Little Things You Hate

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Arete

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seventyseven said:
i don't know how much of this is the econ lecturer trying to shift the blame to the students (kinda understandable when none of them care about the course) and how much of it is her being given a truly impossible and ridiculous task of designing an effective compulsary first year unit to cover fundamental microeconomics in one semester. i'm still trying to get my head around why many of them are compulsary units, seeing as the info taught in them is actually wrong and for students to get a real/proper understanding they'd need to take at least a linked level 200 course afterwards.

guess that's why a 50% mark is the cutoff point.
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I've been there and done this as a PhD student tutoring a first year, first semester stats course. They give these courses to senior academics because they are a nightmare to deal with. In my tute, I'd usually have to tell someone to get the fuck out and not come back, simply because they were acting like naughty school children. The course had a minimum 90% attendance rate or you failed, so at least half a dozen people got enforced fails because I threw them out for misbehaving.

I honestly did not care. You want to flick rubber bands at the girls in a tute? Get the fuck out. Your degree, your HECS fees, see you next year dickhead. On top of that, half the international students barely had primary school maths behind them and I wasn't actually able to fail any of them (if they scored inadequately I'd have to send them for additional english courses - which help with their maths skills immensely).

So I ended up, with absolutely no teaching qualifications having to teach basic maths to non english speakers and simultaneously deal with a bunch of misbehaving teenagers - I did a shit job of it and I'm sure most of the people in that tute thought I sucked and hated the subject.

The problem is manifold - but I think the root cause is 14 out of the last 15 budgets have seen a reduction in university funding relative to inflation. It leads to brain drain due to a lack of full time positions on offer (I'm moving to the states at the end of Sept myself), an increased reliance on full fee paying international and domestic students (who are often underequipped for courses, and academics are put under intense pressure not to fail them) so courses get shittier.
 
J@se

J@se

Breezeway Bandit
Fools who sit in the right lane doing 10-15Kph under the speed limit. If I had a rocket launcher you'd all be toast.
 
NCR600

NCR600

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Arete said:
I've been there and done this as a PhD student tutoring a first year, first semester stats course. They give these courses to senior academics because they are a nightmare to deal with. In my tute, I'd usually have to tell someone to get the fuck out and not come back, simply because they were acting like naughty school children. The course had a minimum 90% attendance rate or you failed, so at least half a dozen people got enforced fails because I threw them out for misbehaving.

I honestly did not care. You want to flick rubber bands at the girls in a tute? Get the fuck out. Your degree, your HECS fees, see you next year dickhead. On top of that, half the international students barely had primary school maths behind them and I wasn't actually able to fail any of them (if they scored inadequately I'd have to send them for additional english courses - which help with their maths skills immensely).

So I ended up, with absolutely no teaching qualifications having to teach basic maths to non english speakers and simultaneously deal with a bunch of misbehaving teenagers - I did a shit job of it and I'm sure most of the people in that tute thought I sucked and hated the subject.
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Herein lies one of the reasons why I dropped out of my Mech. Eng. degree. A bunch of naughty teenagers with no interest in, nor aptitude for engineering who (mistakenly) thought it was a way into a good career. I got sick of telling idiots to shut the fuck up during lectures, then helping the same idiots to set up experiments in physics pracs, and earning 'em how to solder in the UTS standard electrical engineering prac. I swear they thought I was some sort of tech assistant and not and old, beardy mature age student. Would they help me at any point? Would they fuck.

Arete said:
The problem is manifold - but I think the root cause is 14 out of the last 15 budgets have seen a reduction in university funding relative to inflation. It leads to brain drain due to a lack of full time positions on offer (I'm moving to the states at the end of Sept myself), an increased reliance on full fee paying international and domestic students (who are often underequipped for courses, and academics are put under intense pressure not to fail them) so courses get shittier.
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Please don't go. Australia needs lecturers prepared to send idiot teenagers out of lectures for playing computer games/being idiots/being smartarses etc. Might go someway to stopping the "Brain Drain".

Although it would probably balance out the number of US/Canadian academics & PHD students I've noticed/dated here in the last 10 years.
 
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Arete

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NCR600 said:
Please don't go. Australia needs lecturers prepared to send idiot teenagers out of lectures for playing computer games/being idiots/being smartarses etc. Might go someway to stopping the "Brain Drain".
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Still remember when a student got in my face when I kicked him out and told me I couldn't make him leave. I told him he was about to assault a university staff member and I'd love for that to happen and smiled. Must've had an effect as I never saw him again.

