Want a higher GPA? Go to a private university.

[1stSoon2BePhD]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

On a general basis, the sciences are much more concrete. I'm not discussing theoretical physics here. Chemistry, Biochem, Anatomy, Botany, Physics, etc. are fairly concrete and have "right" answers. If you don't know the material, you can't BS your way through it.

Weeeeeell, I have personally written BS answers in biology classes when I was unsure of exactly what the question was asking and I earned generous partial credit. However, I teach General Chemistry now and I agree that USUALLY they either know a concept and get straight to the point or they don't know it and they make things up. However, you can show that you know the definition of a concept without knowing how to apply that knowledge and get partial credit.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 1stSoon2BePhD

However, I teach General Chemistry now and I agree that USUALLY they either know a concept and get straight to the point or they don't know it and they make things up.

Sounds like the humanities to me.

Originally Posted by 1stSoon2BePhD

However, you can show that you know the definition of a concept without knowing how to apply that knowledge and get partial credit.

Yep and this is mostly based on the teachers/professors.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Sounds like the humanities to me.

Yep. To me, too.

[1stSoon2BePhD]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Sounds like the humanities to me.

This is the new generation of science students. The "my mom/dad/grandma/cat told me I should be a doctor so I'm majoring in biology even though I barely understood high school bio" generation.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 1stSoon2BePhD

This is the new generation of science students. The "my mom/dad/grandma/cat told me I should be a doctor so I'm majoring in biology even though I barely understood high school bio" generation.

Blame the previous generations.

Just like I blame the "everyone said the humanities is common sense and I can guess/bullshit my way through classes because every answer is the right answer unless the professor is a picky self-important bitch" generation on the older professors and college alum who directly or indirectly led younger generations to believe that.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by 1stSoon2BePhD

This is the new generation of science students. The "my mom/dad/grandma/cat told me I should be a doctor so I'm majoring in biology even though I barely understood high school bio" generation.

This is different than previous how? There have always been a large number of science majors trying to go to medical school who don't understand that the 2.4 GPA just won't cut it.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by 1stSoon2BePhD

Weeeeeell, I have personally written BS answers in biology classes when I was unsure of exactly what the question was asking and I earned generous partial credit. However, I teach General Chemistry now and I agree that USUALLY they either know a concept and get straight to the point or they don't know it and they make things up. However, you can show that you know the definition of a concept without knowing how to apply that knowledge and get partial credit.

That's it..you get partial credit. Like I said in my post, if you understand the concept, you can solve the problem. Knowing the definition and understanding the concept are two different things entirely which is why science is often hard for people. That is what separates good doctors from the bad ones in a lot of ways. As for BSing on your biology question, who knows...maybe you understood what they were getting at more than you thought. What does get less concrete in science is medicine- we do lots of things "just because we do."

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

That's it..you get partial credit. Like I said in my post, if you understand the concept, you can solve the problem. Knowing the definition and understanding the concept are two different things entirely which is why science is often hard for people.

Remind us of how that's different than the humanities.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Remind us of how that's different than the humanities.

Did I say anything about concepts and partial credit with the humanities? No. In what way does giving partial credit for a student knowing the definition of a concept not understanding the concept thus not getting full credit for the question go against the idea that science courses are more concrete than humanities courses in many ways? Are you giving style points because he used better vocabulary to define it? No. It is a concrete definition. It is a partial answer. Personally, most of my professors wouldn't have given any points, but no one said the sciences were immune to any grade padding. Whether or not grade inflation is worse in the humanities than science was the author of this articles assertion not mine. I simply proposed why I thought that might be.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Did I say anything about concepts and partial credit with the humanities? No. In what way does giving partial credit for a student knowing the definition of a concept not understanding the concept thus not getting full credit for the question go against the idea that science courses are more concrete than humanities courses in many ways? Are you giving style points because he used better vocabulary to define it? No. It is a concrete definition. It is a partial answer.

But, remind me of how this is different than the humanities. Like I said before, what you experienced with those lenient teachers was just that. The same can be said for the teachers in the maths and nonsocial sciences.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Personally, most of my professors wouldn't have given any points, but no one said the sciences were immune to any grade padding.

Good.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I simply proposed why I thought that might be.

You did more than that. You seemed to support and defend the assertion.

I can't type to the author, but I can type to you.