any history majors taken this know how to get a good grade in the class?
one of the worst teachers I have incountered, talks too fast so you can't take notes and pay attention at the same time, most of what is talked about is not on the test, gave out 7 chapters of the book to read for first test but doesn't even mention half of them in class, and he tests on all chapters and expects you to remember it, a week before the test talked about things unrelated to test like anthropopolgy to piss people off, no study guides telling you what to study and its an intro course. i thought this was supposed to be easy looking at the grade distribution then I saw the first test and OMG, pretty sure I failed and got below a 50 percent and its worth 20 percent of grade, so any help would be appreciated

10/2/2010 1:07:05 AM

college

10/2/2010 2:00:23 PM

10/2/2010 2:11:28 PM

history of south and east africa? ... with ken vickery?... and you're having problems? wow.

10/2/2010 11:06:24 PM

yeah thats it, so can you help?
it seems like he has gotten hard since you took it
just never had a teacher like this one & history is got to be my weakest subject

10/3/2010 12:25:52 AM

I took 475 and his 476 classes last spring and fall. he is easily one of the easiest graders i've ever had.

10/3/2010 1:22:05 AM

<$50 to solve everything except your effort level.

10/3/2010 2:15:36 AM

You must be dumber than a box o' rocks if you're having trouble a 200-level class with Vickery.

10/3/2010 5:07:28 PM

with all the grammar mistakes in the OP and other post I would say that you aren't the best writer either...

10/3/2010 6:30:53 PM

Go to the professors office hours. If this professor has been teaching like this for a while, surely you aren't the first person that this style doesn't click with, so they've probably dealt w/ this before. Explain your troubles (more in a "this is a weak subject for me/I'm not used to this format" kind of way rather than anything that might come off as "you're a bad teacher"). And see if the prof can help you, give tips, tell you what areas to most focus on.

They're paid to help you. Make use of that.

Also, change your study habits somehow. Maybe type up your notes each day after class. Or have a friend quiz you on material from your notes at the end of each week or two. Just do something different. Sometimes a new study routine can make all the difference, and help you click with the material. Just don't keep doing things the exact same way, but harder. If it didn't work before, it wont work again. Its like jogging to a destination, if you are going to the wrong destination then working hard to get there faster will still be the wrong destination. (this is just speaking from my own experience, & this is how I handle it when I bomb a test early on).

1) Talk to prof office in office hours to get some advice 2) Change your study habits somehow, even if it doesn't seem like it'll make much of a difference

10/3/2010 6:52:47 PM

^ good advice

but really Vickery is a simple guy. He will emphasize what he's going to put on the exam or what he expects you to write about. He's a super nice guy and is more than willing to help clarify any questions you have. Dates/facts aren't a big thing for him so study methods aren't really as useful. Just read what he assigns and even if you don't read every page, you should be fine. It's more about concepts and overall themes which he discusses pretty heavily, at least in his 400s.

10/3/2010 8:48:36 PM

he doesn't seem that nice, ignorant actually, just not a good teacher
I asked him before the test if this class is history of south and east africa why the hell do you assign reading chapters in the book on Egypt, west africa, etc. and expect people to read it? and he said thats important you need to know it, even though he admits he is not qualified to teach it but still has it for reading? and he says "there are gonna be things on the test you have never seen or heard in class" WTF
I do type my notes for some classes to study and it works well but he does not speak in a way that you can write down notes nor does he give study guides, and the book has no bold words, so you don't know what is important, he is obviously not helpful in class so why office hours?
I only have 2 B+'s in my whole career at NCSU, rest are A's including english 101 so obviously the problem is the teacher, you have no idea what to expect on the test

[Edited on October 3, 2010 at 9:25 PM. Reason : ]

10/3/2010 9:11:32 PM

I don't understand why you think underlining some things in your post will make your points more valid... Sounds like you just whine too much and don't want to accept the fact that the problem is YOU, not the teacher.

10/3/2010 9:48:08 PM

Quote :

"I only have 2 B+'s in my whole career at NCSU, rest are A's including english 101 so obviously the problem is the teacher, you have no idea what to expect on the test"

well just looking at your previous topics/posts, your curriculum seems to be made up of the easiest courses possible. there's a reason his sections fill up faster than everything else. why did you take HI 275? I bet it was because you looked at previous grade distributions and saw the high percentage of A's and thought it was a good choice. and it is, but apparently you're too much of a lazy ass who won't put any effort into a class simply because it's not your strongest subject. the only people that vickery was ever an asshole to were the ones who did the sudoku in the paper right in front of him or never came to class.



also, lol @ this. NO BOLD WORDS. HOW WILL I EVER UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM READING.

