Do the teachers at 4 year colleges usually give study guides for exams?

[jhae2.718]

I KNOW right! "The force is equal to F = ma, the mass is .5kg, the sky is blue and my house is 2400 sq feet, therefore the energy of the rocket is 900J"

Or the people who list every equation they have ever seen in an attempt for partial credit

 

[gb7nash]

Or the people who list every equation they have ever seen in an attempt for partial credit

There's a term for that in mathematics, the proof by intimidation. Sometimes it works!

 

[ideasrule]

I would have felt extremely insulted and abandoned if the engineering school had allowed the profs and instructors to coach low-performing students to get better scores on exams and finals.

What do you mean by "coaching"? There's a line between hand-holding and the coaching that lectures are meant to be. That line is wide, blurry, and hard to define. I think you should define "coaching" before criticizing it.

 

[jtbell]

I had a prof who taught a lot of my math classes and I thought it was hilarious what she would do. She would have a list right before every exam of what was going to be on the exam.

It was everything she had covered.

Sometimes at the end of the semester I put a "Final Exam Week FAQ" on my office door. One entry reads:

Q2: Will ________ be on the exam?

A2: That's a great idea! Thanks for reminding me about it. :-)

 

[wild999711]

I've had professors give study guides before, but they aren't exactly helpful if your a decent student. They were meant to ensure people passed the test in lower division classes. To prepare for tests I've always found it more useful to study from the homework solutions, and talk to the professor directly about the exam.

 

[turbo]

Why go to school then? Isn't lecturing coaching them to do well on finals, as well? An did you ever do any examples in classes or used a textbook that had worked examples? Because I don't see any difference in that and providing past exams with worked solutions. Doing the latter isn't necessarily teaching to test (which, I agree, should never be done), and you can still change tests year to year, so that people can't just memorize the steps without understanding them.

I don't know, perhaps we should just have people studying at home then, paying full tuition fees nonetheless, and being forbidden from ever being told the answers to problems. That way all knowledge gained will be absolutely pure and immaculate.

I worked very hard and earned the money that allowed me to attend engineering school. I would have been extremely pissed if my instructors had given the slackers in my classes ways to getter scores on their finals.

 

[cdotter]

I didn't realize how common this was until I started grading in grad school. It's amazing how some students seem to find that answer in the back of the book regardless of whether their logic leading up to it makes sense!

Maybe the student doesn't understand how to solve the problem conceptually? Textbook examples aren't always good at this.

 

[Pengwuino]

Maybe the student doesn't understand how to solve the problem conceptually? Textbook examples aren't always good at this.

This is true except those kind of students don't really care. Whenever I helped a student out or tutored students or whatever, they basically just want you to tell them the answer and what equations to use. They don't care what the equations and ideas are.

 

[jhae2.718]

I would automatically flunk those kind of students if I could. The real world doesn't come with an answer key*.*OK, so Erdös had The Book, but...

 

[Sankaku]

I think the hidden problem in this thread is how difficult it really is to assess someone's knowledge of a technical subject. Exams are a flawed but fairly well understood method. I liked the brutally hard take-home exams where you are free to use whatever resources you can think of. Until we come up with something better (tiny classes and individual interaction?), there will always be debate.

My attitude is: If it helps the people who really want to learn, who cares what happens to the slackers?

Sometimes at the end of the semester I put a "Final Exam Week FAQ" on my office door. One entry reads:

Q2: Will ________ be on the exam?

A2: That's a great idea! Thanks for reminding me about it. :-)

ROFL. I had a class where the prof skipped a chapter in the text. It was long and I knew he wouldn't be able to fit everything into the course. I asked to make sure that nothing in that chapter would be expected material. The next class he went back and covered the chapter because I asked the question!

I didn't mind - it was fun material - but hilarious anyway.

 

[ideasrule]

I want to apologize for my rather rude and boorish comments, questions of accuracy aside.

Obviously someone who is learning needs a bit of patience until he learns.

Those who stated the value of sample questions etc... are quite right.

What they may not realize, is the value is greatest to that person who prepares the review.

