The story about the professor at Louisiana State University who was “benched” during the semester due to low test scores caught many an eye and has generated a great deal of discussion. Now that the talk has cooled down a bit, I wanted to pose a serious question based on a fictional amalgamation of several true incidents I’ve heard about from different academic administrators.
Let’s say you are the department chair, dean, or academic vice-president and you have an endless stream of students complaining about a new professor’s grades. As you generally do, you tell the students to buckle down and try their best, to see how the rest of the semester goes, and to await their final grades for the course.
When the semester concludes, the phone calls and visits intensify, so you pull the final grades for the professor’s courses and you find that he has assigned a grade of “F” to each and every student. 100% F’s. Not only that, but you pull up the pre-registration counts for the courses he is supposed to teach next semester and find that few students have enrolled.
You call the professor into your office and ask him to explain and he says, “No one matched my standards. In fact, I cannot believe how poorly prepared the students are here. I’m glad that all of my students will have to repeat my courses so that they can understand the material properly and, hopefully, earn better grades the next time. The administration should like this result: Not only am I upholding standards, but the tuition revenue from the course repeats will be a nice benefit.”
Most institutions would not renew the contract of such an instructor. But there is still the question of what should be done about the students’ grades. An F on a transcript could derail students’ scholarships or their chances of getting into graduate school, and could be destructive to the department as a whole in terms of student retention.
On the other hand, changing the grades assigned by a professor is tantamount to an overthrow of professorial autonomy. So, how should an administrator handle such a situation? Would you find a way to change the grades administratively?
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33 Responses to Teaching to Fail/Failing to Teach
tuxthepenguin - June 21, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Question: Shouldn’t the head of the department have a chat with the instructor once the complaints start rolling in? We have grad students teaching in our department, so mid-semester chats (for many reasons) are not out of the ordinary.I don’t see how there would be any choice but to give all the students an A.
emdepillis - June 21, 2010 at 3:24 pm
“Most institutions would not renew the contract of such an instructor.” Is it really accepted practice in cases like this to shoot the messenger without considering the message? Would it not cross your mind even for a moment that the instructor may be right? It seems that at minimum you would need a disinterested third-party (one that doesn’t work for you, preferably at another institution) to take a look at the student assignments and final exams. A review of the course prerequisites might also be in order.
wisernow - June 22, 2010 at 5:28 am
Offer the students a retest using an exam that has a known quality, and revise grades accordingly.
astrofraa - June 22, 2010 at 6:25 am
One piece missing from this description is whether the standards of this professor were actually reasonable or not. I had to fail half a class (half of six) last semester because they just plain didn’t do the work (and they knew it — no complaints that I’m aware of). I’ve taught that class five times and never had to fail anyone before. Now, failing a whole class might be excessive, and probably is, but I would have to know more about the situation.However, the professor should be informed that the “more tuition this way” argument is misguided and short-sighted.
draines - June 22, 2010 at 7:09 am
There should have been more mentoring and intervention of the new faculty member — before this crisis at the end of the semester. Second, depending on the nature of the course, department, etc. maybe a number of the students truely earned a “F”. I think the administrator in this scenerio, who basically ignored the signs of a developing situation (i.e. student complaints being brushed off with—”wait and see”) is really the person at fault in this situation. New faculty need guidance in “how to teach”. As illustrated in this story, teaching practices have significant consequences for the student, department and the faculty — the administrator has a responsibiliity to be actively involved in the process of teaching and student assessment. Yes, this professors augument (generating more tuition) is mis-guided, but where was the department’s leadership in facilitating the prof coming to know the mission, philosophy and general practices of the department?
cleverclogs - June 22, 2010 at 8:28 am
I think, as #1 says, you have to give the students A’s. The alternative is to expunge the grade and allow them to retake the class or another that fulfills the same requirement for free. Making them take the same class over again has too many downsides (not enough space, scheduling nightmares, problems for non-major students who had the misfortune to take this course, etc). I might lean toward this option myself – then you don’t have to change grades and trample on professorial autonomy.As for the professor, the standards he was upholding were clearly not those of the institution at which he was teaching. It was his responsibility to seek out guidance when he noticed that all of his students were failing, as we would expect our students to do when they noticed they were failing. His failure to do so suggests a level of hubris that I suspect would make him as unpleasant a department-mate as he was a professor.
