When Chemists Attack

Occasionally, I give “pop” quizzes in my introductory classes to reinforce the idea that my students should be prepared for class and keep up with their studies. (Just to prove that I’m not completely evil, my students are told to expect a quiz each week on the material that we’ve been discussing.)

We’re now a week into the semester here, and I just gave one class it’s first quiz – a simple five-question multiple choice set on the material from the previous two classes. After class let out, a student came up to me and asked “Can I do the quiz over? I wasn’t really prepared to take it.”

This, of course, was the entire point of the quiz – to remind the students that they should keep up with the material as we’re going through it and not cram the night before each major test.

But where does the idea to ask an instructor for “do-over”s on even the simplest of assignments come from? I’ve been on the other side of the classroom for a few years, but it would have simply never occurred to me as a student to ask my instructors for “do-overs”. Preparing for class was my responsibility, and if I wasn’t prepared, then it was my own fault.

Oh well, maybe my student thought that the house limit was three do-overs.

Not Very Bright has a post up on the micro-scandal at Clemson over Ann Patchett’s book Truth & Beauty. Go forth and read it. 🙂

But I’m going to make a few hurried comments. Here’s a statement from Ken Wingate – in a letter to Clemson’s president.

As a Clemson alumnus, a Clemson parent, and a member of the Commission on Higher Education, I suggest that you pull the plug on the author’s lecture and offer an alternative book for the freshmen.

As a Clemson alumnus myself, I’m embarassed to read that letter. Clemson is a place of many viewpoints. Is Ann Patchett such a dangerous person that the freshmen (nearly all of whom are legal adults) will be damaged merely by her speech?

Or her book?

I think the perfect response to that is from Ann Patchett (emphasis mine).

The chance to receive higher education is a privilege, and Clemson students should be proud they attend a school where they are treated as adults, she said.

Amen. And … Go Tigers!