wish to discount the importance of the other factors; I was just highlighting this one.
As with most public forums, the comments section can be tricky to fully convey thoughts about a complex situation. We appear to be in agreement on the state of this countries educational standards. Again, thanks for the insight and dialogue and best of luck with your studies. If you are one of the students Professor Chambless used as example of excelling, I would say you don't sound like you need luck.
Martin! Thank you! Luck is always a plus! We can talk a lot about what is wrong, but all the society needs is the right set of actions! I think something will change for better. The Darwinian evolution theory cannot fail this time!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you, too!