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*SIGH*
A True Scene From Tonight's Biology Tute:
[background: the undergrads are only a few weeks out from their end-of-semester exams. I have been running this tute for about six weeks now, and the three girls who regularly turn up are all doing a Human Biology course]
L, a new student, arrives early. Our heroic tutor Fahye is pleased to see someone new!
L: Is this the biology tutorial?
F: Yes! Which course are you doing?
L: Um, Concepts in Biology
F: Oh, okay, what sort of topics does it cover?
L: I'm...not really sure.
F: Do you have a course outline I could look at?
L: Um, no.
F: *patiently* Have you, perhaps, been to some of the lectures?
L: Um, not really. I failed the midterm. I think I'm kind of failing the course.
F:HOW SURPRISING Well, this is a general bio tute, so I don't know your specific course curriculum. I'm happy to help with any topics you don't understand, or go over any lecture notes with you...
L: I'll, um, go and get some stuff from my room.
F: YOU DO THAT.
And then I did genetic pedigrees and patterns of inheritance with my Human Bio girls, and L turned up halfway through with her computer. The only material she had was the questions from their midterm. From the looks of things it's a fairly intensive introductory biology course, ie. cellular structure and basic DNA->RNA->protein mechanisms.
F: So...you know what DNA is, right?
L: *tentative nod* I think I need to know about...proteins, and nucleotides, and stuff?
F: .......
And THEN I tried to cram half of my own first-year molecular biology course into the space of fifteen minutes, while the poor girl stared at me like a stunned mullet.
F: Look, go find your textbook. Find the chapters on this basic stuff. READ THEM. Look at the nice diagrams that are much clearer than my whiteboard scribblings. Bring any questions to me next week and we'll go over them.
L: Um, we have another 15% exam this week.
F: OH MY GOD. HERE IS MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
HOW DO YOU GET TO THIS POINT. I DON'T EVEN. My first six months of uni-level biology were one long panic attack of frantically trying to catch up to everyone who'd done bio in high school, and tripling my vocabulary, and forgetting all my nice pure maths and physics. But I went to lectures, because that helps.
I get so possessive and responsible when it comes to my students, though, even when I've known them for all of ten minutes. If they fail things I feel PERSONALLY CULPABLE.
I have now sent L a link to the greatest video of all time. I hope it helps.
[background: the undergrads are only a few weeks out from their end-of-semester exams. I have been running this tute for about six weeks now, and the three girls who regularly turn up are all doing a Human Biology course]
L, a new student, arrives early. Our heroic tutor Fahye is pleased to see someone new!
L: Is this the biology tutorial?
F: Yes! Which course are you doing?
L: Um, Concepts in Biology
F: Oh, okay, what sort of topics does it cover?
L: I'm...not really sure.
F: Do you have a course outline I could look at?
L: Um, no.
F: *patiently* Have you, perhaps, been to some of the lectures?
L: Um, not really. I failed the midterm. I think I'm kind of failing the course.
F:
L: I'll, um, go and get some stuff from my room.
F: YOU DO THAT.
And then I did genetic pedigrees and patterns of inheritance with my Human Bio girls, and L turned up halfway through with her computer. The only material she had was the questions from their midterm. From the looks of things it's a fairly intensive introductory biology course, ie. cellular structure and basic DNA->RNA->protein mechanisms.
F: So...you know what DNA is, right?
L: *tentative nod* I think I need to know about...proteins, and nucleotides, and stuff?
F: .......
And THEN I tried to cram half of my own first-year molecular biology course into the space of fifteen minutes, while the poor girl stared at me like a stunned mullet.
F: Look, go find your textbook. Find the chapters on this basic stuff. READ THEM. Look at the nice diagrams that are much clearer than my whiteboard scribblings. Bring any questions to me next week and we'll go over them.
L: Um, we have another 15% exam this week.
F: OH MY GOD. HERE IS MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
HOW DO YOU GET TO THIS POINT. I DON'T EVEN. My first six months of uni-level biology were one long panic attack of frantically trying to catch up to everyone who'd done bio in high school, and tripling my vocabulary, and forgetting all my nice pure maths and physics. But I went to lectures, because that helps.
I get so possessive and responsible when it comes to my students, though, even when I've known them for all of ten minutes. If they fail things I feel PERSONALLY CULPABLE.
I have now sent L a link to the greatest video of all time. I hope it helps.
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I-.
...
My life has been fundamentally altered, thank you.
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(ISN'T IT AMAZING)
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THE JABBERWOCKY, OH MY GODDDDD <333
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Also, I think you've just witnessed firsthand the downside of someone going to uni for no good reason.
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"Okay, this is actually really simple, all you need to do is count the bones in the forearm to figure out what's homologous."
"...what's homologous?"
"...I thought you guys were doing evolution in lecture?"
"Oh, um, yeah, I haven't gone for two weeks."
"If you've been sick or something, it might be a good idea to go to office hours to get some extra help, or the lecture tutors can help you."
"No, I just hate biology. The class is so boring."
"Were you taking it for a requirement?"
"No, I'm pre-med."
AUGH.
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Uh, huh. That sounds very familiar. When I was a teaching assistant for an undergraduate course in history, I remember saying that it would be difficult to anticipate what would be on the exam if one hadn't gone to lecture or bothered to read the material. Funny how that seems to help.
That video is hysterical.
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I think L. needs to talk to L's prof, and find out if there can be a course drop/retake later. Because yeah, no.
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The story of L is really frightening to me! Why wouldn't you drop if you cared that little about bio? Why is she in bio anyway? What is going on in her mind?
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HOW DO YOU EVEN THINK LIKE THAT ABOUT A COURSE YOU ARE PRESUMABLY CHOOSING TO TAKE. Or at least desire to pass. Or -- I don't even know! What!