Published Sunday, January 11, 2009 6:05 AM
A&M bases bonus on student input
By VIMAL PATEL
vimal.patel@theeagle.com
The head of the Texas A&M University System wants to give faculty members bonuses, but many are saying no thanks.
"I've never had so much trouble giving away a million dollars," Chancellor Mike McKinney said, laughing.
That's because he's never spent it like this. McKinney plans to give up to $10,000 bonuses to instructors based on anonymous student evaluations.
Texas A&M University, along with two other schools in the A&M System, are the first public universities in Texas -- and among a few in the nation -- to offer financial rewards based on the end-of-the-semester critiques. The program is voluntary.
Faculty members have voiced concern about the program's fairness, the possibility of it becoming a popularity contest and the wisdom of relying on a single evaluation method.
"I don't believe teaching awards should be given based solely on student evaluations," said Martha Loudder, an accounting professor and former speaker of the faculty senate. "I fear that some very good teachers will be left out."
McKinney's $1.1 million pilot initiative is also unfolding at Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. He said the initiative fits with higher-education reforms supported by Gov. Rick Perry.
Having student evaluations determine instructor rewards was one of seven "breakthrough" reforms that came out of a higher-education summit in May organized by Perry's office and a conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Though details are preliminary, officials said, the aim is to offer awards starting at $2,500 to the top 15 percent of participating instructors.
"This is customer satisfaction," McKinney said. "It doesn't have to do with tenure, promotion, status. It has to do with students having the opportunity to recognize good teachers and reward them with some money."
Students and university officials said they plan to hand out the first awards in February.
Texas A&M University President Elsa Murano couldn't be reached for comment. Her spokesman said the decision to include Texas A&M University in the pilot program came from the system level. The Texas A&M University System encompasses nine universities, seven state agencies and a health science center.
Shortcomings
Loudder has received the most prestigious award at the university, the Presidential Teaching Excellence Award, given to two faculty members each year. In addition to the $25,000 award, she has won others, including one from The Association of Former Students.
And, she said, she generally gets positive evaluations from students.
But she is at a disadvantage with this program, she said. She teaches an accounting course known as a "weed-out" class -- usually one of the toughest courses of the major in which students often realize accounting isn't for them.
"My scores would never be high enough to be competitive, so there's no point of me participating," Loudder said. "They're either going to love me or hate me."
A few low scores would have a significant impact on the evaluations, she said.
Research is varied on both sides, but the Texas Public Policy Foundation acknowledges that there is some correlation between lenient grading and better student evaluations.
Karan Watson, Texas A&M's dean of faculties and associate provost, admitted that the bonus program has shortcomings, including a disadvantage to professors such as Loudder. It's also more likely that the instructor of a fun elective is going to get higher ratings than someone who teaches a mandatory class, Watson said.
But the fundamental purpose of this program, she said, is to measure student satisfaction, not teaching effectiveness.
Watson worked with a student-led committee to oversee the bonus program. She said the initiative will continue to be refined.
"I think we're going to see good results in the program," Watson said. "When I saw preliminary data, I wasn't surprised at the faculty that were showing up on the list. The people who are coming up through this list are generally the people we see getting accolades for being effective teachers."
'Breakthrough solution'
Educators have not only criticized the model of such an endeavor, but the origin of the idea as well.
The primary audience at the summit where the idea was talked about was regents from Texas university systems, a spokesman for the Texas Public Policy Foundation said.
All nine Texas A&M regents attended, and all were appointed by Perry.
"The perspective of the summit was very limited to the specific conservative ideology of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and probably does not fully represent the views of the general public about higher education in Texas or the views of those who work within the field," said David Weissenburger, president of the Texas Council of Faculty Senates, in an e-mail.
At the end of the summit, regents walked away with a notebook containing what were billed as seven "breakthrough solutions" to higher-education reform, including linking bonuses to student evaluations.
"Universities were created for the education of students, not as a jobs program for adults," said David Guenthner, a spokesman for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "Reforms such as performance bonuses based on student evaluations will improve the quality of education students receive by making universities more responsive to students, parents and employers."
The American Association of University Professors states that faculty members should have a primary -- though not exclusive -- role in evaluating an individual faculty member's performance.
"Basing financial awards on student evaluation seems to be taking consumerism to a new level," said Gregory Scholtz, director of the department of academic freedom and governance for the Washington-based group.
The seeds of the foundation's idea came from two schools, Guenthner said: The University of Oklahoma and the Acton School of Business.
Voted off the ... school?
The 28-student Acton School of Business has recognized faculty members based on student evaluations since it was founded about six years ago.
