6py7

I am taking an Intro. to Visual Communication this semester. This class is heavily based on Photoshop and taking pictures so far, so it is very computer-based. The problem? The instructor is clueless. A good portion of the class is handled through D2L, including the quizzes, however we complete those in-class. In her infinite wisdom last monday, her workstation wouldn’t log into the network. Nevermind the 20 students in the class who have successfully logged on, but she insisted that she go to her office on the other end of the building to activate the quiz. We had a group discussion about the quiz content, then were told we were going to take the quiz. She leaves the room with no further instruction. Suddenly a quiz is available, and for the most part we are waiting for her to return since we realized at this point we have already wasted a significant amount of time in a class that meets 1 day a week. She eventually comes back, we take the quiz, end of story. Right?

I log onto D2L and find this posted:

Because I was surprised to find that all of you took the quiz without my permission or instructions, and when I wasn’t in the room, and when some of you had books and notebooks open during the quiz, I averaged the results (17) and gave everyone who scored above the average a 17. Those who scored below kept their grade. The other option was to give everyone a zero. I chose to compromise.

Why is this a surprise? We take quizzes on D2L all the time. Your instructions were considerably vague, in fact completely lacking, as to when we should take the quiz. We see a quiz open up, and you are gone for at least another 10 minutes. If you didn’t want us to take the quiz “without [your] permission or instructions,” then common-sense dictates that you COMMUNICATE that. You can’t blame unexpected results on students when you have vague and non-existent communication about procedures.

This is only speaking for the people in my immediate vicinity, but I observed no one with an open book, and no one that started the quiz early. If someone was cheating, you need to address that with that specific student, not by reducing peoples’ legitimate grades.

You “chose to compromise?” What the hell is that supposed to mean? It would be one very clear-cut case if you gave the class very clear instructions along the lines of “Please do not begin the quiz until I return.” I don’t remember that happening.

This also coming from the teacher that stated I couldn’t use my camera because Sony’s memory cards are “proprietary.” She was under the impression that there was no way for me to plug my memory card in a card reader and upload my pictures. I guess the one problem with that is I work with digital photos all the time, and we have card readers for Sony memory sticks that are publicly available. The card itself may be proprietary, however there are still card readers available. Imagine my surprise when I plugged my card in the “Memory Stick” slot on the school’s card reader, and my pictures uploaded without a hitch.

In the loving tradition of my ed. classes before I dropped music ed., the following Wisconsin Teaching Standards apply to this:
1. Teachers know the subjects they are teaching. - The lack of knowledge about Memory Stick technology demonstrates the instructor is not knowledgeable of current technologies and their applied use.
6. Teachers communicate well. - As pointed out above, the instructor did not communicate expectations regarding the quiz about to be taken, which led to confusion on the part of the students regarding if her presence in the classroom was required before the quiz was to begin. Also, she chose not to identify this issue verbally in class right after it happened to prevent future instances, instead she posted the above quote electronically after class was over.
9. Teachers are able to evaluate themselves. - The instructor obviously had time to consider the situation when she posted the above message, but she makes no references to her actions in the situation. No one side is 100% at fault, however, she is trying to place 100% of the blame on the students. She is not evaluating her role in the situation, and what she could have done better to prevent it.