Georgia Tech Players Doing Georgia Tech Things

g0lftime

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Having been out for many years and now retired I look back on some of the so called "shaft" profs with total disgust. If the class average is below 75 on a final exam then they don't know how to teach the material or just are getting off on screwing students with unreasonable exams. Most GT students will however be inquisitive and will figure out the answers to those problems afterwards. That still says those profs are not doing their jobs as educators. Should be shown the door. This falls on our president to monitor and those a-holes should be measured on their teaching ability.
 

forensicbuzz

21st Century Throwback Dad
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The tests were not reasonable. Most Tech students understood the concepts taught and were learning the 80% of the topic, as intended. However, most of the examinations pushed well into that 20% that is not taught in class and are the hardest of the hard homework questions. Where a reasonable professor would add one or two of these questions to an exam to challenge the student (with full expectation that the question would not be answered correctly by the vast majority of the class), some of these professors wrote the whole test that way. A couple of examples when I was there...Dr. Desai (aka Dr. Death), Dr. Wempner , Dr. Ung. Also, the Physics sequences had a quiz every Friday. These were 5 questions, and was multiple choice. The potential answers were derived by common errors, so you could work every problem and your answer match one of the options and miss every question.
 

jwsavhGT

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JACKETS UNVEIL 2ND ANNUAL JACKETS WITHOUT BORDERS EXPERIENCE
Georgia Tech athletics will send several student-athletes to Puerto Rico to help with the hurricane relief this May


http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/total-person/spec-rel/021618aab.html

THE FLATS -- After a successful first Jackets Without Borders trip to Costa Rica in August 2017, Georgia Tech athletics unveiled the destination for the second annual JWOB trip. From May 5-12, several Georgia Tech student-athletes and staff members will head to San Juan, Puerto Rico to help with hurricane rehabilitation efforts.

With nearly 20 Yellow Jackets interested in participating in the trip, the student-athletes and staff members are sure to gain invaluable experiences. Tech is partnering with Global Works, an organization that coordinates international group service trips, and has done trips to Puerto Rico for the last 30 years.

Tech student-athletes chose Puerto Rico as the focus for the second annual JWOB trip because of the direct impact they can have on the rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria. While the country was significantly impacted by the hurricane, the disaster also impacted many close to home as there are many staff, students and GT Alumni with connections to Puerto Rico. This trip will aim to impact not only the Puerto Rican community, but also our GT family in the local area.

In addition to helping with relief on the trip, the Jackets hope to connect with Tech supporters and alumni in the area. If you wish to connect with the Jackets on the trip, please contact Maureen Tremblay at [email protected].

If you would like to make a contribution to the trip, please click here.


Jackets Without Borders is a program that focuses on global service-learning opportunities for Georgia Tech student-athletes. This trip's mission is to provide student-athletes with an immersive cultural experience and the opportunity to perform impactful and meaningful work. Jackets Without Borders has been a transformational learning experience for our participants, as all have emerged with a greater sense of personal responsibility, cultural appreciation, and increased self-awareness.
 

TheSilasSonRising

Helluva Engineer
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3,729
Having been out for many years and now retired I look back on some of the so called "shaft" profs with total disgust. If the class average is below 75 on a final exam then they don't know how to teach the material or just are getting off on screwing students with unreasonable exams. Most GT students will however be inquisitive and will figure out the answers to those problems afterwards. That still says those profs are not doing their jobs as educators. Should be shown the door. This falls on our president to monitor and those a-holes should be measured on their teaching ability.

I really hope that if any of those types are still infecting the GT campus it can be made known so they may be publically called out and fired.

They can not make a living in the real world so they sap a living off taxpayers. True scumbags - same as admissions office.
 

pinglett

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
754
Location
Gainesville, FL
I really hope that if any of those types are still infecting the GT campus it can be made known so they may be publically called out and fired.

They can not make a living in the real world so they sap a living off taxpayers. True scumbags - same as admissions office.

