All *my* students are ABOVE AVERAGE

So, in my Scientific Thinking classes, we had our first midterm just before the Eid in October. This was their first big exam with me. This class is part of the core curriculum and is required for graduation. Most students take it in their freshman year. The purpose of the course is to introduce the students to the “scientific method” of problem solving and critical thinking. The curriculum (which I have no direct control over) covers the coming of age of science – Ancient Greek astronomy, Galileo and Newton, Falsificationism, Big Bang, Darwin, DNA, Ethics in science. Mostly it shows the refining of scientific thought thru the major advances in astronomy since the time of Aristotle.

So…from my point of view, this is a fairly interesting “History of Science” course. We can play with different dominant paradigms and scientific revolutions. We can look at modern day news articles and websites and discuss things like evidence and fallacious rhetoric in everyday life. This has the potential to be an interactive and fun class.

Unfortunately it has not lived up to that. The educational system that most of the students have come from is a “memorize and regurgitate” style. Their lives are bounded by religious and cultural rules that they have never contemplated, let alone challenged or critically examined. SOUND FAMILIAR? Trying to get the students to interact, discuss or think is like pulling teeth. I have assigned some readings (Feynman, Sagan, Gould) that are written for the “lay scientist” and I give them reading questions to help them focus on key points. I tell them to answer the questions and we will use those to begin discussing the article in the next class. The “discussion” usually begins with the question, “What is the answer to question #whatever?”

Ok, so the stage is set. The first midterm went OK. Class average was about 77%. In preparation for the second midterm, we had an entire class period where we listed general topics we’d covered since the last midterm, vocabulary and key subtopics for each main topic. These were posted on the class website and students were told that they were “responsible” for that material. The second midterm comes. The NEXT DAY I have students in my office complaining about how hard the test was.

“It isn’t fair. You didn’t TELL us how to answer these questions.”
“The answers for the questions were not on your PowerPoint slides.”
“What are we supposed to do in a ‘Synthesis’ question? That covered a LOT of different topics at once. That wasn’t how we learned them in class.”

THE BEST WAS:
“You don’t understand, this is supposed to be an A class. We’re not supposed to WORK in this class.”

Well, the second midterm average was about 79%, class average is currently a 79%. Students have been POURING into my office because “you HAVE to scale the grades. These grades are too low. The (read this bit carefully) class average should be AT LEAST a B+!”

Apparently C is no longer average. Apparently the students don’t understand that a curve only HELPS if the class average is BELOW 75%. Apparently…

ALL OF MY STUDENTS ARE ABOVE AVERAGE.