Raise Biology 223 Exam Grades

I am in Biol 224 and we all have the same problem. Oh and by the way if anyone is interested in knowing a little more about our teacher feel free to search him on the web. Why UNLV would hire anyone with a history such as his is a mystery to me... http://statecasefiles.justia.com/documents/wisconsin/court-of-appeals/2002AP000168-%282002-10-08%29.pdf

I own every opinion that I have. I never said that the only exception IS the quizzes, or that it should be the main focus because of MY grades. And I do take responsibility for my quiz grades. I do believe that they could be a little more general, but they are fair game. The exams weren't even written by Rankin so regardless if you had Utz or Rankin they would be the same.

Christian- What would you like to see happen here? Does not muddling the topic correlate to a worse understanding of course material therefore decreasing our scores?

The petition is a great idea, the best option is to request a curve. Although I know someone who got a 98% There are other ways to curve. The petition, as is, will likely be dismissed. Stressing the content delivery is confusing and muddling the topic is a better argument, in my opinion.

If you think we earn our grade and everything is fair game, then own that opinion. Don't make the only exception for the only area that YOU didn't do well in.

I'll add to this, the quizzes need to change. Looking at my quiz grades when Utz was giving them, I got good grades. I have done poorly on Rankins quizzes and that part scares me. Not so much the exams though.

Hello Alexis, I have also heard that Biology 224 is struggling. They are more than welcome to do what we are doing. Unfortunately, I cannot speak for them as I am not in that class. Have them contact me. Thanks for participating.

Hello Biology 223, First of all I want to thank you for participating and keeping these discussions respectful and productive. I would like to add that Ariana does make a good point in the fact that we earn our grade. I believe that to be true. However, grades have always been an indicator of the level of understanding that one has of course material. If our grades drop when we switch professors then that is the indicator. As students, there is a certain level of excellence that we should expect in the quality of education that we pay for. I feel as though I am not getting my moneys worth. This is an opportunity to give UNLV the chance to correct the discrepancy as any other institution or business would.

I feel it is an issue, because some of us didn't sign up to be instructed by Dr. Rankin. Some of us learn differently, not all can just be self taught. I believe grades are well earned, but I don't think its fair for all students. In regards to those students who learn from others instructing with actively explaining, instead of just reading off the powerpoint. I feel that this petition is worth a shot.

I don't think its reasonable to ask for grade hikes. I agree with Ariana, the issue is content delivery. If you don't attend the lecture your penalized, when you do attend (at least me) I feel as though the content presented confuses the priority of what to understand and the depth intended. I am at a B+ in this class. At this point this class might as well be an online. I've taught myself the material and have gotten little from the Dr. R. A grad student could have just read the power point to us and given the prepared tests and quizzes. The Biology Department needs to make the decision on what if anything may be done. The petition suggested will not be considered as presented.

I guess I'm confused here. Grades are earned, not given. Although our professor goes more in depth then needed, which can be confusing, and his quizzes are really in depth, it's ultimately our responsibility to study the information in the book and on the slides. The exams were written ahead of time and are straight forward, by Utz. If anything, he just needs to realize that he needs to stick with the basics when lecturing. Technically speaking his quizzes are fair game because the quizzes comes straight from the text. I'm all for having a higher grade, I just don't see the biology department just raising our grades.

I think the point of this petition is to give the biology students a curve. I personally have never taken a biology class where all the tests count (normally one test is dropped) and that by itself could serve as a "curve."

I also think this should include BIOL 224. They have the same professor and are having the same problem as us.