segads - June 22, 2010 at 8:58 am
There was a similar situation when I was a student. While the grades weren’t all F’s, they were significantly lower than most of the students were accustomed to earning.The chair called upon some of the excellent students in the dept. — majors with strong academic records — to discuss the situation before he took any action. He asked for specifics, looked at grades and comments on papers and tests, etc.Give them all A’s? That seems every bit as extreme as the all F scenario. A grade revision based upon a new exam or paper seems more appropriate.
mpressley - June 22, 2010 at 11:00 am
Lots of good ideas expressed so far. I wonder if any administrators have read them?
cwinton - June 22, 2010 at 11:17 am
Although the chair should never have made a teaching assignment that might lead to the scenario painted, the proper response is to offer to expunge the record and allow students to retake for no charge. Of course, I suppose the more litigious minded might argue this would constitute an admission of malfeasance potentially opening up the institution for a class action law suit (pun intended). The more likely scenario is that of an irresponsible adjunct faculty hire who has a “real” job (or some other time sink) that purportedly gets them so busy they fail to do much of anything meaningful in a course, which only comes to light the next term when some student finally blows the whistle because critical material for a subsequent course was not covered. It’s much, much easier to mentor a regular faculty member to avoid a nightmare scenario than someone contracted for a single course who has solid creditials and talks a good game, but is not vetted by a search process, which after all should reveal the kind of overweening attitude (likely a manifestation of an inferiority complex) presented in this sad scenario. For the adjunct scenario, even if it comes to light early enough in the course to intervene (say 4 or 5 weeks in), damage has been done and options are at best limited (say you call them in for a heart to heart and there are promises made, which after another 2 weeks have elapsed you determine are at best being marginally fulfilled, dragging things out even further. What the heck are your options? Are you really going to task a regular faculty member to step in and try a salvage operation? Will you have upper administrative support given the likely money and contract issues? I suspect the most likely response is to obfuscate and hope it goes away due to student ennui.
velvis - June 22, 2010 at 1:30 pm
I find this whole discussion interesting as when I did student teaching in an innercity high school I failed 90 out of 120 students and then had to prove the 2 or 3 A’s that students earned. What I also find interesting is that GA’s, TA’s, and even professors are never taught to teach. It’s here’s the materials go put it in other people’s heads – so they do what was done to them: stand and lecture and they do a poor job of it. Teaching is more than just knowing the materials and being able to talk for hours on end – unfortunately you wouldn’t know it from walking around campuses.Would it be so out of the realm to have those neophytes who are going to teach take a crash course in andragogy or pedagogy? Even at UoP they run their facilitators through a gauntlet and still have a mentor for their first class.
tuxthepenguin - June 22, 2010 at 2:23 pm
“the proper response is to offer to expunge the record and allow students to retake for no charge”While I understand your argument, I see several problems with it. First, they have already taken the class, and some of them probably worked harder than students in the same class taught by sane instructors. You can’t just toss all of that down the drain. The time/effort cost exceeds the cost of the tuition that they wouldn’t have to pay. It’s not the fault of the students that they got stuck with a psycho prof, so whatever “solution” one finds, it has to involve no additional cost to the students.Second, how do you handle students who are expecting to graduate, or who can’t fit the time into their schedules, or are transferring, etc? How do you handle financial aid cases? Students may even lose scholarships if there is no grade recorded.While I appreciate the view that the students should have to earn their grades, I see no alternative to giving them all A’s. This is why the head of the department should intervene at the earliest sign that there is a problem.
