How would you feel about this?

sorry haven't read all the replies

while I don't agree with posting of public score, i've dealt with being rated before, not such a big deal.

however


the best way to learn something is to teach it.
 
bunkie said:
This happened in class last night, it really annoyed me but I've since gotten over it and shrugged it off. However, it has now turned into a huge debate between some friends and family I have.

Our secondary instructor (yes the one I've asked about before)started writing names on the board and put above it that these 7 people or so had the highest grades in the class. Averaging 90 or above. Then she ranked each person, 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the class. After that she moved to another board and broke down those 7 people into 2 categories, first being who've scored over 90 on all their exams and the others who've scored at least over 80 on all their exams.
Then she launched into a lecture about how people need to study with those people on the board and the people on the board need to help the people who weren't on the board. And how even the people on the board were way behind compared to the scores of the last class that went through. It went on for about 20 minutes, after class was over about how we all in essence, suck at life.
I was on that board as #3. I felt extremely agitated that my grades/scoring was disclosed to the group. That's not really something I get into with my fellow students. The only girl that knows my grades is the one I study with, a friend of mine and #1 on that board. She was super unhappy about it as well. I'm over it by morning, but as I said, it's become a debate among some people I know. And now, since this morning while studying for my skills eval today, I've had several phone calls from people trying to schedule studying with me. I'm barely finding the time to study for myself.

So, how would you feel about this? Do you feel it was inappropriate? Or an effective tool?
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It is a blatant violation of privacy. I'm sure as today is Sunday there is a policy against this non-sense. Promoting group study is one thing but this woman crossed the line. Be nice one time and explain to the instructor this wasn't okay. After that....well, follow policy. Too bad you couldn't post her personal information on the board. <_<
 
I personally never had a problem with my grades being posted. Good or bad.

I felt the embarrasment of having a bad grade posted was motivation to work harder and do better so we wouldn't have that problem again. If I had a good grade posted, to me it gave the bad grade students a list of who to seek help from if that was their perogative. If they sought help and I didn't want to help them, I simply said no.

However she can't force you to tutor and help other students, that's bad.
 
Sasha said:
I personally never had a problem with my grades being posted. Good or bad.

I felt the embarrasment of having a bad grade posted was motivation to work harder and do better so we wouldn't have that problem again. If I had a good grade posted, to me it gave the bad grade students a list of who to seek help from if that was their perogative. If they sought help and I didn't want to help them, I simply said no.

However she can't force you to tutor and help other students, that's bad.
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While it may be okay in the opinion of some, under the law, it is a violation. Prospective employers would then have the right to see (and ask) all of an applicants grades which leads to asking about attendance, study habits and so on. There is a host of problems with publishing the personal information of another person. I can imagine private institutions make up their own rules however, they tend to stop the minute they get their first suit over it.

It is acceptable to turn over grades for example: when a signed agreement has been made between employee and employer. The employer has a stake in a students progress in this case therefore, may initiate the right to know how well or how poor a student is doing in class. I have to have a written permission signed before I can share any student information with even councilors or tutors. No way am I going to violate another student by publishing his/her grades and identity for all the world to see.
 
I'm aware it can be a privacy violation, I was responding to the OP's question of 'how would you feel about this?' personally, that's how I felt when grades were posted during my class.
 
have a chat with the director or the main hotch of the school if it bothers ya that much
 
We never had our grades posted in emt-b class. Even if we had it would not have botherd me, I was close to the top but not the top, I had no problem helping out other students, unless the students did not really care and there were a few of those. I think it is a good feeling to help people out who may need a little extra push. as long as they put forth their effort.
 
csly27 said:
I think it is a good feeling to help people out who may need a little extra push. as long as they put forth their effort.
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In my EMT-B class there were about 5 of us all from the same fire department taking the class. We all had our own strengths and weaknesses and we learned to use those: I was the only one that did not have kids, so they helped me with how to deal with kids. In general I was not very good with the practical skills, but they helped me so much that I became one of the best in the class with my skills. I helped them in turn with the written aspect of the class as I was the strongest academically (aka the biggest nerd).
 
RuralEMT said:
In my EMT-B class there were about 5 of us all from the same fire department taking the class. We all had our own strengths and weaknesses and we learned to use those: I was the only one that did not have kids, so they helped me with how to deal with kids. In general I was not very good with the practical skills, but they helped me so much that I became one of the best in the class with my skills. I helped them in turn with the written aspect of the class as I was the strongest academically (aka the biggest nerd).
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See that is what I am talking about, being able to help out others, everyone benefited from helping each other without just handing out the answers. there quite a few in my class who just did not want to do the work. we started out with about 40 students by the time we were done we were down to about 15 and only 4 or 5 of us actually passed the final and only 2 of us passed the NR. I would help as much as I could but you cant help people who cant help them selfs
 
Let it go! Your post states that you didn't think it was a big deal until the rumor mill started telling you it was. Having strong personal boundaries is a life skill. If you are being 'bothered' by others asking you to help them when you don't have time, its because you are either helping them as is convenient to them, at the cost of your own study time, or you are refusing to help and feeling guilty over it.

