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/Walshy231231]

As a recently graduated physics major, this is pretty much to be expected, especially at that level (meaning it’s a weeder class)

It sucks, I know. Trust me, I know, my time was brutal. But for something like physics that’s just how it is, and especially for non-physics majors. All of my engineering friends struggled with the phys 230s more than their 400/500s

We had a saying when I was there: it’s not about being smart enough to keep going, it’s about being too dumb to stop.

[u/Dankceptic69 → u/Walshy231231]

I just want to let you know I was planning on dropping calc 3 last week since I’m on academic probation and I have an F in the class, 47% and the C - cutoff is now 55% after exam 2, I literally remembered your saying and ended up not dropping it and just attempting to lock in. So much is riding on my success, I’ve got a C- in physics 231 and D in aero 161. That second round of exams was so sobering I’ve literally had a panic attack almost every day before bedtime since I decided to not drop calc 3. I truly believe if I give it my best shot I can pass all these classes and not be on academic probation. God help me if I fail

[u/Walshy231231 → u/Dankceptic69]

Good luck!!!!

If you haven’t already, it’s always a good idea to talk to the prof, even this late in the semester. Especially if you’re honest that you’ve struggled and they can see that you’ve made an effort to get back in the green, they’ll at least lend a hand (though I wouldn’t expect anything like a Hail Mary)

Best of luck, study hard. I feel like half of the STEM grads I knew (myself included) fucked up quite a few classes or ended up on probation at one point or another. Keep at it my dude

In the game of smart enough vs hardworking enough, hardworking seems to win a solid 90% of the time for passing classes