"The highest-rated professor gets a plaque ... and recognition," said Chase Pattillo, director of programs at Acton. "The lowest-rated professor is asked not to return for a period of time."
In addition to sitting out for a year, the teacher must undergo a training program.
"It forces them to learn and get better," Pattillo said. "The biggest deterrent is that it's publicly posted."
Pattillo said the system has worked out well for the school of about 10 teachers. But the Austin school is unusual. It has a highly motivated class of students that finish a master's in business in one year, often studying 90 to 100 hours a week, Pattillo said. And the teachers are all successful entrepreneurs.
The University of Oklahoma has a program more similar to the A&M System initiative.
About two years ago, the university proposed offering awards of up to $10,000 to instructors based on student evaluations. That program faced some of the same opposition from faculty members as the A&M program.
Officials from the University of Oklahoma couldn't be reached to speak about the program, but an instructor there said she hasn't noticed any changes of teaching styles to manipulate the awards system.
"I don't think faculty are going to pander to students for a few thousand dollars," said Traci Carte, an associate professor of management information systems who was awarded money through the program.
Checks and balances
The implementation of the process at Texas A&M began with a letter from McKinney to faculty announcing the program in September.
Shortly after, the faculty senate passed a resolution opposing the initiative for various reasons, including undermining awards already given by The Association of Former Students that take student input into account, and the possibility of manipulating evaluations by easy grading.
That's when the student government got involved, alleviating some concerns of faculty members.
Mark Womack, a political science major, co-chairs a student-led committee at Texas A&M University that aims to guard against concerns such as grade inflation.
"First and foremost, I believe that students at A&M can distinguish between a popular teacher and a good teacher," Womack said. "But [we'll have] checks and balances."
Details about how the program would be implemented at Kingsville and Prairie View were not immediately clear.
Texas A&M has identified the top 25 percent of instructors from student evaluation forms filled out in November. Womack said there were 511 courses reviewed for the program. Participating instructors could sign up for more than one class but are only eligible to win one award per year, he said.
The student questionnaire included 16 statements, such as "Course expectations/learning outcomes were clearly communicated at the beginning of the course" and "My instructor seems to be very knowledgeable about the subject matter." Students were asked to bubble in answers on a five-point scale -- from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
When the student committee meets again this month, it will choose the winners after collecting information from department heads, reviewing course syllabuses and teaching philosophies as submitted by each instructor, as well as a statement on the appropriateness and rigor of the material covered.
The review is meant as a check against concerns such as grade inflation.
McKinney, faculty and administrators heaped praise on the student effort.
"The unsung heroes are the students," said R. Douglas Slack, a former speaker of the faculty senate. "They took this program with no background, no experience and made it work."
Slack said he didn't sign up for the program to "show solidarity with faculty members who have expressed concern."
Don't call it an incentive
McKinney said he prefers not to refer to the initiative as an incentive.
"Money is not an incentive for [faculty]," he said. "They show up every day and do the best they can. They can't logically do better than their best. I call it a reward."
The chancellor said he is committed to the initiative. The initial funding came from existing sources, but he has put in a legislative appropriations request for $12 million to continue funding the program.
"If I had to prioritize my entire budget, this would be first," he said. "If I have to take money out of administration, that's what I'll do."
He said he has faith that students won't turn the process into a popularity contest, at least not any more than adults are capable of creating.
"I've sat in on some tenure and committee meetings, and some of those look pretty close to a popularity contest," he said.
IN SHORT
The Texas A&M University System is offering instructors bonuses -- up to $10,000 -- based on positive student evaluations. The $1.1 million program is being implemented at the system's College Station, Prairie View and Kingsville campuses, but some faculty members worry the awards are unfair and amount to a popularity contest.
Students are asked to evaluate participating instructors on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Among the 16 statements are:
* My instructor seemed to be knowledgeable about the subject matter.
* Whenever possible, my instructor taught the course in a way that stimulated my critical thinking.
* My instructor created a classroom atmosphere that was productive/conducive to learning.
* My instructor was enthusiastic about the subject matter of the course.
* My instructor set high standards that challenged me in the course.
* By providing helpful feedback on assignments/tests, my instructor encouraged me to actively participate in the learning process.
* I would take another course with this instructor, if possible, or recommend this instructor to other students.
* I recommend this instructor for a teaching excellence award.
Comments
23 comment(s) found!
