25 replies to this topic

[Mr. Roboto]

Nobody wants to do the work anymore. I was a slack ass when I was a kid, and I'll admit it. But I was under no illusion that it would produce anything for me. Nor did I feel I was entitled to anything just because I showed up and everybody should thank me for how awesome I was. My step daughter didn't want to work and after numerous warnings she was given the boot. Out, adios see ya. I care for her, but I'm not going to let a kid think that she can have it both ways in life, much less on my dime. Now she has a job and is ready to come back. When she does she'll be signing a lease. No pay, no help around the house, anything less than 100%....go get your own place. Her sense of entitlement came quick and out of nowhere and I made sure to nip that in the bud. She's young, so hopefully she learned her lesson.

[LISA]

That's the thing. There are brilliant people that can't find a job. What happened to common sense? Get a job waiting tables or bartending and pay for the rent motherfucker! Now, like we've both said, her ass is all over the internet. What employer in their right mind would hire this idiot? For an IT job or ANY job? I wouldn't, because I would assume she would cause trouble later.

I've read countless articles about people who don't get the job because their potential employer looks them up on myspace and find them doing something stupid that may reflect poorly on the company. This goes beyond waaaaay beyond that. She'll be the most educated Wal Mart greeter ever.

ain't no shame in any of the jobs mentioned. On your feet all day or night,smiling,be polite and helpful..hard damn work..I did it for many a year, it didn't pay muchbut it was an honest living and you just got by and made do.!
This chick need a kick in the effing box

[Bandita]

I googled this and read a bunch of commentary on the articles and they ALL said the same things we are.

[cousin it]

And this is why I'm sick of teaching college. Most think they're there to get an easy "A" so they can get a good job. Sorry. That's not my job.

You have my sympathies. As you know, I recently returned, and it appeared that, out of a class of about 25, there were about 5 of us that were there to learn.

Once, I approached the instructor after a class to discuss a topic that he hadn't mentioned during the lecture that was in the text, and he appeared delighted that someone had actually read the text before the class???

Too, he gave me a grade that I obviously didn't deserve... the points added up, but I wouldn't have given myself that grade, so I'm sure there were a lot of kids that should have flunked, but probably didn't.

I would've failed the whole fucking lot, but I guess that you can't.

[freedom78]

And this is why I'm sick of teaching college. Most think they're there to get an easy "A" so they can get a good job. Sorry. That's not my job.

You have my sympathies. As you know, I recently returned, and it appeared that, out of a class of about 25, there were about 5 of us that were there to learn.

Once, I approached the instructor after a class to discuss a topic that he hadn't mentioned during the lecture that was in the text, and he appeared delighted that someone had actually read the text before the class???

Too, he gave me a grade that I obviously didn't deserve... the points added up, but I wouldn't have given myself that grade, so I'm sure there were a lot of kids that should have flunked, but probably didn't.

I would've failed the whole fucking lot, but I guess that you can't.

I'm a tough grader. Not the toughest, but grade inflation is rampant and I think it's shit. Anyway, the old guys like me, because they're hardcore about grading. I don't have any problem saying that the average grade is a C+. Very few people earn an "A" of any variety. I do apply a "bump" at the end, and that makes the top end respectable. But half the people get somethign below the "B" range, and not because I do a true bell curve, but because they simply don't perform well enough to do better.

[Mr. Roboto]

Do you ever check yourself out on ratemyprofessor by chance? What do professors think about that site?

[freedom78]

Do you ever check yourself out on ratemyprofessor by chance? What do professors think about that site?

I only have two ratings, and they're both from my time as a teaching assistant. TA ratings are fairly invalid because you're often forced to do what the professor wants you to. I had a semester where we used some book in discussion sections, and after a few weeks, it became fairly clear that each exercise had the same damned point to make. It was awful. The professor agreed it was awful.

Anyway, it's like any self-selecting survey...biased beyond belief. If you dislike something, you're more likely to bitch about it. I don't really expect the kid who thought my class was good, but not great, to spend time afterward writing me up a review online to say so. I wouldn't (well, I would...but I'm weird like that). I am required to do reviews at teh end of the semester. They're anonymous. And, surprise surprise, they're better than the BS on that site. Why? Because it's not self selecting (however, it is also a completely invalid tool...we all know it, but have to do it anyway).

[TAP]

Do you ever check yourself out on ratemyprofessor by chance? What do professors think about that site?

Yeah, totally agree with freedom.....totally useless because of self-selection bias.

[Mr. Roboto]

I always take 'em with a grain of salt. Most internet outlets are used to complain for starters. Next I always read how it was written, 9/10 times a complaint looks like D typed it, and that says enough.

[freedom78]

I always take 'em with a grain of salt. Most internet outlets are used to complain for starters. Next I always read how it was written, 9/10 times a complaint looks like D typed it, and that says enough.

Agreed. A disproportionate amount of people post negative when posting reviews of pretty much anything. Unless a product has thousands of reviews, it'll be completely skewed toward the ends...people who LOVE it (and wanted to share the love) and people who HATED it.

For example, I typed "Britney Spears" into amazon.com and here's the breakdown of star ratings for one of her albums:

5 star: 676
4 star: 215
3 star: 134
2 star: 102
1 star: 268

Five star and one star...a combined 944 ratings. Two three and four stars (where most people would likely fall if we did a true random sample)...451. Less than half of the other.

Anyway, self selection is a bitch. Even truly random polling is flawed by self selection (not so much as reviews are, though).

[TAP]

Britney would make an awesome college professor though