Hence when I prepare a review for my students, or a sample test, it is I who get the most benefit.

That is not the desired outcome, So at a certain point, we wish the student to transition to making this review preparation on his own.

Obviously however one does not achieve this result by insulting the student as I did.

Please forgive me and keep up the struggle to understand.

I wasn't insulted, but I do find your attitude somewhat patronizing. How would you know whether or not students are benefited by reviews if you refuse to listen to the opinions of actual students? You use phrases like "what they may not realize" and "keep up the struggle to understand" to imply that students know less than you about their own studying preferences, and considering that you're probably not a current student, I'm very skeptical that this is true.

To address your points, I think that all professors have to draw a line between the amount of material he teaches and the amount the student is expected to figure out himself. A largely self-taught course is very demanding on the student, but those who follow through learn the material more thoroughly. In practice there's a limit to the amount of dedication you can/should expect from students, so higher expectations usually lead to lower average grades. I think that the general concepts taught in the course--which is what should be on an exam review--is a fundamental part of the course and so should be covered in class, not self-learnt. I don't think the enlightenment that I (being a student) gain from summarizing a course is worth the significant time and effort required to do it, when that time and effort could be spent on actually reviewing and understanding the important concepts.

 

[Ryker]

I worked very hard and earned the money that allowed me to attend engineering school. I would have been extremely pissed if my instructors had given the slackers in my classes ways to getter scores on their finals.

But they already are giving them ways to get better scores, and they also gave you ways of doing so. I understand you had to go through a lot, and it shows character and perserverance, but I think this has clouded your judgment, and you now seem to think everyone has to go through the same struggles just to get a degree. But I think this is somewhat of an elitist view, to be honest, and as long as people actually learn the material I don't think it matters how they do it. The universities are there to teach them, and if they do, well then good job done. Like I said, putting up past exams is just putting up a couple more worked examples, and, unless the professor is lazy and just gives out the same questions on tests each year, people can't just take those and ace the exam. And I understand what you feel, because, for example, I try and start on homeworks early and put in a lot of work just to later see the professor giving a hint in class or whatever, enabling other students who haven't yet started to have an easier time with it. And it pisses me off, as well, but in the end I realize I shouldn't be pissed off, because it's my fault for expecting something that the professor and the university clearly didn't state they would do. It's they who decide how the course will be taught and administered, and while you may argue that as a paying student you should have a say, in the end I don't really think that's how it works or should work (and if you took a democratic vote, your hardcore view would probably lose out, as well, at least in lower year courses). Again, I understand why you feel that way, and sometimes I do, too, but I think you need to take a step back and realize that those are unreasonable expectations and that you can only impose such standards upon yourself if you so wish. It probably will benefit you in the long run, anyway, and it seems that it has in your case.

Just from personal experience, I never had any professor give out such things when studying for my first degree, even though the exam questions were available if you asked around (they were kind of circulating, because students just put them down after they took the exam and kept adding them year after year). Now, some professors do put up old exams, but honestly I usually prepare the same way in both cases, that is, without really looking at them, because I feel I want to actually learn the material in a way that prepares me for any exam, not just that particular professor's one.

 

[mathwonk]

ideasrule. you are of course correct that i am not a current student. however i am a successful former student. and also an unsuccessful former student. i.e. i have both failed and then later succeeded as a student. so i am pretty confident that i do know more than you about what study habits are fruitful, whether or not they are your preferred ones.

basic rule: when you have nothing to offer and much to gain, do not be too insistent upon setting the rules of the game.

 

[mathwonk]

by them way ideas rule, i like you. anyone with the cojones to speak truth to an old **** like me deserves respect. maybe we can learn to listen to each other.

 

[Skrew]

A couple instructors do, I find it really helpfull.

I think it is unrealiaistic to expect students to retain everything that an instructor has gone over. I think it is both fairer and pedagologically superior to focus on the core results of the class and have the students study them.

