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For my first classes this was true. Now I'm getting courses that fewer students take, and it goes like this 1. Skip lectures because the professors barely spea

For my first classes this was true. Now I'm getting courses that fewer students take, and it goes like this 1. Skip lectures because the professors barely speak english and can't teach 2. Barely rush through the homework before its due, it doesn't matter if you understand it as it has no relation to the rest of the class 3. Find last semester's exam and study that for a morning, as the questions are pretty much the same. Its a shame that the higher level courses that should be more interesting and useful end up being the most painful and disregarded.

xapata 10y ago
Strange. That was the case for my first couple years, in classes with hundreds of students, where the university hadn't yet shed its "look to your left, look to your right" mentality. Later classes had fewer students and engaging professors, since they'd weeded out many of the worse students.
- dilemma 10y ago
  Universities sabotage undergraduate education by conducting lectures in foreign languages. Interesting.
  - VLM 10y ago
    Its more a side effect. Everyone knows everyone cheats on the TOEFL yet it would be incredibly awkward in academia to discuss that issue, so its kinda glossed over to avoid massive interpersonal drama. But, yeah, any prof or TA you have who doesn't know English is a known cheater, violation of honor code, etc. It does make you wonder if their CV or transcript or reference letters or published papers are as fabricated as their obviously fake TOEFL scores.
    - pkd 10y ago
      Toefl is a surprisingly easy test to pass even with a strong non-native accent. I know people with mediocre to bad command on English who achieved scores of over 100 on the online test. There is no reason to cheat the system.
      - xapata 10y ago
        That may be, but several of my classmates in grad school told me that they regularly wrote their papers in Chinese and sent them to a translating service for English. These were students who were conversational in English. It makes you wonder how much the translator changed the content.
        pkd 10y ago
        I am not acquainted with the Chinese system, but here in India, you have to personally go to the designated test centers and take the test. At the center there is some Airport level frisking before you get to see your computer and you need to have your passport with you to prove your identity (if I remember correctly). You are also not allowed to wear jackets/overcoats/caps while taking the test. Really very little chance for gaming this system.
        xapata 10y ago
        That's for standardized tests. I was referring to homework assignments in the US.
    - dilemma 10y ago
      I've taken TOEFL twice, years apart and in two different countries, and there's no way to cheat on their tests. Have you taken it yourself?
  - xapata 10y ago
    It may have disappeared from the internet, but there was a great satirical newspaper at Georgia Tech back in 2001 or 2002 called "Shaft News". They ran an article about a calculus professor complaining, "How can I be expected to teach when the students don't even know basic Chinese?!"

xapata 10y ago

Strange. That was the case for my first couple years, in classes with hundreds of students, where the university hadn't yet shed its "look to your left, look to your right" mentality. Later classes had fewer students and engaging professors, since they'd weeded out many of the worse students.

dilemma 10y ago
Universities sabotage undergraduate education by conducting lectures in foreign languages. Interesting.
- VLM 10y ago
  Its more a side effect. Everyone knows everyone cheats on the TOEFL yet it would be incredibly awkward in academia to discuss that issue, so its kinda glossed over to avoid massive interpersonal drama. But, yeah, any prof or TA you have who doesn't know English is a known cheater, violation of honor code, etc. It does make you wonder if their CV or transcript or reference letters or published papers are as fabricated as their obviously fake TOEFL scores.
  - pkd 10y ago
    Toefl is a surprisingly easy test to pass even with a strong non-native accent. I know people with mediocre to bad command on English who achieved scores of over 100 on the online test. There is no reason to cheat the system.
    - xapata 10y ago
      That may be, but several of my classmates in grad school told me that they regularly wrote their papers in Chinese and sent them to a translating service for English. These were students who were conversational in English. It makes you wonder how much the translator changed the content.
      - pkd 10y ago
        I am not acquainted with the Chinese system, but here in India, you have to personally go to the designated test centers and take the test. At the center there is some Airport level frisking before you get to see your computer and you need to have your passport with you to prove your identity (if I remember correctly). You are also not allowed to wear jackets/overcoats/caps while taking the test. Really very little chance for gaming this system.
        xapata 10y ago
        That's for standardized tests. I was referring to homework assignments in the US.
  - dilemma 10y ago
    I've taken TOEFL twice, years apart and in two different countries, and there's no way to cheat on their tests. Have you taken it yourself?
- xapata 10y ago
  It may have disappeared from the internet, but there was a great satirical newspaper at Georgia Tech back in 2001 or 2002 called "Shaft News". They ran an article about a calculus professor complaining, "How can I be expected to teach when the students don't even know basic Chinese?!"