huh… I find all of this VERY concerning. My degree was in Electrical Engineering. My peers are the people building our bridges, making sure we don't have electrical fires, ensuring safety, etc.
The biggest challenge of our core calculus courses was taking the tests and quizzes. The theory of our professors was that we needed to know the material well enough that we didn't have to stop and think. The tests were specifically designed to be hard to finish on time. If you truly understood how to solve a quadratic equation or how to apply L’Hopital’s rule, you shouldn't have to stop and think about it. True understanding was demonstrated in this way. That's how they knew that the material was internalized and grokked.
I think the Engineering students-at least in some schools- are still being challenged in exactly the way you are talking about. My daughter has talked about those exams that are super difficult to finish in the allotted time. I think a lot depends on the University and the major.
Well, I hope so. I have compassion for people with disabilities, but I also don't want bridges to collapse. Hopefully the focus is on helping people with learning disabilities find the things that they can do effectively, or it they can keep up and learn the material, then great.
Absolutely loved this conversation. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 40. Back in school, I was just considered “gifted.” Today, that may be considered a disability to get myself at least a 504 plan. There is no part of me that sees it as anything of the sort. On the other hand, my son has a genetic mutation that causes autism, dysarthria, dysgraphia, sensory processing, as well as ADHD and a whole host of other things. I’m extremely grateful for all of the supports he has gotten in public school via our school’s stellar special education personnel. Also, as a parent, and business owner, I’m woefully aware of how little the real world cares about accommodations for things, and my hope is to teach him to not need his special supports any longer, so he can thrive. My wife has been a paraprofessional in K-5 for 10 years; her biggest successes have been watching her IEP kids grow to not need her anymore.
This one is screaming out for a Heaton LSD-inspired, AI-assisted drama production, involving you, Wallace on a plane as an “emotional support dog” who accidentally ingests Biscoff cookies and has a bad trip, eating the flight attendants and the pilots and the plane going down, a junior United Airlines pilot deadheading to OKC who was given extra time to be able to pass flight school and needs extra time to study the flight manual, and Snuffy’s 2nd cousin who was such an Ace at the Des Moines Cropduster Flight School that he was given half the time for tests as the other students and was such a prodigy that he did his cropdusting upside down, who takes over, lands the plane and saves the day.
And you miss all the drama, having gone to the bathroom when Wallace ate the Biscoff cookies and lost his sh#t and become locked in when, hearing the ruckus and fearing something bad had occurred with Wallace, you attempted to hurry out of the bathroom, yanked the dead bolt and jammed the assembly because some guy in the factory who was given extra time to complete his tests at Amherst left a bolt out of it at the factory.
My daughter was a high school valedictorian, and is now an engineering student in college. I don’t think everyone is getting a 4.0 gpa now. I think some of it depends on the school and major.
Perhaps some courses should graded based on Competent vs Not Yet Competent. Not all courses is this appropriate. But when there are courses which grade on a massive curve or skills based courses. Using clear grading checklists also help understanding the standards.
I started having seizures during my sophomore year and I was offered the opportunity to extend my test durations. Mostly because the medication made it impossible for me to recall information.
I didn’t want accommodations. I had too much pride! I ended up going non compliant on the meds and pretending I didn’t have a problem. That worked pretty well in my case, but it probably could’ve backfired.
I had to laugh at Heaton's description of how it felt to be an Honors student. I remember my first semester in engineering school, I overheard a girl I knew from highschool arguing with the professor over her grade. She said, “You don't understand: I DON'T get B’s”. As it turns out she was correct. She avoided getting a B by switching majors.
huh… I find all of this VERY concerning. My degree was in Electrical Engineering. My peers are the people building our bridges, making sure we don't have electrical fires, ensuring safety, etc.
The biggest challenge of our core calculus courses was taking the tests and quizzes. The theory of our professors was that we needed to know the material well enough that we didn't have to stop and think. The tests were specifically designed to be hard to finish on time. If you truly understood how to solve a quadratic equation or how to apply L’Hopital’s rule, you shouldn't have to stop and think about it. True understanding was demonstrated in this way. That's how they knew that the material was internalized and grokked.
I think the Engineering students-at least in some schools- are still being challenged in exactly the way you are talking about. My daughter has talked about those exams that are super difficult to finish in the allotted time. I think a lot depends on the University and the major.
Well, I hope so. I have compassion for people with disabilities, but I also don't want bridges to collapse. Hopefully the focus is on helping people with learning disabilities find the things that they can do effectively, or it they can keep up and learn the material, then great.
Absolutely loved this conversation. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 40. Back in school, I was just considered “gifted.” Today, that may be considered a disability to get myself at least a 504 plan. There is no part of me that sees it as anything of the sort. On the other hand, my son has a genetic mutation that causes autism, dysarthria, dysgraphia, sensory processing, as well as ADHD and a whole host of other things. I’m extremely grateful for all of the supports he has gotten in public school via our school’s stellar special education personnel. Also, as a parent, and business owner, I’m woefully aware of how little the real world cares about accommodations for things, and my hope is to teach him to not need his special supports any longer, so he can thrive. My wife has been a paraprofessional in K-5 for 10 years; her biggest successes have been watching her IEP kids grow to not need her anymore.
This one is screaming out for a Heaton LSD-inspired, AI-assisted drama production, involving you, Wallace on a plane as an “emotional support dog” who accidentally ingests Biscoff cookies and has a bad trip, eating the flight attendants and the pilots and the plane going down, a junior United Airlines pilot deadheading to OKC who was given extra time to be able to pass flight school and needs extra time to study the flight manual, and Snuffy’s 2nd cousin who was such an Ace at the Des Moines Cropduster Flight School that he was given half the time for tests as the other students and was such a prodigy that he did his cropdusting upside down, who takes over, lands the plane and saves the day.
And you miss all the drama, having gone to the bathroom when Wallace ate the Biscoff cookies and lost his sh#t and become locked in when, hearing the ruckus and fearing something bad had occurred with Wallace, you attempted to hurry out of the bathroom, yanked the dead bolt and jammed the assembly because some guy in the factory who was given extra time to complete his tests at Amherst left a bolt out of it at the factory.
😉
My daughter was a high school valedictorian, and is now an engineering student in college. I don’t think everyone is getting a 4.0 gpa now. I think some of it depends on the school and major.
Perhaps some courses should graded based on Competent vs Not Yet Competent. Not all courses is this appropriate. But when there are courses which grade on a massive curve or skills based courses. Using clear grading checklists also help understanding the standards.
I started having seizures during my sophomore year and I was offered the opportunity to extend my test durations. Mostly because the medication made it impossible for me to recall information.
I didn’t want accommodations. I had too much pride! I ended up going non compliant on the meds and pretending I didn’t have a problem. That worked pretty well in my case, but it probably could’ve backfired.
I had to laugh at Heaton's description of how it felt to be an Honors student. I remember my first semester in engineering school, I overheard a girl I knew from highschool arguing with the professor over her grade. She said, “You don't understand: I DON'T get B’s”. As it turns out she was correct. She avoided getting a B by switching majors.