Quote :

"and the book has no bold words, so you don't know what is important"

edit: just reread the OP. LOL @ getting below a 50 on one of his tests.

[Edited on October 3, 2010 at 9:52 PM. Reason : .]

10/3/2010 9:50:46 PM

Quote :

"problem is the teacher"

I certainly understand the frustration there.

One thing you need to keep in mind though is where the potential solutions are. And if you've already explained your concerns to the professor & he's not changing, then you have to think of ways you can change to cope with the situation.

Is dropping the course still viable? (I have no idea when cut off dates are, or how many hours you're taking/if that would be a viable option).

You mentioned his lecturing style isn't conducive to note taking. Maybe buy a digital recorder to listen to/write up afterwords? Can you type faster than you can write? Maybe bring a lap top to class. You can make a list of all your main problems with the course, then try to come up with possible solutions like that, where you make changes to your behaviors to cope with his teaching style, and then just try them one by one until you find something that hopefully works.

10/3/2010 10:36:37 PM

response to ^^
you are right the fact my curriculum is naturally easy since it is bachelor of arts allowing for more electives but i go to his class everyday and have an A on the first paper so obviously i do work in the class but he is not a good lecturer. he does not speak slow or concise enough for you to copy notes down word for word like a good professor does. nor does he use powerpoint technology. the tests are all really what i am worried about (55 percent of grade)
^
i can't drop since it is one of the Gen ed requirements and i need the 3 hours to get senior status early . worst case senario i will get a C but change it to credit only to fill an elective and take history of west africa next semester, which i heard has no tests. the voice recorder is a good idea though i may have to resort to that
what is most rediculous however was he lectured about stuff completely not on the test for the entire 3 classes before it

10/4/2010 12:26:40 AM

Vickery is the man. Stop being a pussy and go talk to him about your problems. When I was in school, he was one of the director of undergraduate advising or something so he's very approachable out of class. He's also been teaching for like 30 years, I'm sure he's had one or two jerk that was completely lost in his class - tell him your problems and I'm sure he'll have some advice.

Quote :

"he does not speak slow or concise enough for you to copy notes down word for word like a good professor does"

You've seriously never experienced a professor that teaches like this?

Quote :

"and he says "there are gonna be things on the test you have never seen or heard in class""

Or this?


Read through the chapters and underline the stuff that you think should probably be bolded. That's a good strategy. Maybe a highlighter too?

10/4/2010 7:48:56 AM

i go to class each day, sit in the front, pay attention, try to take notes but it is impossible, even he admits he rambles too much, just because one is a good advising does not mean he can teach well, also he talks about himself too much rather than history, people change so maybe he is not as good at teaching as he used to be?
i've may had a few professors like like him, however,at least they had study guides, notes handouts, or powerpoint lectures to substitute for their poor teaching and tell you what you need to concentrate on studying
and i've never had a professor before who puts at least HALF the questions on the test related to subjects that were not mentioned about in class at all maybe 5 to 10 percent but not 50 percent of questions. I can understand maybe doing that for a 400-level class but not for a survey introductory course where you have no prior knowledge
so now we can agree the instructor is the problem

[Edited on October 4, 2010 at 12:38 PM. Reason : ]

10/4/2010 12:30:51 PM

No, we cannot agree thatthe teacher is the problem. Because you're talking to a couple of people who have actually taken his classes (well at least I have I'm not sure about everybody else)

I think he was an awesome teacher and I wish I would have had the opportunity to take some of the other classes he teaches. I never took any notes or studied for any of the finals - I just paid attention during lectures and briefly read over the chapters every now and then, and I got an A.

I've had experience talking with him outside of class on a number of occasions. He's very easy going and I'm sure he'll give you some advice if you just go talk to him.

10/4/2010 12:37:35 PM

it's still hard for me to believe that vickery, a winner of numerous teaching awards, is giving someone who has only made two B+'s such a hard time. I'd have a 4.0 if I had him for every course.

10/4/2010 3:44:34 PM

Critical thinking

10/4/2010 4:27:00 PM

^^Look at his posts, he wants to take a history class with no tests and complains about a normal textbook with no shit like this.

10/4/2010 9:41:17 PM

As resident overlord of the study hall, I declare that the study hall is a perfectly legitimate place to vent about classes.

10/5/2010 12:13:25 AM

since when was it normal for a textbook to have no bold words, I think this is the first time.
i mean that is just adding insult to injury the teacher is already completely useless and the book he assigns is horrid too because it has know bold words (no wonder it was cheap) either way you're screwed, some people learn better from lecture but obviously he is unable to do that in an competant manner, then some people like learning by reading the book on their own, but they have no idea what are the key concepts to look for in the reading so they don't get anything out of it, its a lose lose situacion.

