{"id":26155,"date":"2024-11-27T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T17:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=26155"},"modified":"2024-11-21T12:17:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T20:17:39","slug":"open-space-dont-settle-for-grade-mediocrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2024\/11\/27\/open-space-dont-settle-for-grade-mediocrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Don\u2019t settle for grade mediocrity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Has settling for grade mediocrity become the status quo? Maybe I\u2019m just old, but the old adage of \u201cCs and Ds get degrees\u201d seems to be thrown around a lot more these days, and it irritates me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard it from both students and faculty. What was once said to a student who was putting in their best effort yet still struggling to pass a course is now like the mantra for getting schoolwork done.<\/p>\n

I understand that life is difficult, and we\u2019re pulled in many directions. We have lives outside of school. Unexpected situations come up such as illness or emergencies, which interfere with classes and getting assignments done on time. However, most instructors are approachable and understanding during challenging times and willing to work with students on deadlines. Are people talking to instructors or just skipping assignments?<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our November 27, 2024 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My gripe doesn\u2019t apply to everyone, of course; there are many students that bust their ass getting to class, doing their work and getting the most out of their education. They also seem to be the ones that carry the weight of others when doing group work. Why should students who don\u2019t care about their education benefit from those that do care?<\/p>\n

For the past three semesters I\u2019ve sat in classes where instructors have mentioned they were concerned over the number of students who were going to fail the course. A few instructors mentioned that students weren\u2019t handing in assignments. It truly baffles me that students would skip assignments in college. We\u2019re literally paying instructors to give us those assignments.<\/p>\n

However, I do fully understand not wanting to do them. When it gets down to the final weeks, I\u2019ll calculate my grade to see what my final grade would be if I skipped the final assignments\u2014but I don\u2019t skip them. It\u2019s just a fantasy of a burnt-out student who hates term papers. I work hard all semester long to get high grades; I wouldn\u2019t throw that away to avoid writing a paper.<\/p>\n

Talkers frustrate me as well. There have been a few courses where students were talking so loudly that it made it difficult to hear the instructor even though I was sitting in the front row. Despite the instructor asking students to stop talking, they continued. It\u2019s incredibly disrespectful to instructors and students to talk during lectures. If you don\u2019t want to learn, that\u2019s your choice, but go somewhere else to talk.<\/p>\n

Students aren\u2019t the only ones settling for mediocrity. I\u2019ve had faculty tell me the \u201cCs and Ds get degrees\u201d slogan when I\u2019ve been dissatisfied with how I did on an assignment. While potential employers won\u2019t check my grades, UVic will when I transfer. Although a C might be good enough to transfer into general studies, some faculties require more than a C. Other universities may be more competitive, and a C may not guarantee a seat. Instructors should be encouraging students to strive for their best rather than demonstrating an attitude of complacency.<\/p>\n

Education is an investment into ourselves. We have the option to either accept a low return on our investment by doing the bare minimum to pass our courses, or we can participate in class, do our best on every assignment, and get the most out of our time at Camosun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Has settling for grade mediocrity become the status quo? Maybe I\u2019m just old, but the old adage of \u201cCs and Ds get degrees\u201d seems to be thrown around a lot more these days, and it irritates me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard it from both students and faculty. What was once said to a student who was putting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,323],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-november-27-2024"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26156,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26155\/revisions\/26156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}