I am writing to file a complaint regarding CHEM 3053-002 with Professor Cichewicz. The specificity of the material he chooses to ask about on the test is beyond the degree of the knowledge we have as students new to the subject matter. The tests do not equally represent the chapters that are being tested, and we do not have prior notification as to what to focus our studying on. I, as well as other students, find that attending lecture, reading the text, and reviewing supplementary materials are still not enough to perform adequately on the examinations. We, the students are disadvantaged because the only resource we have is the textbook and the professor does not specify what we as the students are expected to know. Additionally, he does not attend the Action Tutoring for the course. It is not a matter of the students adapting to a professor’s testing style, because the test averages dramatically worsened, with the last class-wide test average being 43%. Besides tests, there are no other ways to obtain points in the course. The grading is based solely on the three tests and the final exam. It is my understanding that there is a curve to be assigned at the end of the semester, but it would be preferable that the tests were made so they actually were an indicator of what we have learned thus far in the semester. The class-wide test average for our section is typically 20 to 30 points lower than that of the other large lecture class with Professor Morvant. I am fully aware that Professor Cichewicz has the liberty to design the course in any way he sees fit; however, the large disparity between test averages in the two classes is unacceptable, as are the unfair tests. Another concern is that we do not know if we are prepared for professional entrance exams and our further science coursework as we continue to get low grades on the tests. After hearing fellow students’ grievances throughout the semester, I decided to take it a step further, hoping for some fair changes. Thank you.

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