Rights to a competent teacher???

[tsergent]

Outstanding advice...Unbeatable Price huh?

I'm still waiting for the outstanding advice...you can get advice anywhere...its like the old saying opinions are like ____, everyone's got one. Same applies here

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Thanks Hopefully there will be resolution....otherwise, so much for standing up in what you believe in...fairness!!

You may not realize you are dealing with 2 separate issues. One is undoing the damage already done, the other is trying to fix the current problem.

 

[Lovingmom1]

Well when you get half a** treatment from future nurses (and since you are from the dark ages, that will probably be anytime soon) don't blame the nurse...she only knows how to give the kind of care she was taught to give.
Does the same go for med students too? I mean nurses don't just answer call buttons, we have to know about all the same diseases the doctors do. If the teacher doesn't teach effectively, nurses don't know what they are doing and patients can die.
On a side note...what is the purpose of a teacher if they are not teaching students??
Learn it in the real world huh? I think that's the problem...no one is learning anything and that's why they can't do their jobs appropriately.

The dilemma you are experiencing is a common one from lower elementary to higher education. I am a teacher public education and I see examples like yours all the time. Sadly, there is nothing that we (as the general public) can do unless we change policies, laws, and unions. Is it right? Absolutely not! It is a true travesty that our children, young adults and adults are not getting the true education they deserve and/or desire. You should be offered a quality education, you shouldn't have to help out the instructor and you should not be required to "check up on her" to see if she is doing what she is employed to do.

Since it seems that the logical suggestions that have been offered are not going to work for you, plus the dean knows of the situation and has not offered a solution, I think you might be stuck. I can only offer my ideas as an educator and hope that you can use them.

First of all, I know that you don't want to do her job, and you shouldn't have to, but since you can't drop the class and you are in a time crunch, you might just have to do more than you are expected to in order to save your grade and move on. (I know it sucks, but do you really have a choice here?) It's true that in the workplace, you often have to pick up the slack of less competent workers..I guess this is the beginning of that for you.

With that said, I would ask for extra credit assignments, ask if you can retake or correct the tests for additional points. Offer to TA and ask if you can help create the test. Like someone suggested, submit your notes via email and inquire as to if this is the ONLY material going to be tested. Be careful of your wording in order to make sure you get your exact question answered. Keep all your emails and the replies so that you have documentation of your effort in the class. Maybe if you have that documentation, you might be able to appeal a grade that is too low at the end of the class?

Good luck to you. I hope it works out!

 

[ecmst12]

You can't study the whole book in anticipation that she could ask you anything.

What exactly do you think the license exams are going to be like? This is your LAST SEMESTER. You have to learn all of the material anyway.

 

[cbg]

You can't study the whole book in anticipation that she could ask you anything.

Why not? I had to do that as an English major. My husband's students do that as poli sci majors. What's so special about nursing students that they have to know what material will be tested ahead of time? And don't they need to know all the material in the book whether it's tested or not? I don't want a nurse taking care of me who only studied the material that's going to be on the test. That's just a little too junior high for words, don't you think?

 

[ecmst12]

I do understand where you are coming from. I just started nursing school this semester and it is an enormous amount of material. And it sucks that your teacher is not as good as the ones you've had previously. But I think you need to suck it up and deal with it.

 

[commentator]

Education is a commodity that the university is selling. If the product delivery is defective, then there will be avoidance of that product by the consumers (students) until there is something done. There will be lots of complaints. Your particular class seems to have dealt with this individual situation productively.

But OP, listen up here. You appear to have won the war, but now you're still grousing about the distribution of booty and supplies. Forget your test grades in this particular class for right now. Don't try to argue this out with the administrators who changed the teachers. It is not their issue to deal with or fix for you.When the new instructor is given the class, she/he will be given final grading autonomy, at least in every occasion I have ever been familiar with.

If everyone from here on out begins to complete the work and make passing grades, it is possible the instructor will elect not to average those first tests into the mix. If they do, and you and everyone else in the class has these terrible beginning grades, they may grade on the curve and give each of you a statistically correct grade in relationship to the other class members, not a strict numeric grade based on all the tests.

But you do not need to be fighting this war any more at this point! Stop going on and on and on with the issue, as you obviously have a tendency to do. Persistence is a good thing, but when you've won the argument, stop talking! You've gotten out of finishing the class with this bad instructor. Now quit arguing with the higher ups and demanding that your earlier test grades be dropped. They're not going to give in to that one, especially not now.

