UCSB professor Charles A. Akemann delivered failing grades to an extremely high ratio of students in his Math 3A and 3B courses last quarter, leaving many students scrambling to retake the introductory courses.
Since the course sequence is a requirement for all engineering majors and most science and math majors, many of the students who flunked complain that they are now struggling to crash these highly impacted classes. Although Akemann’s course syllabi did stipulate a strict lack of a grading curve, these introductory calculus courses have rarely seen so many failures, officials said.
According to Glenn Beltz, professor and associate dean of undergraduate studies in the College of Engineering, his department reviewed the grades of Akemann’s Math 3A and 3B students at the end of the quarter as part of routine procedure to keep track of students on academic probation. After review, Beltz said, his office determined the large number of failures to be unusual, as nearly 40 percent of engineering majors who took Math 3A with Akemann will need to retake it.
While Beltz noted that a professor has the right to set the grading scale however he or she deems appropriate, the significant number of failures prompted the department to examine the unusual situation.
Ricardo Alamillo, engineering student council co-chair, said professor Akemann created a difficult learning environment for students. Alamillo also noted that given the economic climate, students may have trouble staying on course for graduation.
“There were kids enrolled in the summer transition [program] who were highly prepared…and they were surprised that this was what they did horrible in,” Alamillo , a fourth-year chemical engineering major, said.
Mathematics Dept. chair Jeffrey Stopple, however, said Akemann flunked students according to the established guidelines of the course.
“Professor Akemann volunteered to teach both of these courses,” Stopple said. “I spoke with [him] and made sure that the grades were assigned based on the criteria in the syllabus he gave out at the beginning of the quarter.”
As of press time, the Daily Nexus was unable to reach Professor Akemann for comment.
Beltz said he is confident Akemann’s students will still be able to stay on track with their major requirements.
“The Math Department has been extraordinarily helpful to make space for [them],” he said. “I am confident that [they] will catch up in a timely manner.”
Mary Nisbet, acting dean of undergraduate education for the College of Letters and Science, said she worked with Stopple and Beltz to discuss making room for math students in need of retakes.
“[We’ve] worked before the break to find ways to allow as many students as possible to progress,” she said. “Some extra courses had already been added for winter and the department is seeking extra support from the dean of Mathematics, Life and Physical Sciences for spring and summer school classes.”
Frustrated and Appalled ParentAs a parent of a student that did not pass this course I am appalled and frustrated. Not only is my daughter’s Scholarship in Jeopardy but now she is having problems not only falling behind and possibly having to spend an extra year in college but also she is on probation with her scholarship. To make sure she is enrolled as a full time student (Scholarship requirement) she is having to add a filler course (Elective course) that she is not even interested in but that has guaranteed space. My daughter comments that this is the worst… Read more »
Take math elsewhereThe vast majority of the faculty in UCSB’s math department have hyperinflated egos and loath teaching, both of which are very bad combinations. Hell, my math 3B professor only spent maybe 1/4th of the class actually teaching the subject we were supposed to learn, using the rest of the time to discuss graduate level theories that no one could understand (luckily most of that never showed up on our tests). Our department isn’t even that spectacular in the first place, with its main area of concentration being topology. Take math at a community college if you actually want… Read more »
Dear concerned parent,There are students that passed, so it could’ve been done by your daughter. Did your daughter go to CLAS? Did she go to their group tutorials or walk-ins? Did she go see other TA’s available for help in Math lab? If she knew she wasn’t doing well in the class after the first couple midterms, did you think about hiring her a tutor? If she did do all these things, then yes, there really is a problem, and it probably has nothing to do with the teacher, the TA’s or the class size. Calc is hard. And whatever… Read more »
A math student’s perspective…I am a graduate student at UCSB in mathematics, though last quarter I was not involved in Professor Akemann’s course. In my opinion, there are two reasons why so many students failed this course. The first is that homework was assigned but not collected or graded. Students were responsible to complete weekly problem sets on their own, check their answers, and remedy any misunderstandings. The second problem is that the professor generously told students they would get no worse of a grade than what they got on the final. Perhaps these grades are a result of students… Read more »
MathMath is math no matter how you try to spin it. Some people get it some people don’t just like any other subject. As a math major myself, I can pour a few minutes of my time into this basic calculus course and easily pass; however, if someone tries to explain the theory as to why Van Gogh chopping off his ear is some metaphor to higher art, you’d lose me pretty fast. Maybe your daughter should take this lesson if she truly tried her best, and not just simply tried to divert your anger from her about the failing… Read more »