cwinton - June 22, 2010 at 2:51 pm
The problem is there is no good middle ground that will work for all students. Things like graduation requirements can be waived, holding the student harmless if the grade is expunged. For students that just need the hours, hopefully there is something like a Pass/Fail option that can be invoked rather than something like the suggested blanket A approach. As to financial aid and scholarships, that would require judicious exception handling, but most schools have those mechanisms already in place. Transfer and course prerequisite issues are a sticky point since there’s no way good way to determine if the student deserves a passing grade except some kind of testing … do you really want a recorded A for a student who basically gave up on the course and then wants to transfer it to another school or continue on to a subsequent course that truly needs the prereq content? Perhaps a “make up test” could be offered for those who want a revised letter grade and think they have learned enough not to do a (no added cost) retake. Unfortunately, I would bet the attitude of this kind of prof would lose the class and few, if any would have acquired the kind of information needed to pass such a test. It might be possible to contract another prof to regrade the final and base grades on that, I suppose. Make no mistake, a portion of the class has certainly been cheated out of hard work and time spent, and there’s no easy way to get that back. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
dboyles - June 22, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Maybe the question “How should an administrator handle such a situation?” is best informed by asking what created the conditions in the first place. Otherwise why would any faculty member–short of madness and I have heard nothing of the kind in the LSU instance cited nor in other instances–take it upon him/herself to stand out of the crowd and reverse what she/he considered a deplorable situation in terms of education, a veritable correction to the university stock market, at least on some if not most campuses? Were there events leading up to this? To create the conditions for exactly such a situation in which a faculty member tries to return students if not the institution to its senses (a return of the suppressed) could include: 1) Create a ‘customer service’ mentality among the professoriate which seeks to minimize student complaints (and which non-tenured faculty fully understand it is to their advantage to play by in turn mollifying their students, giving multiple test retakes and take home exams, covering only half the course material since it is too stressful on students to keep up the pace, condescend and concede to student interests rather than accede to academic interests, etc). Next to these weak-willed faculty no solid faculty member stands a chance and neither does a solid education. 2) Maintain a low tolerance for complaints and ignore that students are in a growth phase, which conveniently ignores that many of them have yet to grow up. To minimize complaints by giving students what they want when they are merely testing the waters and rattling the cage displays nothing but ignorance. 3) Use what little psy 101 you know to manipulate students to organizational ends and agendas rather than to maximize their education. Get students to tax themselves with all kinds of technology and laboratory fees (they don’t see the books on where the money actually goes anyway) by telling them this will enhance their education and lead to better classrooms and will even allow for hiring of more qualified faculty; make the faculty feel thereby beholden to their students. “After all, they (the students) are the reason we (the faculty, staff, admin) are here” rather than the other way around. Get the students to believe they are the center of campus attention rather than that they and their faculty are the foundation upon which subsequent generations will rely. 4) Pretend that that student evaluations of faculty are synonymous with student learning and get the faculty and students to believe this also. A low percentage of unhappy students must surely be a good sign, compared to a higher percentage. Ergo, low can never be low enough, and happy students are automatically a good sign education is occurring (ha! such simplisitic, unexamined ‘happiness’ which can mean quite the opposite, namely, that the cows are contented but aren’t learning a thing). Propound the virtues of retention at all levels. 5) Tell yourself you are in this for the short term, for what you can get out of it, and pass any possible aftermath to your successor–yes, defer the debt to the next generation as the best of bad corporate management practices dictate. Adopt a mentality of putting out fires only as they occur. Shun any notion of long term vision and certainly of transcendent “ideals” which would link your tenure and make you responsible to the great chain of being. Such notions have no place in a knee-jerk, turn-on-a-dime economy which requires suppleness and skill, rather than informed principles or connection with previous and future generations, something which is out of your educational background anyway. For every once-in-a-blue-moon case such as that at LSU, the way is being prepared for another. As long as the blue-moon case can be conveniently isolated from its larger context, we have no reason to expect that it will not recur. Some well-meaning faculty martyr, extreme compared against the background and context of his/her milk-toast peers beaten down over the years or too young to know what he/she is up against in the longer term, will come forward to remind us of our negligence which created the conditions for what we say we don’t know how to handle any other way.