I have to disagree a little. As a professor myself....and I could hack it in the real world.....I can say there are different philosophies of academic institutions. Some schools think more is better and everyone deserves a chance, so they have low admission standards then challenge themselves (faculty) to work with what they (the students) have. Others like Tech only let in students with demonstrated abilities, then 'encourage' those students to push for elite by setting the bar high and weeding out. Having tough professors and getting my rear end handed to me on several exams taught me alot about life and what 'work' is. Didn't find that out until I was pushed in over my head.

When I started teaching at the University of Florida, I tried the Tech way (even a little toned down), but quickly realized the students couldn't handle it. We (and you) should be proud we even survived Tech in a similar way to a soldier who just made it through Special Forces training. Anyway, just my $0.02.
 

bartoma

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
357
Location
Herndon, VA
If the class average on an exam or quiz is 17 then there is something wrong with what is being taught relative to what is being asked on the test.
I remember going into the final exam in Digital Signal Processing with a 48 and a 52 on the only two tests given during the quarter... I don't remember my final grade, but I passed the class with a C...

I also remember the EE3250 tests - usually four questions: first was relatively simple/obvious, second was familiar and you could arrive at a reasonable solution, third was vaguely familiar and you might be able to write down something you could put a box around and have a minimal degree of confidence in how you got there, and fourth was something you could barely recall being discussed and you had only the most vague idea of how to approach it and you may or may not have worked out a result that had some relevance to the question... By the time I got to number four, there was maybe 20 minutes left - those were typically the most tortuous 20 minutes of my life to that point...

Got a D the first time with Dr. White and made it past the gate with a C the second time with Dr. Su...

Glad I survived...
 

GT_05

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2,370
I have to disagree a little. As a professor myself....and I could hack it in the real world.....I can say there are different philosophies of academic institutions. Some schools think more is better and everyone deserves a chance, so they have low admission standards then challenge themselves (faculty) to work with what they (the students) have. Others like Tech only let in students with demonstrated abilities, then 'encourage' those students to push for elite by setting the bar high and weeding out. Having tough professors and getting my rear end handed to me on several exams taught me alot about life and what 'work' is. Didn't find that out until I was pushed in over my head.

When I started teaching at the University of Florida, I tried the Tech way (even a little toned down), but quickly realized the students couldn't handle it. We (and you) should be proud we even survived Tech in a similar way to a soldier who just made it through Special Forces training. Anyway, just my $0.02.

I entered GT during the short summer term. The professor gave the first exam after the last day to drop and I got a 33 on it. He showed us the test distribution and commented that he had never seen a flat distribution (A similar number of students scored between 0 and 10 as did between 90 and 100, for example). I called him to point out that our only test, other than the final, was given after the final drop day. He pointed out that the real problem seemed to be that I didn’t prepare for the exam and he hung up on me. After much cussing and many beers, I decided that I would not allow him to weed me out and I ended up getting out of GT with high honors. Even though I don’t have fond memories of this professor, I guess he did me a favor by helping me find the proper motivation which has helped me even beyond graduation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

bartoma

Jolly Good Fellow
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Herndon, VA
My dad, who graduated in 1957, still cusses Ma Tech and a Chemistry professor dubbed the "Red Headed Bastard"...

In response to complaint about his tests being too long, he provided a one page test - full of single spaced text, front and back...

Classic Tech...
 

4shotB

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Retired Staff
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4,941
I have to disagree a little. As a professor myself....and I could hack it in the real world.....I can say there are different philosophies of academic institutions. Some schools think more is better and everyone deserves a chance, so they have low admission standards then challenge themselves (faculty) to work with what they (the students) have. Others like Tech only let in students with demonstrated abilities, then 'encourage' those students to push for elite by setting the bar high and weeding out. Having tough professors and getting my rear end handed to me on several exams taught me alot about life and what 'work' is. Didn't find that out until I was pushed in over my head.

As a Tech grad and now currently a math teacher (high school), I teach like most kids are going to Tech. Most can't get in and aren't going there but I still have that fear that they (like me in HS) have absolutely no idea what was in store for them. I think at most colleges, the freshman year must be like 13th grade. In other words, the modest incremental leap that they have seen all their lives going through K-12.But at Tech, it was similar imo to jumping from the 12th grade to the 18th grade. In one step. The weak and the lame were quickly separated from the herd back when schools weren't profit motivated by the retention metric.