There is also a benefit to failing classes, I know that no one wants to fail (or do worse than expected) but those are a positive learning experience once you have some distance from them. I’m a bit surprised by the parent commenting here instead of the daughter, particularly with regard to wanting to change schools because of this issue. One bad experience with a math class isn’t enough of a reason to leave. Yes, many students will need to retake the class or rethink their plans for the future but this is a positive opportunity to analyze those plans.… Read more »
Frustrated and Appalled Parent Part 2First let me be clear about changing schools, The only problem is not the bad experience with the math class. It is the over crowed classes and the way my daughter has had to take elective courses to fill her schedule based on what is available rather than what she needs. By the way, at this moment it looks like she will not be able to take math this quarter because everything is filled and she hasn’t received an add on code. This will set her and many other students back. Surprised by a parent… Read more »
Failing in 3A and 3B?Big deal, you’re experienced with college. So you should be experienced with studying. Time to teach your daughter how to study. Did she go to CLAS? After hours with other TAs? When I studied at UCSB they had free tutoring sessions at the math dept as well. It’s literally a group of TAs just hanging out in a room where you can ask for help. Did she go there? How often? It may be a tough reality to realize that your daughter is not be good in math. Time to switch majors or spend more time… Read more »
The class was toughThe school should not be blamed for this isolated occurrence, but in no way do I agree that we should be completely blaming the students. The class was immensely difficult. That 40% statistic is only referring to engineering majors. I heard a rumor that the statistic for the entire class was more like 50-60%. But these Calculus classes were completely skewed in fairness. Students from Prof. Joo’s class did not have to go to CLAS, office hours, tutoring sessions, etc to achieve a passing grade, but I know many students from Akemann’s 3A classes who gave it… Read more »
re: frustrated parentIt is great that your daughter has you to help her with your insight and also financially. However, it is also very important for her to become her own advocate. That’s why I was surprised that you were commenting. I understand the upset over class sizes and horrible scheduling options. It is nice that your daughter apparently has other options but with the state budget issues, any other UC may have the same issues. I hope that your daughter is as active in making sure that her college experience is educational as you seem to be (meant with… Read more »
re: frustrated parentYou make it sound like because you pay for your daughter’s education, that she is entitled to passing grades. You obviously don’t care about the value of the education your daughter receives, only the grades. For this reason, I highly recommend you move your daughter to another university where she can obtain all the inflated grades she needs to obtain a worthless degree. The reason why universities like MIT and Princeton are so prestigious is because not everybody finishes. The other lesson here is that university is not for everyone. Maybe your daughter would be better off doing… Read more »
Part of college is knowing which teachers to get. Why did she sign up to take it under this teacher. Lesson learned!
Boloney.
The reason most students finish at prestigious colleges and universities like MIT is because only the richest and smartest get in. If you look at the college stats, universities like Harvard, Penn, Yale, etc., have graduation rates of 95%. If you look at state universities like Michigan State (and most others), the four year graduation rate is 48%!
Unfortunately, the country needs a lot more intelligent people to compete in the global economy than the prestigious universities can provide–that’s where we are running into problems.
George DeMarse
By the way, I wanted to add that Sarah Palin had 6 years of education at 4 different colleges. Take that taxschool!
;)
OMG!! you people are terrible. i wish i could have been your teacher and taught part of your fifth grade history class in arabic, some of it in french, and the rest in cantonese. maybe one of you happens to know all of those languages, in which case that person would likely be the only passing student and the rest would fail. this is what i would say: “oh, i was unfair, you say? well, someone passed so why didn’t you? it’s your fault you stupid, lazy, kids who only listen to the devil’s rock music and make sexually suggestive… Read more »
I think you forgot to take your ADHD meds this morning. Take them and come back, tell us how you feel. You ignorant prick.
I took Calculus I, II, and III at a local community college here in southern California known as San Bernardino Valley College, with three different teachers, I got an A in Calculus I under Professor Beebe without having been exposed to it in high school I got an A in Calculus II under Professor Lee and this semester I am taking Calculus III under Dr. Reid who also teaches at CSUSB and formerly taught at UCR, he is a good teacher and will teach you everything you need to know, I am expecting to also get an A in this… Read more »
Haha many(not all) parents and students always put all sorts of scuces…hahah losers you think you can buy intelligence and work… “what you put in is what you get out”-Bashar. A quote to remember.
Well, even if Calculus is somewhat hard, its deep understanding can be achieved whether you’re smart or not if you keep sticking to it every day. The main difference is that it only takes more time. Take at look at http://www.deepastronomy.com/how-i-overcame-my-math-blocks.html. This guy actually overcame some kind of learning difficulty in Maths and had his Bachelor in Physics, even if somewhat late, thanks to his strong will. I actually think i have some real trouble understanding Maths so i decided to postpone my own Calculus exam to the time i’ll completely get it. Many of my friends passed the same… Read more »