usaret - June 22, 2010 at 5:02 pm
This happens in some of our developmental classes every semester (I teach at a community college campus where about 30% of our students take one or more developmental classes). So far, I’ve never seen a faculty member fired over it. Newer faculty, both part- and full-time, might be asked to chat with a dean or department chair, only to find out what’s going on, but I’ve never seen anyone pressured to change grades as a result. I’ve taken over a section from a faculty member who quit over the low levels of student preparation–to be expected in developmental writing courses–but the standards for passing the course did not change as a result.I have a bit of experience as a student in this kind of situation. When I was in college (I graduated in 1973), I was in a section where everyone failed. It was a one-hour course in library procedures I took my sophomore year, and it was taught by our librarian. I was one of two students who’d passed the midterm and I’d handed in all the projects. The librarian had lost all of our papers and kept very poor records. I appealed my grade to the academic board, which upheld the faculty member. He changed everyone’s grade to D after the hearing, however. I was, under the college rules, allowed to take the course over again to replace the D, which I did two years later. The same librarian threatened to throw me out of the class the first day, but the dean intervened and I completed the course, this time with an A. Sadly, the second version of the course was nowhere near as rigorous and I learned hardly anything compared to the first time through. I learned the reason for the poor course quality–the librarian had been under investigation that last year for stealing rare books, and matters came to a head the semester he taught us–he ended up going to prison for several years (where he was the prison librarian, I understand). Ever since this experience, I’ve always felt that odd faculty performance may be the result of some event or circumstance we cannot always imagine. This does not always become clear to the students, however, and that suggests that more attention from a chair or dean might have made life better for all concerned.
juggler - June 22, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Ok, some thoughts (and I wear an administrator hat as well as a faculty hat):This scenario seems to presume that the standards were really out of whack with the department norms. Probably, but I’d need some documentation of this. Grading rests with the faculty, and changing any grade over an instructor’s head is something that I would do only with considerable cause and concrete evidence. Were the exams really too hard? The grading too stringent?At my college, chairs are required to review syllabi each term. It’s possible that this step might have led a chair to discover a problem early — not a certainty, I understand, but it gets to the larger issue of oversight. If nothing else, this case emphasizes that oversight during the semester is really important, especially for new instructors.I would wonder if a committee of faculty members and a couple of undergrads could determine whether the exams/grading/requirements were remotely reasonable. Ditto the quality of instruction.If it is found that the standards were unreasonable, could a re-grade of a final exam be given? If it is not reasonable to re-assess most or all components of the class, can you evaluate enough work to determine who should get a P and convert to P/F grading? I would think that students should be given this option — waiving requirements relating to taking the course for a letter grade.This would not solve all problems for all students — as was already said, no single solution would suit all cases. But this would solve many.This would also be a lesson to me as an administrator about what we might need to be doing differently regarding our hiring procedures, our pedagogy training processes, our oversight, or one or more of the above.
22122488 - June 22, 2010 at 9:40 pm
It is my experience that ALL new instructors, even those with experience in teaching elsewhere, should be monitored and mentored throughout their first year by some of the best senior faculty. The culture of the new place may make it necessary for any fresh instructor to fine tune his/her teaching (not dilute it) so that his teaching has the maximum and best impact on the students. Some professors think that the more students they fail -the “more brilliant and of higher standards” professors they are in the eyes of their colleagues. How foolish such a thought is! We need to remind faculty that generating that excitement and interest in the subject that will make most students eager to learn more – is ALSO part of our teaching responsibility. And on this item Many of our colleagues fail miserably.
d_and_der - June 22, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Did it occur to any of the respondents that all of the students earned an “F.” With lower to zero admission standards what do you expect? The “A” students go to good universities. The dumb students go to diploma mills so they can get good grades that they never actually earn.PS: If the professor is looking for a job, we have an opening.
nacrandell - June 24, 2010 at 11:48 am
All F’s – the professor, like the article’s writer, needs to organize himself/herself before teaching others. Milton wrote of Cromwell, “He first acquired the government of himself, and over himself acquired the most signal victories, so that on the first day he took the field against the external enemy, he was a veteran in arms, consummately practiced in the toils and exigencies of war.”For the next hypothetical could it be reasonably possible?