10/5/2010 12:15:48 AM

At first i was like this




and then i was like this

10/5/2010 1:30:19 AM

Quote :

"KNOW BOLD WORDS"

10/5/2010 7:49:24 AM

books are cheaper if they don't have bold or underlined words.

10/5/2010 11:20:05 AM

it's all that extra ink

10/5/2010 12:28:50 PM

Quote :

"since when was it normal for a textbook to have no bold words, I think this is the first time."

Oh, I don't know, maybe when you're finished with middle school. Do you know how to read analytically?

Quote :

"but obviously he is unable to do that in an competant manner"

Stop digging, dude. You're not going to get any sympathy for bad-mouthing a very good professor who is not adequately (to your mind) holding your hand through the class.

10/5/2010 6:05:40 PM

Quote :

"since when was it normal for a textbook to have no bold words, I think this is the first time."

Most of my textbooks for grad school do not have bolded words. Like I said... college

Get a straw and suck it up

10/5/2010 8:08:24 PM

no. why the hell would I need to read analytically, or critical thinking? he tests mainly on identifications (IDs) and fill in the blanks and 1 question on explaining-- so how well you memorize terms and definitions, but obviously that makes it impossilbe to do well because of the lack of bolded words--there are tons of words that could be important, so obviously reading and highligthing is not going to work. if you miss one little word that shows up you get the whole question wrong.
that brings up another point: his tests are horrible format, why the hell would you have stupid fill in the blanks and IDs if there are no freaking bold words man?
whatever: i am sure the next 2 tests will be better since I know the format now, i am still going to put in a very negative class evaluation at the end of the semester and sure others will

i am going to move on now, no point in dwelling on it, the conclusion is HI 275: incompetent lecturer, horrible book that does not correspond to lecture, and poor choice of test format. I won't be visiting this topic and reading the messages anymore. @ employee, feel free to lock it

[Edited on October 5, 2010 at 9:27 PM. Reason : ]

10/5/2010 9:11:41 PM

Maybe if you actually knew how to read, you could find the important words yourself.

Why don't you actually fucking talk to the professor? I bet you'd get better feedback there instead of bitching here where everyone knows that you're a moron.

10/5/2010 9:34:00 PM

Quote :

"@ employee, feel free to lock it"

LOCK IT UP EMPLOYEE


btw, I wasn't aware anybody used underline on tww until this thread. It does make understanding of people's posts a bit easier except I wish people would use more bold words

10/6/2010 7:54:59 AM

The double underlined and bold words make it perfect though. I could skip over the entire thread except for those words and be able to understand how much of a fuckface gz390 is.

10/6/2010 10:06:12 AM

In conclusion, you're the problem. I loved the class and thought Vickery was a great teacher, the class does make you think concepts and not just vocab words and dates. The tests were easy and I'm sure the rest of the class feels the same way and is enjoying the class. Have fun being the outlier.

10/6/2010 10:09:13 AM

@ flying piece of shit i already spoke with the professor on several occasions after class and if you read my previous posts you would know, he is not helpful because he just said read all the chapters I assigned and anything could be on the test, that is the most unhelpful thing you can say. if you're tired of me complaining why the hell reading my threads and posts? it looks like you have nothing better to do, you don't have to read my topic, so stop posting in it. just ignore it... you are obviously not helpful by telling me to ask the teacher for help, so go away i am better than you
@ aaronian. no you are the fuckface you haven't even taken this course HI 275, so I don't know why are you even here.
@ rtc. no you are the problem and the outlier actually I don't even think you've taken the class you are just saying that

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 12:57 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 12:39:24 PM

I took the class and I had no problem making an A and nobody around me or that I talked to outside of class had many problems with it either. Hell, Harrison Beck was in my class and even he seemed to be handling it pretty well

Quote :

"I asked him before the test if this class is history of south and east africa why the hell do you assign reading chapters in the book on Egypt, west africa, etc. and expect people to read it?"

that was how you "talked to him" about your problem?

10/6/2010 1:00:49 PM

@amorris. i already told you he may have made his class more difficult since you took it because of the fact that people seem to be getting A's easily, according to the grade distribution
he makes the class harder by taking about random things in class that do not correspond to the book or test, and this confuses people and makes them study things irrevalent to the test
in addition, HI 275 possibly has many History majors or African studies majors and they act like as if history was the only class they are taking and are already knowledgeable about the subject matter, but that is not the average student who is just taking the class for a requirement, which re the ones who are going to have difficulty making the A.
he regularly uses profanity like that in front of the class so why can't i?

