Instructors have absolutely no control over them. I think maybe 10-20% pass them on a weekly basis. Maybe 1 or 2 students get an A. Those have zero to do with my teaching. But it shows the students' inability to either read or a lack of the most basic study skills one needs to do the work.
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I A'ced every one of my quizzes and exams while at EUO.
I think a good example here would be to look at the work ethic of students in CCI classes compared to other classes. I teach elsewhere online for a traditional community college, and am not required to do any kind of outreach whatsoever, although it's encouraged that I communicate with At-risk students at the beginning and middle of the term. (And drop those that are habitually absent.) But the students themselves -- they are articulate, hard-working, they participate fully, and when they send emails, it's not to ask for partial credit on an assignment they "forgot" about from week 2, or to angrily ask why they aren't passing, it's for clarification on an assignment, or help with a complex concept. That's the difference in retention and success. But, hey, Jenkins says I'm a bad instructor if my students don't pass.
700, my original point (OP here) is not to argue standardized testing. Quiz grades are a small portion of the final grade ( in my department.) My original point was to Ken Jenkins, and that was to look at failing quiz grades and assess the students. While instructors DO play a large role in the classroom (again, quizzes a small portion) I just wanted to make the point that many, many students fail the quizzes. That's because many, many students do not have the reading ability or study skill set to handle college. It's an uphill battle every day trying to help students succeed. But, if Jenkins looked at quiz grades, which only gauge a students' ability to read and comprehend, then he would see it's NOT an instructors' failure to do his job. It was just a counter pint to his insult that WE fail if students fail. That's simply not true. Students fail because they should NOT be in the classroom in the first place. My conscious is clean. I can't be responsible because they recruit students who want money (stipend) or simply cannot do the work. That's on leadership. And I think it's clear leadership is a failure, so why should we be blamed?
Ultimately the question is whether or not standardized test results based on textbook readings reflect instructor abilities or quality. On the one side we have that the instructor is not at all responsible, and on the other side is the claim that the instructor might be able to at a minimum encourage students to read. The CCi model, however, seems to be 'asses in classes,' so a good instructor is the one with the most.
Some of our ground students come in with their home problems. I heard it all! No money to get to school but they have money for their hair and nails. Some walk in with felony issues and Career service has to place them. Some get high during their breaks, their sent home but not dismissed from their program. We constantly check them for cursing, rudeness, loudness, in the halls while they are on break. I had one student curse me out and called me B. I understand that they all want a better life. Some change their lives and become professionals. I am proud of them when they do. But, Most of them stay ghetto, no matter who teaches them.
688, it's called Outreach. It doesn't. It doesn't work.
Could be there is a big difference between ground and online, but what I hear about online is the instructor spends most of the time calling students to make sure students log in. Not sure how that helps improve test scores.
686, I think some jerk who is not an instructor and who has no idea what he is talking about is just being a bother. I was trying to explain my point, but this person seems confused about everything we do. So I give up!
I think that there is some confusion between on-the-ground and online instructor expectations in this thread. See the thread posted today at 20:29:12 for a really good description of the differences of expectations. The title of it starts "Hey Jenkins." http://www.thelayoff.com/corinthian-colleges/post/5691221536145408#replies
Quizzes have nothing to do with Outreach. Students read their texts and take quizzes based on those readings (at online anyway.) students fail them because they CANNOT read at the comprehension level necessary to pass the quizzes. That's my point. They have nothing to do with instructors. Quizzes are reading comprehension (in my department.) I have NO idea what the Outreach point is. Outreach has nothing to do with textbook readings or quizzes.
It is no wonder Jenkins is so clueless about what is going on.
Why would an instructor do Outreach for textbook readings? That would be stupid. Do you think we call them up to read to them? You must be kidding.
What is it 60-70% "outreach" (i.e. phone calls)?
It's not even 5 pm yet!
'Instructors are only to call'????? What's that?
Instructors don't smile and dial. That's a different department. I can see we are being visited by someone with nothing else to do on a Friday night.
26673, you must be a troll who has NO idea what you are talking about. All classes in all colleges and universities have reading assignments from something called a textbook. Those readings are part of the workload of all colleges and universities in America. There isn't one instructor or professor who actually READS it to you, douche bag. Students, in addition to other work, are expected to do their readings. There's other graded work too. Must be hard to be so stupid. You really do not know what you are talking about. And one way to test their reading is to give a quiz. I don't know what call you refer to. Maybe go to college and find out.
26673, online instructors spend a lot of time explaining assignments to students and providing feedback to them on their work so that the 30% who want to learn can. They also spend a lot of time posting in threaded discussions, but I'm not sure what this does. Also, I've never been asked to smile when I dial.
26673, I have no idea what you just said. Nor do I care. You're just an angry ex student or a troll. Neither one is my problem.
Oh, that's right, instructors are only to call to make sure students read textbooks. Smile and dial. Good call!
26665, whatever. You clearly aren't an instructor. Tests bad quizzes are written by the curriculum designers. They are based on textbook readings. To check what you've learned from the BOOK!!! Not from us. Dipshit.
Wish I could see what I type on this phone. One character off is not too bad.
Something tells me that 26665 is not an instructor.
Anonymous26665 - and then you could proofread and spell, right?
If you were a better instructor, then the test scores would be bettet.
I think another major problem is that the curriculum is not developmentally appropriate for the students. Most of the students could make more progress from going through a Reader Rabbit program than from learning APA formatting.
Agreed.
Agreed.