Posted by:
Mara On:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 4:20 PM
Comment Title: Not the right approach
While I have been out of college for quite a while (class of '88), it's not so long ago that I don't remember how I felt about my professors. Some semesters it depended on what month it was. Coming up to mid-terms or finals and trying to cram...er... study for exams, finish papers and projects with everything due in a very short time span, I hated all of them and only the ones who made my life easiest would have gotten decent reports. Other times I liked or disliked them relative to how well I was doing in their class regardless of how much time or effort *I* put in. Does that mean there aren't those that need to find a job guarding a sewer somewhere? Of course not... but not based on the opinion of students who haven't even ventured out into the "real" world to find out how much of what they are learning has real life applications.
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Posted by:
US Patriot On:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:10 AM
Comment Title: too bad soo sad
as a person who did their time there at a&m, this is why this place sucks! I mean it seems like the work of the professors would be to teach, however, they make money and earn promotions from their research grants not so much their teaching. I was in a group of a full tenured chemistry professor there and could not believe how he treated his graduate students/postdocs. he treated them like dogs, no respect and no concern for their professional development. he even lied to me about secured grant money that was supposed to pay me more than twice the amount of $$$ that the department was to pay me and it was no extra cost to him sinceit was an external grant. what he did with those extra funds? who knows... maybe he put in a bigger pool while I sold plasma for grocery money. it just goes to show that education does not necessarily mean that the person will be just, honest and good to other people. That comes from their character not the education. A professor who likes to call himself a Christian in such a politically conservative environment I would hope would be more of a scholary man and would not lie cheat or steal as that would be against the aggie code. that speaks volumes about his character and the type of "educators" there at a&m. I strongly believe that whole place should be bulldozed and made into a parking lot. just my 2 cents. it's just a "good ol' boy network anyway" look at how G.W. Bush made his career, through the handouts of a well connected family. GOD BLESS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
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Posted by:
Proteus On:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 10:30 PM
Comment Title: weed out courses
As a former student who struggled through a few weed out courses such as freshman chemistry many years ago, I always wondered why the course was set up to be so difficult for so many students. When you had a class average of 50 or 60 on an exam, I think it raised the question that the exam had to be designed to be exceptionally difficult. The only way I and many hundreds of others survived was to attend tutoring from "Mr. Bill" at the current A+ tutoring. They taught the old exams, and it seemed you could generally get at least a low "B" if you attended the pre-exam tutoring. Some students even stopped going to regular class lectures, realizing that they were of limited value, and just went to the tutoring sessions. I remember classmates making the comment, "One has to wonder what is wrong with freshman chemistry instruction at Texas A&M when so many students are doing poorly on these exams and having to rely on tutoring to survive." Even to this day, before exam weeks, long lines extend out the door and around the building with students waiting for a seat for tutoring. Why aren't the professors doing a better job of teaching these students? Why are they having to rely so heavily on outside instruction to pass the exams?
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Posted by:
JWG On:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:13 PM
Comment Title: Figures again
No pity brigade here junior. Your ranting about professors having to bring in outside dollars for funding fell on deaf ears. We live that life everyday, so your childish whining means nothing. We are a non-profit, and it's how we bring services to those less fortunate.You also whined that I had no basic knowledge of human nature - hence my comment about homelessness, drug, and alcohol abuse - again, your ranting fell on deaf ears. Human nature is our business.And your final silly and childish statement of do I have kids was also a moot point - I have 3, all of which attend college. And your point of having to bribe professors to do above average work so they can earn a lolly-pop was downright degrading to those professors. I think you are quite immature, and somehow must have hacked into your parent/guardian/supervisors computer. Your comments are a reflection of your desire to "win" an argument, or have your point of view validated. Get back to aisle 3 - there's a cleanup that you need to attend to kid.
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Posted by:
On:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:00 AM
Comment Title: Student Perspective
As a current student at Texas A&M, I can tell you these evaluations are a joke. While I believe that student feedback is important and can be of great value to the professors, I think the current system and the way in which it is administered is flawed. There needs to be more depth in an evaluation than A, B, C, or D and part of the burden of a “productive atmosphere” needs to be shifted towards the student. I sit in far too many classes where the students come in, remove their I-pod ear buds, and then expect to sit and be entertained by the professors. They don’t want to add to the discussion or be expected to think. Personally, I think the first question on the evaluation should be something along the lines of…..What could I have done AS A STUDENT to make my class experience more productive and meaningful? There needs to be sense of shared responsibility. Anyway, that’s my take as a student.
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Posted by:
Do you value education? On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 7:51 PM
Comment Title: Smooth
Turn my comments into an ad hominem argument by bringing on the pity brigade - smooth. I can see you are more worried about your reputation than your argument. Now, do you have a point to make? If not, I guess you're just acknowledging my argument is correct!
