I mean it would seem to make perfect logical sense that most of my students would be average, would it not? After TAing my first midterm for a large general class, I think I finally understand why you read so many articles these days describing the frustration employers have with GenY and their sense of entitlement. After the exam scores were posted the TAs and the professor for the course were bombarded with emails complaining about scores received, with many students feeling that we should change their scores because they 'studied hard' for the exam. Exactly why should we change a score for 'working hard'? How exactly does one quantify hard work? Would it be acceptable to you if a mechanic 'worked hard' on the brakes for your car that ultimately failed, killing your entire family? Would it be acceptable for your surgeon to have 'worked hard' performing your brain operation, but made a mistake that permanently disabled you? Would it be acceptable for an engineer to have 'worked hard' on designing a bridge, only to have it collapse and injure dozens of people? Oh, this wouldn't be acceptable? OK, then why should a student get a grade of 'A' for material they didn't master even though they 'worked hard' on the course?
One student, after demanding to see us for office hours on a Friday night and Sat. night (which we politely declined to setup because we have wives and children to attend to ourselves), started crying over their grade on the exam---mind you this student scored less than 1 standard deviation below the mean (so they're on track for about a B- average). Where does this come from? Why is it so devastating to so many individuals to find out that they're B average students? Why do high schools continue to churn out straight A students for B average work and understanding of the material? Why do parents tell their kids that they deserve medals just for participation, and shield them from feeling the effects of failure? It is extremely frustrating try to explain to 100+ people who all think they deserve an A, that 'no you really don't. Now go away, take your licks, and do better next time'. It's really not the end of the world finding out that you aren't the smartest person in the room and many people who aren't the smartest will still be successful after they graduate, even if they're not 4.0 students.
Lord knows I've even failed or done terrible on some exams in my life, and it was never the end of the world. You simply move on and learn from your mistakes. Why are there simply so many students these days that are incapable of accepting the truth?
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