My ‘supervisor’ called me today to say some of my students at the university had complained to the ‘secretary’ of the foreign languages department that a Chinese teacher had been taking my classes, and that I had scheduled the semester test outside of class hours (why would I want to add to my workload, FFS?).
I told her straight up that was bullshit, and that I could either laugh it off, or we could get to the bottom of it. I decided on the latter.
Why should students get away with lying out their teeth anonymously to the university, in the hope of getting me in trouble? I suspect it’s the slackers who missed the class before the final exam (and classes before that), where I layed out the details for the final exam (a presentation). This meant they would get a ‘Fail’ instead of a ‘Pass’ - which is all the foreign teachers are allowed to do, based on attendance and the final exam/presentation. Bitter, I suspect…
I told the sup’ to give me some straight answers. I guess some of y’all would just laugh it off, eh?
Edit: maybe I’ve been here so long I’m starting to look local?
I’m shocked and I mean seriously shocked that you don’t know the answer to this question.
All students pass, irregardless of attendance or test scores hence the large amount of sleeping, eating, video gaming and general outright boorishness shown by most university students. You failed(figuratively) because they can fail your class. I mean not really; the school will of course change the grade. So what is a slacker student suppose to do except make up anonymous lies about you?
What if it were the supervisor making it up? I mean how dare you add to his workload and eat up his student shagging time by making him have to change the grades you gave from fail to pass. This gets put into your record and then at the next contract renewal, you find your services no longer needed. Terribly sorry, but we have had complaints from students about you having a Chinese teacher teach your class and scheduling tests outside of class time.
I’m betting that you don’t play games in class or have fun classes either.
I play some games and use some media in class to stimulate them.
I laid out the rules on the fiirst day of class, and got their verbal agreement that they understood them. One rule was 'three no shows and you get a ‘Fail’, as per uni policy. During this week’s exams I’ve seen students, who I vagualy recall from the first couple of classes (class register confirms this), that were begging like hungry streetkids, with all their best excuses lined up, to do the final presentation. The ones who could produce legible reasons, with confirmation from doctor, hospital, etc I let have a go at the exam.
Getting verbal agreement from a Taiwanese student is akin to watching tall grass sway in a wind. I’d honestly throw the standards out the window. If they show up for final and pass, They pass. They’re all going to pass anyway, no matter what, so it’s not like are doing anything different from any of the other teachers. If you stick to standards and stated but unenforced university policy, you will stand out as nothing more than an asshole.
Stimulate a Taiwanese university student interest in learning English?!?!?! :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
[quote=“Okami”]
All students pass, irregardless of attendance or test scores… I mean not really; the school will of course change the grade. [/quote]
not necessarily so, I have failed 2nd year students AND had them come back the next year for the same course. I have been pressured to let final year students through, though. Some of those I have failed too.
The uni can actually gain from failing students as their reputation goes up, and they get more income from student fees.
Sorry, am I to understand that university students in China and Taiwan pass everything, regardless of whether they have attended classes or not? (The teacher should make their class easily passable too right?) And is it also being stated that the teacher who doesn’t pass all students is some kind of arsehole?
I think I just fell into ‘bizzarro flob.’
Happy Chrimbo Baas, you old dog. Hope you have a blast!
[quote=“urodacus”][quote=“Okami”]
All students pass, irregardless of attendance or test scores… I mean not really; the school will of course change the grade. [/quote]
not necessarily so, I have failed 2nd year students AND had them come back the next year for the same course. I have been pressured to let final year students through, though. Some of those I have failed too.
The uni can actually gain from failing students as their reputation goes up, and they get more income from student fees.[/quote]
Not in Taiwan. They can’t charge extra fees unless approved by the Ministry of Education and basically all tuition is in two very narrow bands: one for state universities and one for the ‘private’ ones.
One might think that with the lack of students, top universities would be more rigorous and competitive so as to attract students but I think the reality will be much more like Buxibans. Anything and everything is done to keep semi-warm bodies in the seats.
feiren: was not sure that they actually paid more or not. Still mucked up their grad plans a bit, I hope, but probably not: damned media students only worked about three hours a day from what I could see. Slackers.
If they’re constantly skipping class (without legitimate excuses such as serious illness…in which case they really should drop the class and retake it later), then they deserve poor grades.
The least they could do is actually attend the classes they signed up for.
[quote=“twonavels”]I hardly attended any classes when I was at University!
I never knew you could fail Varsity for not attending. [/quote]
Why the hell did you go to uni then?
I fail to see what sort of future we are building for our children when university lecturers call each other arseholes and sack each other for not passing students who do fuck all. What the hell use is a degree from a Taiwanese university if you get an 80% pass mark just for being alive for the duration of the course? At my uni you were lucky to get close to 70% if you busted your hump 24/7.
And don’t get me started on the retard festival that passes for common sense in the Taiwanese education system as a whole.
I also typically failed 10-20% of freshman/sophomore students while teaching FT at a university. Students cried, and parents tried to bribe me. That said, my evaluations were generally high, and I managed a reputation for interesting classes with fair/tough grading. In the end, I would up attracting (mostly) the students who wanted to learn, while the others chose a different section taught by someone “easier” - I think we were all happy with that outcome.
[quote=“Tom Hill”]What the hell use is a degree from a Taiwanese university?[/quote] :roflmao:
I’ve just failed a load feckless cnuts. They think I’m an arsehole. I don’t care :nyah:
[quote=“gangster recycler”][quote=“Tom Hill”]What the hell use is a degree from a Taiwanese university?[/quote] :roflmao:
I’ve just failed a load feckless cnuts. They think I’m an arsehole. I don’t care :nyah:[/quote]
Well, it is good to know that students do get failed from time to time. What amazes me more is that the failure to fail students would be used as a valid reason when not renewing a teachers contract. The fact that the students think the teacher is an arsehole for failing them is neither here nor there in my book, except when it comes to people like Baas having shit spread about them. That is a very bad thing, and I’m sure that here in British Universities the faculty would find the student responsible for spreading malicious lies and lay the full weight of their collective digestive systems down upon them. People who work in Taiwan and find the spreading of lies about teachers as laughable should ask themselves some hard questions about what is right and what is wrong.
[quote=“Tom Hill”]…having shit spread about them. That is a very bad thing.[/quote]Indeed it is. Happening to me as we post. But two can play at that game
[quote=“tomthorne”]The bottom line is there are some things you should never get cynical about, education is one of them. Taiwan, in this respect, is a tragedy.[/quote]I’m no cynic. The hardworking are rewarded, the feckless are shitcanned.