Someone else posted that the best way to learn is to teach. They are correct, sharing the information with others allows you to look at the subject from varying perspectives, increasing your understanding. Studying with someone is great, as long as you aren't trying to meet their expectation that you are going to cram info into their brains without them making an investment into the process.

Take a deep breath. Relax! Your main goal in class is to learn the subject. But, learning to work as a team and cooperate with team members of varying levels of skill and dedication is part of the gig. Help as long as it doesn't cost you more than you are willing to pay. Be able to say no without being a snot about it. Refuse to feel guilty over putting yourself first. And lastly, congratulate yourself on doing well in your class. A little personal pride is a good thing.
 
In keeping with the original question...

I feel that you've got an idiot for an instructor who should be sanctioned for his/her lack of professional behaviour.

If you are really asking what you should do about it, keep your head down, pass the class and get as far away from the idiot teaching the class as you can. After you graduate, file a WRITTEN complaint with the lead instructor as well as the administration of the school and cite the various things that you've written about here and in other threads so that the school can take action against the instructor, hopefully before he/she does something even more stupid. Sometimes administrators don't know that they've hired idiots until someone else, ie, a student, tells them so.

I'm reminded of an instructor I know of who once stated that she as a matter of course wouldn't hire anyone who graduated from a particular EMT program because she didn't like the attitudes of some graduates she'd encountered...Luckily she wasn't in a position to ever hire anyone. It takes a special kind of stupidity for someone in an alleged position of responsibility to make those kind of idiotic comments.
 
I don't know what kind of program you go to, but if it receives any kind of support from the Dept. of Education then what your teacher did was a violation of FERPA and is illegal. I'm pretty sure to be an accredited paramedic program there has to be some affiliation with the Dept. of Education.
 
atkinsje said:
I don't know what kind of program you go to, but if it receives any kind of support from the Dept. of Education then what your teacher did was a violation of FERPA and is illegal. I'm pretty sure to be an accredited paramedic program there has to be some affiliation with the Dept. of Education.
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That's a good point. Hadn't thought about the legal aspect, but that's true. And it's federal, so no state-by-state excuses.
 
My Instructor never posted anyone's grades. When she handed out the printouts with our grades on them they were folded. At the end of the course she had them in envelopes with our certificates - everyone got an envelope whether they passed or not. She did acknowledge the top 3 people in class - not with telling their grade but with a small (field guide) gift (I was #2).

She did ask a few of us to help a student. We agreed. We arranged to meet him 30-45 minutes prior to the start of class. He didn't show and we didn't offer again. I worked a 40 hr week, have a husband and 2 small kids at home, and was attending class 2 x a week for 4 hours at night....I didn't have time to waste on anyone who wasn't going to make an effort.

I don't agree with posting anyone's grades associated with their names w/o permission. If she wanted to just post the grades so everyone could see the range that is one thing - but with the names and then telling the top people they "need" to study with the lower grade people is not acceptable.
 
Archymomma said:
My Instructor never posted anyone's grades. When she handed out the printouts with our grades on them they were folded. At the end of the course she had them in envelopes with our certificates - everyone got an envelope whether they passed or not. She did acknowledge the top 3 people in class - not with telling their grade but with a small (field guide) gift (I was #2).

She did ask a few of us to help a student. We agreed. We arranged to meet him 30-45 minutes prior to the start of class. He didn't show and we didn't offer again. I worked a 40 hr week, have a husband and 2 small kids at home, and was attending class 2 x a week for 4 hours at night....I didn't have time to waste on anyone who wasn't going to make an effort.

I don't agree with posting anyone's grades associated with their names w/o permission. If she wanted to just post the grades so everyone could see the range that is one thing - but with the names and then telling the top people they "need" to study with the lower grade people is not acceptable.
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Even giving out info about class rank is a violation of FERPA. Without consent instructors/professors/teachers cannot divulge any academic info about their students. They can tell you YOUR rank in the class, but they can't tell you where anyone else stands unless those people have given permission.
 
Point of View

I believe this is a point of view issue. We're reading one side of the story. Some are ok with it and some are not. Some believe there is a violation, some may not. While some students may be inspired by their classmates' achievements, others will resent them. Some will be proud yet humble about their own efforts, others will have inflated egos. I say, continue the good work, in the end it's the streets that will make you or break you, regardless of what grades you had in school.
 
SEBeast said:
I believe this is a point of view issue. We're reading one side of the story. Some are ok with it and some are not. Some believe there is a violation, some may not.
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Actually, it's a violation of federal law... which doesn't tend to leave much room for viewpoints. This is the kind of thing which accreditation committees take very, very seriously.

FERPA said:
Examples of situations affected by FERPA include school employees divulging information to anyone other than the student about the student's grades or behavior, and school work posted on a bulletin board with a grade.
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Ferpa

I understand your comment about a violation of federal law. I'm not disputing that. All I'm saying is that when we tell a personal story, we tell in way to to make others see it our way. It's always best to hear both sides of a story before we take sides.
 
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