My fiance's also an academic. We had the option of working form short term contract to short term contract in different Australian capital cities, or relocating. She took a job at the University of Michigan in January (by the time I get over there in Oct it will have been 10 months. Wanker's cramp? yes sir!). Without counting my postdocs before they hatch, it's looking good for me to get a promising 3 year contract at the same school. So, both get full time jobs in the same place int he US or work 2-3 month contracts for chicken feed here.

Although it would probably balance out the number of US/Canadian academics & PHD students I've noticed/dated here in the last 10 years.
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You dog, you.
 
Tristan23

Tristan23

Farkin guerilla
Getting 45 seconds into a phone conversation with my girlfriend, who's currently in Peru and whom I haven't spoken to in almost a week, and having it cut out. And for some unknown, f*cked up reason our phones only work one way, meaning only she can call me, but now doesn't seem to be able to. God dammit.
 
scuba05

scuba05

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Having the last day at work before beign given the flick due to employer changing contractor.

This could be in the lil things you love thread, but it means a lack of funds for the beloved pastime of alcohol consumption and the purchasing of goodies for ones self.

Another bad bit is saying au revoir to people you have worked with for a while, even if only in a part time capacity is kinda sad.

Will help out with the fucck-off hard semester i have at uni this sem
 
S

seventyseven

percent of Australians blame the bike for their cr
Arete said:
I've been there and done this as a PhD student tutoring a first year, first semester stats course. They give these courses to senior academics because they are a nightmare to deal with. In my tute, I'd usually have to tell someone to get the fuck out and not come back, simply because they were acting like naughty school children. The course had a minimum 90% attendance rate or you failed, so at least half a dozen people got enforced fails because I threw them out for misbehaving.

I honestly did not care. You want to flick rubber bands at the girls in a tute? Get the fuck out. Your degree, your HECS fees, see you next year dickhead. On top of that, half the international students barely had primary school maths behind them and I wasn't actually able to fail any of them (if they scored inadequately I'd have to send them for additional english courses - which help with their maths skills immensely).

So I ended up, with absolutely no teaching qualifications having to teach basic maths to non english speakers and simultaneously deal with a bunch of misbehaving teenagers - I did a shit job of it and I'm sure most of the people in that tute thought I sucked and hated the subject.

The problem is manifold - but I think the root cause is 14 out of the last 15 budgets have seen a reduction in university funding relative to inflation. It leads to brain drain due to a lack of full time positions on offer (I'm moving to the states at the end of Sept myself), an increased reliance on full fee paying international and domestic students (who are often underequipped for courses, and academics are put under intense pressure not to fail them) so courses get shittier.
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kinda been my point. the current system/process/whatever you want to call it is totally f... broken. don't even get me started on international students. i know just how valuable they are as a source of revenue but.. argh.

Arete said:
Still remember when a student got in my face when I kicked him out and told me I couldn't make him leave. I told him he was about to assault a university staff member and I'd love for that to happen and smiled. Must've had an effect as I never saw him again.

My fiance's also an academic. We had the option of working form short term contract to short term contract in different Australian capital cities, or relocating. She took a job at the University of Michigan in January (by the time I get over there in Oct it will have been 10 months. Wanker's cramp? yes sir!). Without counting my postdocs before they hatch, it's looking good for me to get a promising 3 year contract at the same school. So, both get full time jobs in the same place int he US or work 2-3 month contracts for chicken feed here.
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perhaps not so oddly enough, i too am planning on moving (although not permanently).

mises university? yes please. already done online courses with them and couldn't actually be more impressed with the teaching. it's incredible. and i haven't even started postgrad work yet;)
 
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Regan of Gong

Regan of Gong

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More university gripes...

The reader for BCM200 isn't available as e-Readings! I'm perfectly capable of reading things off the computer screen, where I can still highlight and annotate, but instead you're making me shell out $28 for a carbon copy of things you could have EASILY put in the e-Readings. Screw you BCM200 and <unnamed subject co-ordinator>.
 
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pinkgoat

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Used car dealers. How some of them maintain a profitable business is beyond me.

2 separate cars:

No 1) Various issues and no log books - could not get a straight answer about anything from the dude.

No 2) Car listed at 11k, 1 month goes by, doesnt sell. Dropped to 10k (logical, huh?), another month, doesnt sell. So what does the guy do? RAISE the price to 10.5k.. haha!
 
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