Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
To the BIOS E-1a teaching staff, Dr. Fixsen, Dean Lambert, and other interested parties;
We the students of BIOS E-1a, Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology, of the Fall of 2014 at the Harvard Extension School would like to draw attention to several issues leading up to and culminating with the second midterm examination that was administered to the class on the evening of November 17th.
We the undersigned students believe that this examination was fundamentally unfair in both writing and administration. With frequent interruptions, innumerable exam writing mistakes (such as incorrectly written base pair sequences), and poorly worded questions, we do not believe that this exam grade should be allowed to stand as is. We also believe that we were misled with regards to preparation leading up to the exam, making it extremely difficult for any of us to prepare with any success. We were, in fact, tested on material we were explicitly told would not be on the midterm examination. We find this most unacceptable.
We find the teaching leading up to this examination to be at least partially at fault, as recent weeks' lectures had been unclear and had consistently used imprecise or contradictory language in printed materials. Further, practice problems seemed almost unrelated to lectures. Given this level of general obfuscation, it was prohibitively difficult to prepare for this examination. As a result, we would like to make you aware of a profound dissatisfaction amongst your students.
As a majority of us are career changers, and are taking this class as a pre-medical requirement, we take our performance seriously. We have a right to expect that our professors do the same. It is in this spirit that we demand that our aforementioned grievances against the second examination be redressed by teaching and/or administrative staff. We also demand fairness and clarity in any further examinations. We would appreciate your immediate attention regarding this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
The Undersigned Students of BIOS E-1a, Fall 2014
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Updates
November 19, 2014
I am honestly overwhelmed by how many of you have stepped up to acknowledge these problems. This momentum belongs entirely to your willingness to speak out about our shared experience.
5 Comments
The exam was a total disaster. The errors on the paper made it impossible to focus on the actual questions. Fix this please.
Lectures have been confusing all semester but this exam was just messy. We deserve a curve or a retake.
While we would like to acknowledge your concerns, the looming withdrawal deadline makes immediate action absolutely necessary. Many students' grades hang in the balance. We do not believe that expressing our concerns in respectful language is disrespectful in any way, and any allusion at disrespect is not only a mistaken impression of the purpose of this petitionary enterprise, it is an inflammatory accusation. We believe this to be the best way to bring our collective concerns to the teaching staff and whomever else may be interested in this situation. This petition is primarily addressed at our teaching staff, who are rightfully the first line of response. However, we are open to discussing these issues with administrators as well. These concerns have not been distributed anywhere except on the discussion forum of the actual website. I am sure that individual students have reached out to our professors, but we find this to be the best way to express collective frustration. Therefore, we stand by our statements, and encourage those who agree with our letter to continue to sign. Obviously, those who disagree have every right to abstain.
In constructing an petitionary opinion, language choice is critical. We must be careful as not to include editorial or provocative phrasing as this undermines this event's objectivity. Suggesting that the complaints have been ignored, albeit a possibility, is not extending the level of respect and benefit of doubt due to the teaching staff. If we expect to have ourselves respect, then we in turn must demonstrate respect. I understand and share in the frustration regarding the errors and extending a few extra minutes to account for the confusion, correction, and processing would have been appreciated. While the discussion forum is certainly accessible to the teaching staff, so are their email accounts and offices. Have other attempts at communication occurred? Has enough time been provided for a proper response? At the university, non-final examinations are entirely under the auspices of the teaching staff. Notwithstanding the utmost of egregious compromise, administrators default to the teaching staff on examination issues. By attempting to circumvent the teaching staff, petitioners and signatories are demonstrating a lack of respect. While I too hope for an offer or acknowledgment from the teaching staff, let's not rush ourselves.
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
To the BIOS E-1a teaching staff, Dr. Fixsen, Dean Lambert, and other interested parties;
We the students of BIOS E-1a, Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology, of the Fall of 2014 at the Harvard Extension School would like to draw attention to several issues leading up to and culminating with the second midterm examination that was administered to the class on the evening of November 17th.
We the undersigned students believe that this examination was fundamentally unfair in both writing and administration. With frequent interruptions, innumerable exam writing mistakes (such as incorrectly written base pair sequences), and poorly worded questions, we do not believe that this exam grade should be allowed to stand as is. We also believe that we were misled with regards to preparation leading up to the exam, making it extremely difficult for any of us to prepare with any success. We were, in fact, tested on material we were explicitly told would not be on the midterm examination. We find this most unacceptable.
We find the teaching leading up to this examination to be at least partially at fault, as recent weeks' lectures had been unclear and had consistently used imprecise or contradictory language in printed materials. Further, practice problems seemed almost unrelated to lectures. Given this level of general obfuscation, it was prohibitively difficult to prepare for this examination. As a result, we would like to make you aware of a profound dissatisfaction amongst your students.
As a majority of us are career changers, and are taking this class as a pre-medical requirement, we take our performance seriously. We have a right to expect that our professors do the same. It is in this spirit that we demand that our aforementioned grievances against the second examination be redressed by teaching and/or administrative staff. We also demand fairness and clarity in any further examinations. We would appreciate your immediate attention regarding this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
The Undersigned Students of BIOS E-1a, Fall 2014
Updates
November 19, 2014
I am honestly overwhelmed by how many of you have stepped up to acknowledge these problems. This momentum belongs entirely to your willingness to speak out about our shared experience.
5 Comments
Ridiculous that we were tested on stuff told not to study. Wasted so much time preparing for the wrong material.
The exam was a total disaster. The errors on the paper made it impossible to focus on the actual questions. Fix this please.
Lectures have been confusing all semester but this exam was just messy. We deserve a curve or a retake.
While we would like to acknowledge your concerns, the looming withdrawal deadline makes immediate action absolutely necessary. Many students' grades hang in the balance. We do not believe that expressing our concerns in respectful language is disrespectful in any way, and any allusion at disrespect is not only a mistaken impression of the purpose of this petitionary enterprise, it is an inflammatory accusation. We believe this to be the best way to bring our collective concerns to the teaching staff and whomever else may be interested in this situation. This petition is primarily addressed at our teaching staff, who are rightfully the first line of response. However, we are open to discussing these issues with administrators as well. These concerns have not been distributed anywhere except on the discussion forum of the actual website. I am sure that individual students have reached out to our professors, but we find this to be the best way to express collective frustration. Therefore, we stand by our statements, and encourage those who agree with our letter to continue to sign. Obviously, those who disagree have every right to abstain.
In constructing an petitionary opinion, language choice is critical. We must be careful as not to include editorial or provocative phrasing as this undermines this event's objectivity. Suggesting that the complaints have been ignored, albeit a possibility, is not extending the level of respect and benefit of doubt due to the teaching staff. If we expect to have ourselves respect, then we in turn must demonstrate respect. I understand and share in the frustration regarding the errors and extending a few extra minutes to account for the confusion, correction, and processing would have been appreciated. While the discussion forum is certainly accessible to the teaching staff, so are their email accounts and offices. Have other attempts at communication occurred? Has enough time been provided for a proper response? At the university, non-final examinations are entirely under the auspices of the teaching staff. Notwithstanding the utmost of egregious compromise, administrators default to the teaching staff on examination issues. By attempting to circumvent the teaching staff, petitioners and signatories are demonstrating a lack of respect. While I too hope for an offer or acknowledgment from the teaching staff, let's not rush ourselves.
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Ridiculous that we were tested on stuff told not to study. Wasted so much time preparing for the wrong material.