Xref: utzoo comp.edu:1884 sci.math:5383 sci.physics:5562
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!killer!elg
From: elg@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Eric Green)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,sci.math,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Student preparedness
Message-ID: <6817@killer.DALLAS.TX.US>
Date: 17 Jan 89 02:16:00 GMT
References: <19147@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Organization: The Unix(R) Connection, Dallas, Texas
Lines: 29

in article <19147@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, matloff@bizet.Berkeley.EDU (Norman Matloff) says:
> other from a top school in China.  After a few days, this team asked 
> me during lecture, "What do you want the output to consist of?"  
> I answered by repeating what I had said before, i.e. this problem 
> is free-form, use your own creativity for both posing the problem and 
> studying it, it's all up to you, etc., etc.  The team replied, "Sure, 
> we understand that, but what do you want the output to consist of?"  :-)
> [The rest of the class laughed, though some of those who laughed suffered
> from a similar problem.]

Note that in most undergrad classes at the freshman-sophomore levels,
you don't get points for creativity. You get points for putting the
answer that the professor expects.

Is it any wonder that the same attitude carries over to upper-level
courses?

An anecdote of my own: A friend, whose father is a mathematics
professor, took a Discrete Math course. He did a proof on a test, and
the professor marked it wrong. He brought it home to his father, who
agreed, "that sure looks right to me." Brought it back to the
professor, who said "It might be right, but it wasn't the answer I
wanted."

--
Eric Lee Green    ..!{ames,decwrl,mit-eddie,osu-cis}!killer!elg
          Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191 Lafayette, LA 70509              
Netter A: In Hell they run VMS.
Netter B: No.  In Hell, they run MS-DOS.  And you only get 256k.