A&P II, Interrupted

[snidegrrl]

We still don't have a permanent professor. It's been 3 class sessions with either no teacher or a sub, and 3 class sessions with no lecture to speak of; maybe I'd call it 4 since one of the subs was a little lost. This is pretty tough for me, feeling a little rudderless in a difficult class, but for people who were just trying not to fail it's

Comments

[dmyacct]

When I took A&P II my professor got really really ill. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at the end of the semester. He was gone a bit, but he really tried to stick through it for the students. He was amazing!

A&P is hard, though. Why don't you have a professor? Has the school said anything about when you will have a consistent class? Don't they owe it to the students to provide a steady professor? :/

[snidegrrl]

Our professor either was fired or quit; at the last class he gave (at which I was not present, so this was hearsay) he said that there had been complaints about his teaching so he was asked to leave. The school said they didn't know he was leaving and then said that he had a family emergency. Since then we have had one missed class and two different substitutes who both said they cannot take on the class for the remaining 6 weeks. It's a pickle! Supposedly we will get a professor tomorrow, fingers crossed.

What a sad story about your professor. But kudos to him for teaching you all through that!

[esperanzazine]

Re: test anxiety-- I taught SAT classes for awhile, and test anxiety is a big piece of many kids' difficulties with the test. The only thing that ever worked for them was 1. learning as many memory tricks and strategies as possible 2. taking the test over and over until it was completely demystified.

I have no idea how that advice might be relevant, but there it is :).

[snidegrrl]

We've been working on memory tricks, not that I know all that many explicitly, but I do think we should do some practice tests! Thanks!

[tzel]

Isn't forensic nursing also about examining living rape victims and stuff?

[snidegrrl]

Yeah, it is big on the sex crime handling business as well.

[paleotheist]

You might consider checking if the school (is it PG Community College?) has any sort of center or department that specifically deals with learning disabled students - usually test anxiety counts as a learning disability. Most schools these days have such a place where there are counselors to help diagnose such issues and, more importantly, to accommodate students with disabilities. I had at least a couple students every semester that would go to the UMD center and take their tests there in either a private space, or with extra time, or whatever their disability required. Usually the counselors will also help them overcome their disability if that is possible.

It sounds like your friend is currently undiagnosed. I've noticed that students with anxiety typically respond well to verbal questions in smaller groups, but have problems with written questions in larger group settings. I'm no expert, but it sounds similar to your friend's pattern. You should definitely find out if the school has any sort of program that can help.

[snidegrrl]

You make an excellent point. I will point that out to her. She is not the type who would be offended by me mentioning the words learning disability, I think.

[paleotheist]

Ug. I'm so bored today. And none of the books I requested from the library are in yet! A quick search of PGCC website came up with this:

http://www.pgcc.edu/current/academicResources/studentDevelopmentServices/disabilitySupportServices.aspx

It sounds like there are people your friend can talk to if she wants to pursue professional help.

[examorata]

So, how long can this bit of absurdity go on before PGCC really steps up and does something for the class? If you do not have a qualified professor for much longer, they ought to nullify the class and apply your fees towards a complete class taught another semester, or something. Not that anyone wants to start over, but A&P is a really important class and it will benefit no one to have it half-assed like that!

I'm not sure what to say about your friend and test anxiety. paleotheist makes a very good point, I did have a friend in college who had an anxiety disorder and she got to take class tests in the student learning center in private, without a time-limit, I think.

Oh, I almost forgot. I think forensic nursing sounds awesome!

[snidegrrl]

The thing is, I really cannot take this class another time. I have this schedule that gets my pre-reqs done so I can apply to a program at a certain time and if I miss this semester it throws that all off! So the last thing I want is for them to refund my money, although in theory, you are correct, we are getting a bum deal on the actual learning and teaching portion of the program.

Which is why next semester, I'm taking Micro at HCC.