annon1234 - June 24, 2010 at 11:55 am
I teach at an if you are breathing we will admit you and if you pay your tuition you will pass university. I was FORCED to regive the SAME EXACT final exam (beginning statistics to business students) and any and all other tests given that semester (as in teh same exact ones and they were to have the answer key to study from) to any student who got a D or F. Now considering that they could retake any exam during finals week already, I gave extra credit, ran review sessions, etc. the kids (and I use that word deliberately) who failed had to work to fail. Of course the students I was teaching in statistics had passed college algebra (a prereq) but didn’t know (1/3)*(1/3)*1/3) = 1/27 or how to solve an equation if the variable wasn’t standing alone on one side of the equation (so I had to teach them how to do this along with how to do statistics)… so the problem just gets kicked into the next course. I was the next course and it sucked. Frankly there is a time and place for an F. And they need to stand, when appropriate. The hypothetical problem shouldn’t have gotten this far if there had been complaints all semester. The dept chair needed to intervene earlier and help the new person figure out what to do.
tkershner - June 24, 2010 at 12:34 pm
There is plenty of faulty to go around. If I were the new instructor and noticed early in the semester that a significant number of students were failing, I would take that to the department chair (or at least to a department colleague) and make certain the proper infomration is part of the pre-requisite courses.
patnode - June 24, 2010 at 12:50 pm
1. Give the students the opportunity to redeem themselves through some sort of abbreviated version of the class, or a test or a paper.2. For those that take the option, make it Pass/Fail. (Some won’t take this; let them retake the class from SuperProf.)3. Omit the Pass/Fail grade from the GPA calculation. rp
kpeluszak - June 24, 2010 at 1:05 pm
So, how should an administrator handle such a situation? Would you find a way to change the grades administratively?As an administrator I would hold the responsibility to gather all of people needed to make a best decision. A lot of this will depend on the policies held at your college or university. I would want to speak with the Dean of the School or College of this faculty member and the Department Chair to see where they stood on the issue. If they say Fs then that is what is issued. If that is not the case then I would then ask the advice of the Grade Appeals committee, which most Colleges and Universities have some form of. Depending on the response of all parties involved I would move to make a decision that everyone agreed with. Off the top of my head, if the instructor is to blame for some reason after thorough review, could we move the course from a letter grade assignment to a pass/fail grade assignment therefore not affecting the students gpa? I would let the Dean make the decision to see if the course content was met by these students and if they felt sufficient information was gained in the course for the student to continue. If remediation was needed I might suggest that an independent study class be set up free of charge for those that needed it. Again I would rely on the Dean to help make that decision.Who else has an idea?
exlecturer - June 24, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I’m with annon1234. In grading a practical assignment in the sciences, I provided both the equation and a simple calculator to students during a practical evaluation. The equation was long and required one number to be squared. The calculator did not have a “squared” key, parenthesis nor order of operations built into it. More than half of the students could not use the calculator to calculate the answer. Either they did not know how to square the number or tried to put in the equation without parenthesis or both. These were seniors in college. I was told later that as science instructors, we shouldn’t be grading their math skills, just the content of our class. But we are sending these people out into the world to do tasks in our field and they can’t do 7th grade math that is essential to those tasks. Some of these students planned to go on to physical therapy or medical school. Do you want me to pass them so they can be your doctor or therapist?
margray - June 24, 2010 at 1:45 pm
This happened to me when I was an undergraduate at a large research-one state university. I took a 300 level engineering probablity course from a TA. He was very poorly organized, seldom returned papers, and his lectures made little sense. He was verbally abusive, especially to women. We complained our heads off, but no one in administration wanted to hear it. When the final grades went up, everyone in a class of over 100 students received an F. I was a scholarship student and accustomed to doing very well, grade-wise. We complained again,louder, and this time the administration listened, probably because many of us got our advisors involved. What they did, I believe, is take his gradebook and whatever tests they could find, and reconstruct the grades as well as they could, then rescale the grades. I ended up with a B. I can’t tell you what grade I should have received as I had almost no returned homework or tests on which to base an estimated grade. It is possible that he did not actually grade the exams and homework at all. The TA involved left in a huff, also talking about low standards at American universities.
misstrudy - June 24, 2010 at 1:48 pm
I believe it depends on the overall context. I have had to fail about 50% of a class twice. It happens. Seldom, thank goodness, but it happens. I never had a problem with adminstration. The students were just not doing the work and most admitted it.
