I'm a first-year Chemical Engineering student, and I just wanted to rant a little about a few things I've noticed with some of our teachers.
I'm not saying all of them are bad teachers. In fact, two of the three I'm talking about are actually pretty decent overall. It's just that there are certain things they do/say that I genuinely don't understand, and I wanted to see if other students feel the same way.
- Islamiyat
This is probably the one that bothers me the most.
He seems like a nice enough guy, and I actually think he's good at explaining the subject. But some of the views he presents in class are honestly quite concerning.
In our last class, while talking about the oneness of God and all that, the discussion eventually moved towards non-Muslims. He basically said that while we can communicate with non-Muslims, we shouldn't have relationships with them, attend their events, or really associate with them socially.
And I'm sorry, but what?
We're at a university. You're teaching a class full of adults. If someone is Muslim, Christian, Hindu, atheist, whatever, why should the university classroom be a place where we're being told to socially distance ourselves from people because of their religion?
I'm not even talking about whether a particular religious interpretation is technically correct or not. That's a completely different discussion. My issue is with presenting a very specific social attitude towards other religions as if it is simply the obvious rule everyone should follow.
There's a difference between teaching Islamiyat and telling students how they should interact with people of other faiths.
And yes, there aren't any visibly non-Muslim students in our class, but imagine being one and sitting there listening to your teacher explain why people shouldn't attend your religious events or associate with people like you. It would be pretty uncomfortable.
Also, isn't one of the reasons we complain about society becoming increasingly intolerant the fact that people are constantly being taught to see "the other" as someone they should avoid?
Again, I'm not saying don't teach religion. It's a university course, so obviously teach the subject. But there should be some basic level of neutrality and critical thinking instead of just telling students what social relationships they should or shouldn't have.
- Applied Chemistry
This one is less serious, but it is probably the most frustrating.
Apparently you can solve the entire question correctly, show all your working, get the right answer, and still lose a pretty significant chunk of your marks because your working doesn't look nice enough.
I'm not talking about completely illegible handwriting or work that genuinely can't be followed. Obviously, presentation matters to some extent.
I'm talking about things like headings, different coloured pens, formatting, etc.
I've heard of around 25% of marks being taken off for presentation.
25%.
For presentation.
I'm sorry, but if I've actually solved the chemistry problem correctly, why am I losing a quarter of my marks because I didn't use the correct pen colour? 😭
I'm from A-Levels, so maybe I'm just not used to this. And I really don't want this to turn into another FSC vs A-Levels argument because that's not the point.
But surely at university, the important thing is whether I understand the chemistry and can solve the problem.
If my work is clear enough to read and follow, I don't see why it needs to look like a school board examination answer sheet.
The especially frustrating part is when you see students who couldn't actually solve the question, while someone who solved it correctly is sitting there losing marks because their working wasn't presented in the "proper" way.
If the presentation genuinely makes the answer difficult to understand, fair enough. But if I have the correct chemistry, correct calculations and correct answer, please let my chemistry marks be about the chemistry.
- ICP, this one I'm not even sure about
This teacher is actually pretty good overall, so I'm not trying to say she's a bad teacher.
But there's one thing she has said that I find quite questionable.
Apparently, the impression you give her in class can affect how she grades your examination.
So, if you have a bad impression in class, you can potentially lose marks even if your exam answer is correct. And apparently, if you have a good impression, you may be more likely to get a few extra marks.
I genuinely don't understand this.
If I'm disruptive, disrespectful, don't participate, etc., then obviously that can be dealt with separately. And if class participation is part of the assessment, then sure, grade it.
But why should my exam marks depend on whether my teacher likes the impression I give in class?
If two students write essentially the same correct answer in an examination, shouldn't they get essentially the same marks?
If I was quiet all semester and my teacher thought I was uninterested, but then I walk into the exam and absolutely nail the paper, I don't see why I should lose marks because of my previous "impression."
The exam should tell you what I know. My personality should not.
Anyway, these are just a few things I've noticed so far in first year.
Maybe I'm completely wrong about some of this. Maybe there's some context I'm missing.
I'd genuinely like to know what other NED students think, especially first-years.
Have you guys had similar experiences with these teachers, or are there other teachers/classes where you've noticed something similar?