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Posted by:
JWG On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 7:05 PM
Comment Title: Figures
My comments are just as valid and as important to me as yours are to you. You imply that I, specifically have no clue of just about anything. Well, that's your opinion, and it's okay with me. I run a homeless veterans shelter. I am also in charge of the drug/alcohol programs that are funded through multiple grants, so we survive grant period to grant period. And yes, I value education to the highest degree. Many an educated individual became that way through lifes experiences, as well as a text book. If your lame attempt to diminish my comments made you feel good, then I'm happy for you. Please feel free to exercise your constitutional rights, and thank a veteran next time you get a chance....your boat floats on their river of blood to allow you that freedom.
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Posted by:
Do you value education? On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 6:49 PM
Comment Title: Bitter comments
What's really stupid are these comments taking quotes out of context and bending them around their point. What JWG also doesn't understand is that the job of a professor is multifaceted. Since budget cuts have left colleges downright poor, many have had to force professors to focus on bringing in outside funding, which detracts from teaching. If you stuck your head in these hallways for a day, it would be more obvious than your total lack of understanding of human nature. Here, incentives are being offered for positive behavior - do you have kids? You might understand the concept if you did.. or maybe I'm assuming a lot.
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Posted by:
JWG On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 6:34 PM
Comment Title: Fraud Waste and Abuse
While I agree wholeheartedly that excellent and outstanding efforts should be recognized, up to $10,000.00 for doing ones' job is beyond stupid. With the economy in the toilet, and fraud running as rampant as a herd of elephants, I find it disgusting that the head of the school speaks as if he's "giving away" a million dollars. What a bone-headed comment to make, especially while many face foreclosures, unemployment, and are living paycheck to paycheck. That statement, and that statement alone PROVES to the readers that there are some that have absolutely NO clue what life is really like outside of the chosen few's little crystal palaces... Shame on this dude. How about donating that "extra" million dollars to the local food bank, or homeless shelter, or Red Cross, or Salvation Army, or Good Will... Some people are so intelligent, that they are actually stupid.
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Posted by:
On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 6:01 PM
Comment Title: McKinney-Put the $ where your mind should be---Prairie View A&M
I believe this idea is fatal. I am a graduate student at Prairie View A&M. Many people have failed to learn how this is a valuable institution and its part in supporting a great Texas A&M System. Mr. McKinney if you really want to put money where it counts; start by reviewing the pay for Prairie View Professors. That’s what you would laugh at, because they are underpaid in comparison to the work they put into their careers. I want to compliment them in every way, specifically the College of Business, School of Architecture and the Department of Counseling. The work that PVAMU professors do is extraordinary-my best education has come from this school. Mr. McKinney, these individuals deserve a fair chance as well. In order to make the Texas A&M System exemplary among all else, we must strengthen each part. Personally, it is sad that you sit on your thumb laughing that you have never had so much trouble giving away a million dollars. It would prove worthy if you get up and do the research to see how Prairie View Professors would benefit from a portion of these funds.
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Posted by:
On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 1:26 PM
Comment Title: Lobbying Agenda
Dear Faculty Members: this is not really about you or your teaching. NcKinney is doing this to please the Governor and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which is just shill for Acton and the deep pockets.
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Posted by:
Ken Stanton, Virginia Tech On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 12:27 PM
Comment Title: Internal vs. External
Great comments and discussion. I think the idea here is right - reward good teaching, and penalize bad. If education fails, we all fail, so let's do something to improve it. But what if this funding were changed a bit? What if, instead of the University funding it, that it came from alumni? That is, when alumni donate to the school, they donate through a/some professors. The professor receives, say, 5% of the donation and the school puts the rest in the endowment fund. Then, its compulsory funding and only comes in if it's deserved.
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Posted by:
Martha Loudder On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 11:47 AM
Comment Title: Weed-Out Courses
I am the professor quoted as teaching a "weed-out" course. I use that term only because it is the name students (and former students) use and everyone understands what it means (I thought). I did not mean to imply that departments or profs use these courses for anything nefarious -- only that they are known to be very rigorous and generally measure whether a students has mastered the necessary skills to move on to the next level. GCD's comment below expresses that notion better than I did.
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Posted by:
On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 9:39 AM
Comment Title: Lobbying Agenda
This is a private business school group trying to buy its way into qualifying for state financial aid. These schools cheat students out of their financial aid money with programs that will never qualify them for a jobs they dream of.
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Posted by:
On:
Monday, January 12, 2009 2:02 AM
Comment Title: meddling politicians
This is just a glaring example of government getting their noses where they do not belong. This is another boondoggle of loose money floating around when imnportant projects go unfunded. Surely there is a better usage of this million plus dollars. A think tank, plus the governor, now that is a suspect group!! Don't they have more pressing decisions to make than to 'create' a give away program....this sounds too liberal for Texas A&M University.....stop the initiative before it goes nay further......from a taxpayer who resnts this kind of foolishness!
