5 ms·

I failed Physics 101 in my first semester of college because in the first week the professor was covering everything to know about vectors, velocity, accelerati

I failed Physics 101 in my first semester of college because in the first week the professor was covering everything to know about vectors, velocity, acceleration, etc. I never heard the word "vector" before, much less understood what a velocity vector is. Was I to blame for not knowing that? I certainly suffered the consequences, but it seemed like a failure on behalf of the teaching staff and curriculum.

gruez 5y ago
Presumably they thought it was already covered in high school physics/math?
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  Yes. All college courses, even "100" (intro/freshman) level, have some expectations about what the students already know. Students who don't have that background should take remedial courses or go to junior college or just be prepared to do a lot more outside work on their own. It should not be a university's job to "fix" unprepared students, whether due to the student's prior indifference to his education, or because that eduction was provided poorly.
larkost 5y ago
Did you raise your hand after a couple of mentions and ask what a velocity vector was? Or go see the professor either right after class, or at their next office hours? Or talk to a TA about this? Those all seem like appropriate solutions to the problem, whereas your response here, blaming the teaching staff and curriculum, seems to indicate you did not do what you should have.
- seba_dos1 5y ago
  Kinda off-topic, but as someone with social anxiety and (strongly suspected, but not confirmed yet) ADHD I'm a bit jealous of people for whom raising a hand to ask a question during a lecture or using professor's office hours is just a simple decision away (provided they care enough to actually do that). For me it's mostly like these options didn't exist at all even if I actually wanted to use them, for several reasons. I wonder what could be done there to better accommodate neurodiversive students.
seba_dos1 5y ago
To be fair, a huge difference between school and uni is that at the university you're not just supposed to be taught, but you're also expected to spend some significant effort on researching the topics or catching up on basics by yourself. The ECTS system even lists an approximate amount of hours students are expected to spent entirely on their own for each course.

gruez 5y ago

Presumably they thought it was already covered in high school physics/math?

throwawayboise 5y ago
Yes. All college courses, even "100" (intro/freshman) level, have some expectations about what the students already know. Students who don't have that background should take remedial courses or go to junior college or just be prepared to do a lot more outside work on their own. It should not be a university's job to "fix" unprepared students, whether due to the student's prior indifference to his education, or because that eduction was provided poorly.

larkost 5y ago

Did you raise your hand after a couple of mentions and ask what a velocity vector was? Or go see the professor either right after class, or at their next office hours? Or talk to a TA about this? Those all seem like appropriate solutions to the problem, whereas your response here, blaming the teaching staff and curriculum, seems to indicate you did not do what you should have.

seba_dos1 5y ago
Kinda off-topic, but as someone with social anxiety and (strongly suspected, but not confirmed yet) ADHD I'm a bit jealous of people for whom raising a hand to ask a question during a lecture or using professor's office hours is just a simple decision away (provided they care enough to actually do that). For me it's mostly like these options didn't exist at all even if I actually wanted to use them, for several reasons. I wonder what could be done there to better accommodate neurodiversive students.

seba_dos1 5y ago

To be fair, a huge difference between school and uni is that at the university you're not just supposed to be taught, but you're also expected to spend some significant effort on researching the topics or catching up on basics by yourself. The ECTS system even lists an approximate amount of hours students are expected to spent entirely on their own for each course.