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I used to TA undergraduates in Molecular Bio. It was demoralizing to see how many answers to midterm and final exams were just regurgitated babble-stage nonsens

I used to TA undergraduates in Molecular Bio. It was demoralizing to see how many answers to midterm and final exams were just regurgitated babble-stage nonsense. A hidden Markov model could have outscored half my students.

crazydoggers 5y ago
Well this is kind of what undergraduate studies are about, yeah? Not every student who wants to go into molecular biology is cut out for it. Hopefully when they meet a topic thats too hard and the grading is tough but fair they’ll put their efforts elsewhere. Maybe we should be encouraged that half would really understand a Markov chain in biology?
- andi999 5y ago
  The comment before didn't mean half know what a Markov chain is, instead that their knowledge is not better then one.
- foobarbecue 5y ago
  Only in the USA. Undergrad in the US is what high school is in most of the developed world -- a time for broad learning and exploration. Outside of the USA, if you're going to college, you're getting serious and fairly specific. In my experience, Americans take an extra four years or so to grow up, because they're allowed to. (I'm not saying this is good or bad.)
  - bbcxdrgn 5y ago
    This post might be less racist if you had backed it up with lots and lots of citations, but you couldn't be assed to find a single one, which suggests to me that your opinion is based on prejudice and bullshit and little else
  - perl4ever 5y ago
    A lot of people from outside the US go to college in the US. This was down last year with the pandemic, but apparently not as much as you'd think.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - foobarbecue 5y ago
    FYI I am a US citizen but studied did elementary school in Japan and USA, high school in Brazil and Sweden, undergrad in England, PhD in USA.
bsder 5y ago
Normally, this is because they don't actually want to be there but the class is in the way to some other objective. So, what degree were you in the way of the students getting? In addition, molecular biology may be the first "biology" class that an undergrad ever encounters where "memorization" isn't the point. That habit needs a while to get broken. I HATED biology in high school--a bunch of useless memorization. Then I hit a molecular biology class and loved it--everything made sense. Of course, most of the students in the class reacted in precisely the opposite direction.
- robbiep 5y ago
  I was the same with school - no sciences for 11 & 12 because it was so dry Then I completed a bachelors majoring in biochem and genetics under my own steam after I’d come to science in my own way and I couldn’t be happier with the path. There is such a big difference between the route, boring, dry way science is taught at school compared to the broader field of study. I even loved organic chem.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

crazydoggers 5y ago

Well this is kind of what undergraduate studies are about, yeah? Not every student who wants to go into molecular biology is cut out for it. Hopefully when they meet a topic thats too hard and the grading is tough but fair they’ll put their efforts elsewhere. Maybe we should be encouraged that half would really understand a Markov chain in biology?

andi999 5y ago
The comment before didn't mean half know what a Markov chain is, instead that their knowledge is not better then one.
foobarbecue 5y ago
Only in the USA. Undergrad in the US is what high school is in most of the developed world -- a time for broad learning and exploration. Outside of the USA, if you're going to college, you're getting serious and fairly specific. In my experience, Americans take an extra four years or so to grow up, because they're allowed to. (I'm not saying this is good or bad.)
- bbcxdrgn 5y ago
  This post might be less racist if you had backed it up with lots and lots of citations, but you couldn't be assed to find a single one, which suggests to me that your opinion is based on prejudice and bullshit and little else
- perl4ever 5y ago
  A lot of people from outside the US go to college in the US. This was down last year with the pandemic, but apparently not as much as you'd think.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- foobarbecue 5y ago
  FYI I am a US citizen but studied did elementary school in Japan and USA, high school in Brazil and Sweden, undergrad in England, PhD in USA.

bsder 5y ago

Normally, this is because they don't actually want to be there but the class is in the way to some other objective. So, what degree were you in the way of the students getting? In addition, molecular biology may be the first "biology" class that an undergrad ever encounters where "memorization" isn't the point. That habit needs a while to get broken. I HATED biology in high school--a bunch of useless memorization. Then I hit a molecular biology class and loved it--everything made sense. Of course, most of the students in the class reacted in precisely the opposite direction.

robbiep 5y ago
I was the same with school - no sciences for 11 & 12 because it was so dry Then I completed a bachelors majoring in biochem and genetics under my own steam after I’d come to science in my own way and I couldn’t be happier with the path. There is such a big difference between the route, boring, dry way science is taught at school compared to the broader field of study. I even loved organic chem.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]