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:09 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 1:08:11 PM

Quote :

"I declare that the study hall is a perfectly legitimate place to vent about classes."

@gz390 we generally don't lock threads around here. feel free to continue to vent. feel free to either consider or ignore what other people say too. it's all gravy son don't let it bother you

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 1:15 PM. Reason : as for the rest of you, chill out a bit on the noob ಠ_ಠ]

10/6/2010 1:11:01 PM

Quote :

"HI 275 possibly has many History majors or African studies majors and they act like as if history was the only class they are taking and are already knowledgeable about the subject matter, but that is not the average student who is just taking the class for a requirement, which re the ones who are going to have difficulty making the A."

I was an accounting major. And you're right, maybe he has made his classes more difficult since 2008 (ages ago, I know!) but that isn't what you've been saying in this thread. You've described him as "one of the worst teachers I have encountered," "ignorant," "not a good teacher," and "completely useless." The level of difficulty of his classes has nothing to do with those things.

Quote :

"he regularly uses profanity like that in front of the class so why can't i? "

I wasn't referring to the profanity. We're all saying you should go to his study hours and actually talk to him instead of a quick question before the test that (if I were Vickery) probably wouldn't have taken very seriously.

If it makes you feel better about yourself, feel free to blame it all on him. We're all just telling you that it's probably just you.

10/6/2010 1:55:28 PM

i am not that desparate or serious about this class. I don't need any study hours, etc. to make a good grade, never have, never will. If i need help I talk to the teacher after class if they are helpful, good, if they aren't I'm not going to waste time seeing them in private because how is that going to convince him to tell me what I need to focus on studing if he won't do it after class or change his teaching habits to make it relate to the book or and I can take better notes?. If I can still get a B in the class, which is definitely possible, than that is fine.
this is the only class that I am having trouble with, i guess I don't even care if I get a B or C, I am taking 15 hours and I will get an A in all my other classes and an still get on the Dean's List anyway

no the problem is not me I have taken over 4 semesters here and at least 2 summer sessions, not once have I had a teacher like him, even in my 300 and 400 upper division courses i have never thought I did so bad on a first test so it is the teacher just accept it

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 2:19 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 2:12:34 PM

Okay so when you make a thread and start with...

Quote :

"any history majors taken this know how to get a good grade in the class?"

... and almost every single response has been "go talk to him." But that's not an acceptable answer because you admit that you just don't want to make the effort. So honestly, what kind of answer were you looking for here? Did you think we had a magic formula to figure out where the secret bold words are in the textbook that he chooses for his tests? Did you want us to help you cheat or what?

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 2:20 PM. Reason : forgot the underline]

10/6/2010 2:18:59 PM

of course asking the teacher is not an acceptable answer because if you took this class you know he is no help when you try to talk to him, I can tell from talking to him he does not give a rats ass about how you do on the test

no how would people help me cheat, let me clarify: I want help on what exactly to study in the textbook, like what words are important for each chapter, what things you don't need to read because he won't ask them on the test, what are examples of questions he asked before if you can remember etc.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 2:31 PM. Reason : ]

10/6/2010 2:29:59 PM

You're not going to make it far in life having to be spoon-fed everything. And I can't imagine this class is so much harder since I took it that you need all that stuff to make an A. And if I had taken it, say last semester, and put in all the work to be successful without help... why the hell would I just give that away to somebody admittedly not willing to put in any work of their own?

Good luck though man. Just make sure you keep getting the professors that teach slow enough to allow you to copy notes word-for-word and that only assign text with bold words.

10/6/2010 2:36:52 PM

Quote :

"what kind of answer were you looking for here?"

I thought my tape recorder, or laptop to type notes faster than you can hand write them, were both decent bits of advice.

10/6/2010 3:34:25 PM

Yeah, I guess.

It's not that he can't keep up with lecture material though, as he's already complained the tests are material he's never seen before. His problem is that Vickery doesn't give you a study guide with line-by-line analysis of the text as to what will and won't be on the text. Sounds like he just needs to read the textbook and/or ask Vickery for some detailed advice on what areas to focus on.

10/6/2010 3:37:56 PM

Just do what I did...give up on your hopes and dreams and work at a surf shop.

10/6/2010 4:50:21 PM

Anybody know what this joker's major is? I'm curious.

10/6/2010 10:27:15 PM

Please just drop out of college.

10/6/2010 10:49:08 PM

I nominate this for best of TWW.

10/7/2010 12:06:52 AM