 

[ideasrule]

ideasrule. you are of course correct that i am not a current student. however i am a successful former student. and also an unsuccessful former student. i.e. i have both failed and then later succeeded as a student. so i am pretty confident that i do know more than you about what study habits are fruitful, whether or not they are your preferred ones.

Even if you have a lot of experience in applying studying methods, that experience is specific to you. Every student is different, and what worked for you might not work for the vast majority of people. That's why seeking feedback from students and adjusting their teaching styles accordingly is a basic expectation I have from all professors.

basic rule: when you have nothing to offer and much to gain, do not be too insistent upon setting the rules of the game.

I'm not attending your university, and will probably never be in any of your classes. I'm responding to you so that you can get information on how students prefer to study, because you obviously have little respect for your own students.

 

[land_of_ice]

when i was a student, no one would dream of doing it, but 20 years later as a teacher, i gradually morphed into providing them. i.e. it is considered extreme hand holding but so many students today are so weak that it has become almost necessary.

Why are students less advanced nowadays?

 

[TylerH]

(For engineering / math classes) at some of the 4 year colleges, (in California or anywhere really,) what is the semester usually like as far as review days before tests, study guides for exams and tests, and quizzes?

Do the teachers provide any of the above? And also, do you usually have projects that are due?

My question to you: why would you want a study guide? I can't wait until the day I no longer have to redo the whole last x weeks before a test. (Assuming you mean required guides.)

My calculus professor gives practive exams online, but I don't think we've erver had study guides.

 

[TylerH]

you guys who do not think this is hand holding have apparently been coddled for so long you don't even know what it means to do your own work. some hopeless clown asked my freshman calc professor what was going to be on our exam, and the answer was "the content of the course!" the idea is that it is your job to review the material, outline it, and learn it. the more you do on your own the better you learn. get a clue. the sooner the better, for you.

Give a man a fish ...

 

[TylerH]

Why are students less advanced nowadays?

It's not that we're(as a dual enrollment high school student, I can say this) less advanced. It's the difference between high school and college. The high school classes are more geared towards the exams. They don't care if you learn it, the primary goal is for you to pass the EOC, AP test, etc. The whole class is focused on learning to take the test, which just happens to be related to the material. To the contrary, college classes, in my limited experience, expect you to learn, and have tests as a way to measure comprehension. Analogously, they teach the material, most of which just happens to be on the test.

 

[land_of_ice]

My question to you: why would you want a study guide? I can't wait until the day I no longer have to redo the whole last x weeks before a test. (Assuming you mean required guides.)

My calculus professor gives practice exams online, but I don't think we've ever had study guides.

Where does it say anyone wants a study guide? Do tell?
Study guides sometimes look nothing at all like the test and the study guide can really be unhelpful and time wasting. Study guides work though if the lecture looks nothing like the test and the teacher is trying to supplement lectures that are lacking.

Practice exams are different from study guides how?

 

[TylerH]

Where does it say anyone wants a study guide? Do tell?
Study guides sometimes look nothing at all like the test and the study guide can really be unhelpful and time wasting. Study guides work though if the lecture looks nothing like the test and the teacher is trying to supplement lectures that are lacking.

Practice exams are different from study guides how?

It doesn't, explicitly. But, given the choice of the word "provide," I'm assuming he wants it.

 

[land_of_ice]

It's not that we're(as a dual enrollment high school student, I can say this) less advanced. It's the difference between high school and college. The high school classes are more geared towards the exams. They don't care if you learn it, the primary goal is for you to pass the EOC, AP test, etc. The whole class is focused on learning to take the test, which just happens to be related to the material. To the contrary, college classes, in my limited experience, expect you to learn, and have tests as a way to measure comprehension. Analogously, they teach the material, most of which just happens to be on the test.

Can you believe that several centuries ago in history only poor people had to take exams, and rich students were exempt from exams altogether.
It says so in some book, it's a book called? What was it now, oh yeah its -
refer to the book 'Isaac Newton' by James Gleik , that's so weird how schools were back then.

 

[gb7nash]

As previous posters have said, every student learns differently. What may work for me, may not work for most people. There are many factors involved with how somebody learns material.