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Posted by:
On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 10:46 PM
Comment Title:
What the devil is wrong with paying these instructors what they are worth? If they can't get the job done on the salary they signed on for, cut them loose. And, do away with this tenure crap. Nothing worse than a complacent old professor who knows he can't be cut loose.
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Posted by:
Herve DuChat On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 9:19 PM
Comment Title: Corruption of teaching process
It's ludicrous to believe that professors are not wise to the fact that grade inflation yields higher student evaluation scores. Untenured faculty consistently award higher grades than do tenured faculty because they know that their jobs depend on being liked, as evidenced by student evaluations. These evaluations are the primary basis used to determine teaching effectiveness. Instead peer observation and/or evidence of success in later courses should be considered. Teaching should not be a popularity contest nor should it be subjected to temptation to give into what amounts to bribery to award high grades.
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Posted by:
what_the_ On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 5:24 PM
Comment Title: aggie leadership out of touch
what the --- are you aggies thinking we are in a recession and you are trying to give away millions, so you have to raise tuition more for the student, you are so out of touch with reality, you probally voted for my load and savor jesus obama also
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Posted by:
On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 4:22 PM
Comment Title: What about the staff?
Dr. McKinney, Look at the salaries for the staff that run the University. They are not looking for a bonus but are looking to make ends meet. A good look at salary adjustments for the skilled crafts is a good place to start!!
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Posted by:
GCD On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 2:50 PM
Comment Title: A&M bonus program
A&M needs to proceed very carefully with this program to avoid the appearance of favoritism and to prevent teachers from giving away grades to "game the system". I'd like to comment about the comment on "weed out" courses. Some classes are referred to as weed out courses because of high failure rates. There is a reason for high failure rates in certain courses, and it isn't to "...flunk out students from the program". When follow-on courses require a BASIC knowledge of the subject matter to advance to the next level, the course MUST be taught to ensure those basic principles are understood by the student. If students cannot demonstrate that basic knowledge, then they should NOT be allowed to advance to the next level. Would you want your doctor to not understand the basics of medicine? How about the engineers who design the cars we drive or the houses we live in? As a former Air Force pilot, I went through a year of very tough training...a lot tougher than college. There were lots of wash out (weed out) opportunities, and rightly so. If one doesn't understand the basics, then that person doesn't belong in the profession (or in the cockpit), and should pursue other options. I found this out the hard way in college, but I don't blame instructors for making the courses I had difficulty passing "too tough". I'm also not so naive as to think they get some satisfaction from failing students or "...sit back and smirk at how many they weeded out". That notion is just silly. Our society has come to the point that education is just something we do because we're expected to. Some think it should be made easier so that no one has to be embarrassed by failure. That's absolutely the wrong approach. An education is a privilege that must be achieved, not given away to make students feel good about themselves. It should be something we do to make ourselves more productive in life, so that we do not burden society with what should be our responsibility to make that society better. College-level courses need to be rigorous enough to properly prepare us for the real challenges of life after college.
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Posted by:
Grump On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 12:08 PM
Comment Title: So what if profs don't like it
The professors are against it only because it would force them to take their teaching duties more seriously instead of just sitting in their offices doing "research" of dubious value funded by taxpayers. As a taxpayer who help funds the university, I think anything that motivates professors to concentrate on providing a quality education to our young people should be encouraged.
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Posted by:
On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 9:35 AM
Comment Title: Weedout?
I did not see any comment in this story about weedout courses. However, this type of program could surely become nothing but a popularity constest with professors who award higher grades winning the contest hands down. Many years ago my father won a distinguished teaching award at TAMU and he was always proud of the plaque he received. He did not get a check and he taught because he loved teaching. He made much more money prior to becoming a professor and could have returned to the private sector anytime he wished.
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Posted by:
On:
Sunday, January 11, 2009 9:22 AM
Comment Title:
The professor's comment about teaching a "weedout" course reminds me of all the courses like that I had to take while at A&M. Courses intentionally designed to flunk out students from the program. I've always felt a course intentionally made hard to weed out students was philosophically wrong. If anything, it shows abject indifference to how well students do. A&M was created to teach the students of Texas, not weed them out. If a course is by nature more difficult, then the professor and department should make the effort and provide the resources to get the most students possible to pass. Not sit back and smirk at how many they weeded out. A high failure or dropout rate reflects badly on the professor, not the students.
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