oneroa - June 24, 2010 at 4:51 pm
How many times in how many colleges in the US have I come across this common problem?The key to insurance is having an assessment statement given to all students at the course beginning.The statement includes the likes of:having a workable method of handling complaints during the semester;any student likely to fail must be formally warned by letter before any final exam and course closure;and this notification should be tabled in a faculty meeting.This is the point where the professor is openly called to account.This openess is an important aspect of the professors own performance appraisal. It may well be that the students are not up to entry standard or applying themselves, etc, so immediate intervention is needed by learning assistants out of class time. Cover all your bases and document. It’s all about reputation.(incidentally, students who repeat courses under such circumstances don’t often pass the next time – so the professor is in la-la land).
lgbeddow - June 24, 2010 at 6:05 pm
The amount of information here is not enough for an administrator to make a determination. First, administrators would need to know that the department had clear, stipulated course learning objectives for each course taught. The next item to be explored would be how well crafted and reviewed are the assignments used to assess these learning objectives. Are rubrics in place for each assignment? Do the rubrics conform to the assignment and to the objectives? If all of this is in place, then a review of student submissions and the completed rubrics would determine is the assessments were objective and valid. Merely erasing grades or firing a professor would be rushing to conclusions.
jeffczarnec - June 24, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I would ask to review his evaluative criteria for success that the students should understand at the beginning of the course. If he was not clear, or sought to ensure that the students fully comprehended his demands, then it is the instructor’s neglect. One must win the hearts, the minds will follow..arrogance in academia cloaks an un-checked ego, insecurities, or perhaps a personality disorder.
homertonight - June 24, 2010 at 10:16 pm
#1 & #6 –Just give all the students A’s. What are you smoking?
drsusan1968 - June 25, 2010 at 10:35 am
I had a class of mostly seniors for a course this semester. They whined incessantly about the exams, the workload, about pretty much everything. When I asked why they continued to do this throughout the course, they said, “because it usually works”, but that it so far hadn’t seem to work with me. If I had stuck to my normal standard of grading more than half the class would have failed. From day one, their goal was to do as little work as possible, as much whining as possible and get the grade they demanded from me without having done the work – they admitted that they didn’t buy the textbook, or do any of the readings, but relied totally on the powerpoint presentations to give them the information they needed. Seniors should at least be able to interpret a graph, or be able to describe what they see when given an image, or write half page short essays on the principles taught in the class. The vast majority of these students had only ever done multiple choice exams. They called my exams unfair – why – because I asked them to apply their knowledge in a written format. As I’m on the tenure track, the pressure is such that I curved so that the class got mostly A’s and B’s. I don’t think they deserved these grades, the students knew that they didn’t, but I would be the one without a job if I had enforced a decent standard. The entitlement culture – “I’ve paid for my A, so don’t be difficult professor, just give me what I came for”, is just so soul destroying. You know if you don’t give in then not only will they be complaining to the administration, but their parents will too, and nothing brings the administrators down on you faster than a parental complaint. Teaching used to be a joy, now it is a drudgery with no end.
raza_khan - June 27, 2010 at 3:17 pm
The problem I see is that such conversations lead to grade inflation. Raza________________________Raza Khan, Ph.D., P.D.Faculty, SciencesCarroll Community CollegeWestminster, MD 21158
mjnmjn - July 7, 2010 at 9:59 am
I agree with wisernow. It seems inconceivable to me that evry student shoud earn an F. Students are accepted into institutions by a review of professionals who determine that the student should be able to perform at the academic standards of the institution. When all students fail a class, it is reasonable to conclude that the instructor has some shortcomings. Giving all students a standardized test, or the final from another instructor in the subject has merit. Students should not suffer the consequences of a bad or ill-prepared instructor.
janyregina - July 13, 2010 at 3:46 am
Yes, the poor students. I had a professor, once, who gleefully told us she was known as Hatchet Martha and that entire classes had walked out on her. I reather admire her now. The few who received an A or A- definitely worked hard. I wonder how many F’s she gave. Those were earned too. I am ancient but I remember when A=95-100, B=88-94, C=74-87, D=69-74 then the ole F’s. How about another prof I had who explained that even though we were overachieving graduate students, the Bell Curve should still apply to us. How to fix the GA or TA’s 100% failures. I don’t think it can be done well at this late date.