What keeps most teachers from preparing kids for schools like Tech is that most of them went to the nearest public college or university that accepts people with 21 ACT's or 1o50 SAT's. How can you prepare somebody for Tech or Stanford or the Ivies when you went to Southeastern State A & M?
 

Blumpkin Souffle

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1,367
As a Tech grad and now currently a math teacher (high school), I teach like most kids are going to Tech. Most can't get in and aren't going there but I still have that fear that they (like me in HS) have absolutely no idea what was in store for them. I think at most colleges, the freshman year must be like 13th grade. In other words, the modest incremental leap that they have seen all their lives going through K-12.But at Tech, it was similar imo to jumping from the 12th grade to the 18th grade. In one step. The weak and the lame were quickly separated from the herd back when schools weren't profit motivated by the retention metric.

What keeps most teachers from preparing kids for schools like Tech is that most of them went to the nearest public college or university that accepts people with 21 ACT's or 1o50 SAT's. How can you prepare somebody for Tech or Stanford or the Ivies when you went to Southeastern State A & M?
That's why we have AP classes. Or are you saying AP classes only prepare kids for Texas A&M?
 

4shotB

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That's why we have AP classes. Or are you saying AP classes only prepare kids for Texas A&M?

AP classes are indeed a big help over regular classes in this regard. My only criticism of the AP classes and preparing kids for Tech is this...AP teachers are excellent teachers who have more of a grasp of content than their counterparts as a general rule. But (and this is the key), they are keenly interested in their students success and will use a multitude of teaching strategies to reach their students. At GT, the professors are people with a very high level understanding of the material but little to no interest in teaching it. (Again, a general rule as we all have exceptions.) And maybe I am repeating outdated stories...maybe the experience has changed. I've always maintained it is not the actual content that made Tech hard...it was teaching it to yourself that separated the wheat from the chaff. I think this was the overwhelming aspect of Tech that caused the "1 in 3" statistic. High schools don't prepare students for that generally.

To get a kid ready for Tech, give him or her the AP material with no instructor. And expect him/her to make a 5 on the AP test using whatever resources available...textbook, internet, tutors, etc.. If he/she can do that, then they will have a much higher chance of "getting out".
 

Gtmamn61

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
78
Dr. Chen, Statics. First test, cookbook, A. Second test, cookbook, A. Third test, shaft, F. Forth test, shaft, F. Final, shaft, F. You fail. Learn to study. Come back. Take again. Make A.

Me. First test, shaft. Second test, shaft. Pink parachute. Take chance on no Chen. Make C.
 

TheSilasSonRising

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Messages
3,729
I have to disagree a little. As a professor myself....and I could hack it in the real world.....I can say there are different philosophies of academic institutions. Some schools think more is better and everyone deserves a chance, so they have low admission standards then challenge themselves (faculty) to work with what they (the students) have. Others like Tech only let in students with demonstrated abilities, then 'encourage' those students to push for elite by setting the bar high and weeding out. Having tough professors and getting my rear end handed to me on several exams taught me alot about life and what 'work' is. Didn't find that out until I was pushed in over my head.

When I started teaching at the University of Florida, I tried the Tech way (even a little toned down), but quickly realized the students couldn't handle it. We (and you) should be proud we even survived Tech in a similar way to a soldier who just made it through Special Forces training. Anyway, just my $0.02.

Herman?
 

5277hike

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
231
Dr. Chen, Statics. First test, cookbook, A. Second test, cookbook, A. Third test, shaft, F. Forth test, shaft, F. Final, shaft, F. You fail. Learn to study. Come back. Take again. Make A.

Me. First test, shaft. Second test, shaft. Pink parachute. Take chance on no Chen. Make C.


I also had Dr. Chen for statics. We had NO grades going into the final. I had already dropped statics once before taking him, so I had to stick it out. When he told me I made a B, I ran out the door like I stole something before he could change his mind!
 

awbuzz

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I have told my Professor Chen story I. The past on GTSwarm.
See he had the same effect on others too.

"Statics is easy. X+Y+Z = 0. If not, then it is moving. So it's not static."

"Open note, open book, but no open neighbor. I catch you using neighbor, we go to Hill and you kiss Georgia Tech goodbye."
 
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