If at the end of the course, you have passed all the new instructor's tests with flying colors, there will be time to point that out (IF you do not get an adequate grade to pass this class). Your point will be much easier to make when you've proved that you were completely in the right and the fault was all on the instruction quality, not on you or the other class members not being persistent and competent in doing your work.

Good luck and I hope this poor teacher gets better or sees the handwriting on the wall. As I said, I have seen this situation several times in educational settings. In any case, it is not your problem any more after you finish the class, get the credits you need, pass your boards and move on into a career. Don't keep beating this horse to death, it's one class, and you'll be done with it soon.

 

[ecmst12]

Commentator keep in mind that the "final exam" for OP's course of study is administered by the state and covers everything they learned during the entire program....the grades given by the school are completely irrelevent if they can't learn the material well enough to pass the boards.

 

[commentator]

Very true that one must pass the boards. But one must also have taken the certain classes, have the credentials before one can take the board exams, and for those classes, the student must pay, must get the passing grades, must obtain the credits legitimately through the process.

The school is responsible for having good enough instructors to reasonably teach the students the material. And the student is supposed to, having completed the courses successfully, have enough knowledge built up to pass the boards and become certified.

What some people get hung up on is that if they actually pass the class, get the credit, it doesn't matter whether they pass with an A or a C. No one ever inquires about your college grades out in the world. Very true that you do need to have the knowledge from the course, so that you can pass the boards, and so that you can be successful in your chosen career, but it appears that the OP here is hanging onto the first part of this one class, when she did not make a grade she considered good enough on a couple of exams. Overall in the course it may not matter. Overall in her passing her boards, it may or may not matter, and I will be willing to bet the administrators are not going to yeild to any demands that they not only replace the instructor but rescind the grades that instructor has issued up to now in the class. That is way too much to ask.

 

[ecmst12]

And whether or not the school is willing to adjust the grades, she is still going to have to learn the material, either on her own, in groups of her fellow students, or by hiring a private tutor. She is not focusing on the most important matters here.

 

[RRevak]

Ok OP I have to chime in here. This is just a bit of personal advice from one future medical professional to another;

I am currently a med student with the Univ of Miami. Over the last few years i've lost count of the amount of times where a test has covered materials not directly stated by an instructor. Some have but many have not. I learned early on that in order to be successful one has to always take a step further in their studies because you know what, as a physician there won't always be someone hovering over me to tell me what to do. I'm going to have to be quick on my feet and make life altering decisions based on knowledge and experience. That is the point of professors taking the extra step when it comes to exams, to teach you to look beyond the simple. To have the wherewithal to know what to learn and take it a step further. To ask a professor to give you everything on an exam and not take the initiative to even glance at the next few chapters not only does you a grave disservice, but your future patients as well. I understand difficult instructors, I honestly do. But your solution should have been to bite the bullet and do the work on your own because in the real world where a patients life is on the line you wont get the luxury of a do-over.

 

[Humusluvr]

Does your school have an official grievance procedure? Can you file a complaint?

Ask for a meeting with the dean as a group.

I went through a similar situation where my professor had a series of strokes over the semester. She couldn't remember, and really shouldn't have been in the classroom. She was finally removed when I took a picture of her purse, which she left open on the desk, was full of medications and multiple vials of Vicodin. I showed it to our dean.

Compile evidence. If it's going to come down to he said/she said, you should have as much evidence as possible that she is incompetent. Then, follow the school's procedures. If the procedures are not listed, call the dean and ask for a meeting.

Love quoting myself

I gave you advice, back on the first page, of what you can do.

I'm not sure what kind of miracle fix you're looking for here. You seem to more want to ride a high-and-mighty horse to a degree you haven't yet earned.

There is something to be said for the problem-solvers of this world. You will be asked to problem solve, and work with people with medical conditions for the REST OF YOUR LIFE, if you get this degree. You DO have to look at this as a problem to solve. You ARE paying for education, but maybe you need to get over your "hand-it-to-me" mentality.

You don't like forums? But you came to a forum for advice. You may not like to hear you don't have any LEGAL options, but you DO have options. Quitcher Beetching, and get it done.

And if you're going to come back and complain some more, write in paragraphs. It's a sign of intelligence.

 

[frylover]

Ya know... when *I* was in college (granted, it was back in the Dark Ages), we also had professors who tested on material they hadn't taught. We had a novel approach to the problem... we learned the necessary material ourselves. Just as one does out in the real world. We didn't whine about it like OP.

My oldest used to sputter at me in second grade "but, but, but...that's NOT on the study guide" when I would quiz her for tests. My respose was "but it IS in the book,so you should know it!" Only took a few tests before she gave up that arugment!