If 70% of students fail this one single college-level class, what is the problem?

Answer 1

Hmmm... this isn't by any chance a Music 114 class taught at the University at Buffalo is it. I just had the same problem. I mean when there's that high of a percentage then the teacher isn't effectively teaching. Whether he thinks they should know it or not if 70% fail it's proof that they're not learning and after all that's what you're paying to do.

I suggest you email the teacher an the dean about it.

Answer 2

I was in a class like that. It was a second year psychology course that I ended up getting an A+ on when I only deserved an A maybe A-, but my fellow students were definitely borderline mentally retarded and the majority of students failed and our grades got bumped. It was in community college, so what did I expect? They blamed the instructor, but while I wasn't too fond of the guy myself, he didn't distract from my ability to learn the course material. He was okay, not easy to listen to, but nothing special and the course material was pretty self explanatory. If anything, I found the class to be too easy.

So the students suffering from systematic tradglotitus is certainly a possibility considering that the majority of undergraduate students including myself have felt the affliction from time to time and falsely placing the blame on an unlikeable character, but mediocre teacher is by far more common than a cold.

Unfortunately because students pay the tuition that funds the school when an outbreak occurs and the majority is complaining the instructor is blamed as the source of this mysterious disease called stupidity.

Answer 3

It probably isnt the prof. That is a convenient excuse.

College isn't baby school. For kids who are determined to learn, if you want to learn, you have a textbook and you can learn. The prof is only there to point out what you are supposed to study. Even if the prof is a total jerk, the students can learn. The fact that even ONE student passes means that it is not an impossible task.

There are plenty of classes where the failure rate is high year after year. That's usually because the course is a really hard one. Organic chemistry is a good example. You can't learn organic properly unless you are a really dedicated student. The very best prof in the world cannot cause students to learn this material if they are not dedicated to learning it. So, what happens in organic chem classes all over the world? Most of the fantasy premed students take the class and can't do it. They arent smart enough or just dont study enough to learn it, so they grumble and complain and wind up switching their majors.

Music theory classes are another notorious example. You may think you are the next Jimi Hendrix, but if you take music theory and dont learn your scales and modes, then you are going to fail. End of story.

Another example is calculus classes in engineering schools. I know one state university that only has facilities for 250 engineering students per class, but they are required by law to accept all HS grads from their state who have a certain average. So each year they have over 1000 freshman in fall term but they can have only 250 sophomores. So caclulus is used to separate the serious, most determined and perhaps smartest students from the rest.

It is great to see kids who buckle down and do well in hard courses. It is pathetic to see kids who whine and complain that they were somehow screwed over, when in fact they just couldn't or didnt do the work at the same level as their classmates. Determination and dedication are as important in academics as IQ.

Answer 4

It's either because of a really bad teacher, or the class is really really hard. I had one of those, quantatative chemistry, 75% of the students had to take it twice.

Answer 5

Either the teacher is not teaching effectively or the class is full of slackers.

Answer 6

Ditto on what mx said, but the program may claim to have "high standards".