Heart Palpitations

Remember the old days? You'd take a test and have to wait a week or two for your instructor to grade it and give it back. If you thought you did well, you anxiously waited for the proof that you knew your stuff. On the other hand, if you struggled, you hated waiting to find out just how bad you did.

Technology has made that wait a thing of the past, but it can cause some minor freak outs, like the one I had yesterday.

My motivation instructor gave the second of the three exams we'll have in his course. Fifty questions, and they're funny For instance: Princess Leia tells Chewbacca he doesn't have to clean the Millennium Falcon, a chore he detests, because he's been well behaved this week. What is this an example of? (Negative Reinforcement)

The first test, we didn't get the grades until the following Monday, so I didn't expect to see the grade before the weekend. However, at the end of the next class, I had a text message. Yes, I get text messages any time a grade gets posted to Blackboard. It saves me from signing often.

The message: Motivation Exam 2 Grade : 45.

WHAAAAAAAAT? I studied ten hours for that test, read all the chapters, and even made a comprehensive study guide to review. The heart started racing. Then I remembered that this instructor grades on a FIFTY point scale. That grade was really a 90.

It took a good fifteen minutes for my heart rate to return to normal.

Maybe getting those text messages isn't such a good idea...

Comments

Mike Golch said…
well it's better than getting an F.
JW said…
I felt the same way in spanish class when we got our first papers back as a trial test that didn't count. I saw 9/37 and my heart went into a tale spin. Then she said the lower your top number is the better it is. This means instead of grading it as 28/37 she flips it around. Must be a latin thing? I just know that I was downtrodden until I understood it. Same thing with the ++++ that she gives. Either +,++,+++,++++. I need to find out from a physcology perspective what this could say about her, lol.
John
Suzanne said…
Mike, AMEN to that! For a moment, I thought I HAD earned an F. :)

John, I was thrown off by that quiz as well. Hmm, interesting theory to investigate-you're going to do great in IS!

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