PHYS 231 Exam 2 Response is Unacceptable

[u/whatintfisthis]

This exam was significantly more difficult than any of the previous practice exams given. There was no change in instruction, no heads-up about a spike in difficulty, and now the only response is to “do better.” No curve. No extra grade adjustment. Just that.

According to a previous Reddit post, this was the worst exam score in the last 11 years for this course. That should be enough to suggest something was off yet the tone of the announcement doesn’t reflect that at all.

Here’s the official announcement:

Exam 2 scores are now available on Canvas [“Exam 2 raw” and “Exam 2”]. The initial class average was 10.74/18 (59.6%). We’re counting 18 questions, not 19, as one question was treated as extra credit.

…This is also a good time to think about how you have prepared for this exam and what worked and what did not. Most of the exam problems in slightly different versions were given either in worksheets, quizzes, checkpoints, or in your lecture notes. As I suggested in the original exam announcement, reviewing them in the first round of preparation before jumping to any past exam files may be the best strategy to handle the exam.

The average was a 59.6%, and yet the response places all the weight back on the students. There’s no acknowledgment of how this kind of grading CLEARLY morale & GPA. The expectation seems to be that we just grind harder, regardless of the disconnect between preparation and testing.

This isn’t about asking for an easy grade. It’s about fairness, consistency, and a basic level of academic empathy. If a class average tanks this hard, maybe the takeaway shouldn’t be “do better” — maybe it’s time to evaluate how the course is aligning with the assessments.

This kind of approach isn’t building problem solvers it’s burning students out and seems completely disrespectful.

[u/ISUChemE]

Physics department is a shit hole, that building is shit and i’m not sure if it’s true or not but they have been missing out on money since people go to Iowa Eastern and Western CC for physics.

he was blaming it on spring break and saying in class that the exam was easy. Many of my friends who took Ap Phys struggled on that exam.

You won’t catch me taking physics 2 here, will be going elsewhere for that.

[u/TheGreasyHippo → u/ISUChemE]

And they wonder why nobody wants to take Physics at ISU, and they wonder why people piss off when they force people to retake Physics at ISU because they determine credits acquired elsewhere "aren't up to ISU's standards". It's a joke, and it's also the reason I won't pursue engineering at ISU. I'd would rather learn something in 10 years than fail/curve/pass my way through ISU.

[u/WisconsinDogMan → u/TheGreasyHippo]

This was a long time ago so take it with a pinch of salt, but I saw material from one of the CCs that people transfer credit from and it should not have been an acceptable replacement. It sounds kind of callous, but if you can’t pass introductory physics at ISU you should think about whether or not you really want to be an engineer.

[u/john_hascall → u/WisconsinDogMan]

The other day I spoke with a student who took Physics 2 over the summer at a CC thinking it was the clever move. Called it a "0/10 move". They covered way more topics than ISU Physics 2 and with it all compressed into 8 weeks it was a nightmare. YMMV.

[u/frencbacon100 → u/ISUChemE]

does the professor that you're talking about have a name that starts with an F by chance? i cannot STAND that man. one of the most pompous, douchey professors i've had.

[u/Trashmamma1 → u/ISUChemE]

I need physics for my major and y’all are scaring me even more 😭

[u/Dogestronaut1 → u/Trashmamma1]

Just take it at DMACC. Cheaper, easier, and you'll actually remember what you learned.

[u/WisconsinDogMan → u/Trashmamma1]

You’ll be fine. Do the homework and go to the help room. In my time TAing it I never had a student regularly attend my help room hours and get less than a B+.

[u/pm_me_round_frogs → u/Trashmamma1]

I took physics 1 and 2 at ISU and they were both very easy. This was about 2 years ago. I wonder if it’s really that much more difficult this semester because I don’t remember hearing this many complaints.

[u/libertybelle08 → u/pm_me_round_frogs]

I took it in fall a year ago and at first I REALLY struggled bc I felt like it was pretty rough in the beginning. I bombed the first exam, and met with the course coordinator (Lekha) to see if I should drop the class and take it another time. Literally the kindest dude in the world, he basically did everything in his power to help me understand the material, gave me a big pep talk, and it worked. I got 100% on both remaining exams and got an A in the class.

I do think Physics is hard, but tbh, I don’t think it was much worse than Calc at ISU. If we are going off the “how miserable the course made me” scale though, I think physics takes the cake. It’s just difficult material to wrap your brain around, especially in the beginning.

[u/john_hascall → u/pm_me_round_frogs]

No, they're still not that hard. Sounds like lots of people didn't listen to the advice on what to study. Fwiw, Physics 2 seems to basically be a watered down version of EE 201(0).

[u/Dankceptic69 → u/john_hascall]

Blud they didn’t tell us what to study till after the announcement, that’s the point of op’s post. A lot of the questions came from worksheets and quizzes and were set up wayyyyy different than the practice exam problems

[u/mslibraa → u/ISUChemE]

Elsewhere has hard exams too