A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:Hi everyone,I'm in my final year of college and completing my report from my big project. I sent in a draft of my intro the last day and got feedback from my supervisor yesterday telling me that it was crap. I knew it wasn't great but I didn't realise it was that terrible. Anyways he got so annoyed that my work was "sloppy", he handed me a book and told me to use it. He went thorugh a stack of books for it and let it slip that the book that they have been recommending to my class as a reading essential is no good. He went through my draft with me and by the end of it i was reduced to tears. I couldn't help it. I've worked so hard but was told that I wasn't meeting the same standards as everyone else. Other people hasve asked for extensions for the deadline date but I haven't. How can a lecturers expect more from students if they put them down and recommend crappy books that provide little information on what hey ask for in exams. Today I'm looking back over my work and although it isn't good, I have mentioned vagely what is needed. My question is do all lecturers give students a recommended book that they dont use or follow themselves and expect more from the student. Reply to this Question
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female
reader, Ciar  +, writes (3 April 2014):
 OP, my advice is to develop a thicker skin and adopt a more creative approach to your own studies.A professor's job is not to teach you everything there is to know about a given subject but to offer you a foundation to build upon yourself.Schools are supposed to be a place of learning and THINKING. So THINK. Instead of sitting there waiting to be spoon fed reading materials go out and look for more on your own. Between libraries and the internet there is an almost endless supply of information out there. Being in school, you're getting off easily. The worst that can happen is you get a poor grade and a reprimand from a professor. In the real world you risk a demotion, a cut in pay or the loss of a job and you'd quickly have to find another so you can support yourself. Professors are as human as you are. They have burdens and bad days of their own. As children we're all taught that we're special and our feelings are important. In the real world we're as special as all of the other billions of people occupying the planet and results take priority over feelings. So wipe your tears, dust yourself off and think of this as an opportunity for growth instead of an injustice.
A
male
reader, anonymous, writes (3 April 2014): By my last year at college each essay would include over 20 references. I would provide in text references and quotations to form the basis of my argument from no less than 15.
If I hadn't research enough I would have felt that I did not have the knowledge required to form a valuable opinion and answer a question.
I have been cruficed in many candid responses to my essays and I have never taken it personally. I have been pissed off, but I just dislike my work being below standard.
Get used to this. When you are in the working world in a professional job you have to exceed expectations. You cannot be lazy with research and you constantly have to take criticism. Get used to handing in work that you are proud of. Don't accept any less from yourself. Treat college like a full time job. It is at least a 8 hour day. If you don't put in the time this will be reflected in your work.
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A
female
reader, celtic_tiger +, writes (3 April 2014):
 I completed a PhD last year, and I can tell you I lost count of the number of times my Professor and panel members reduced me to tears over the content of some of my work! Work which I had spent days and nights slaving over, with writers block crying my eyes out, only to be told it was a pile of poo (or words to that effect).
They did it because they wanted me to do my best, and they wanted to push me, to get the best possible thesis out in the end. It worked. In the end I produced something which was at the top standard and which was a million miles away from the first drafts. But that is how projects develop. If we could all do something the first time, it wouldn't be a challenge! Even professors need editors for books and journals and have to do re-writes!
Tutors will always suggest other books not on general reading lists. They are only the basic texts and it could be you are doing a specialist project, which they know about and have secret sources of new info. My Professor is one of those who knows everyone and people send him copies of books just for being him - he regularly gave me books if there was something useful in them.
Its just helping access sources which you might not know about, or be able to get on your own. That is there job. They do not want you to fail!
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A
female
reader, chigirl  +, writes (2 April 2014):
 This sounds very common, yes. Not all professors will agree with the curriculum, if they haven't personally set it up themselves. I've come across this many times, and I really think you should be grateful he is helping you out this much and recommending a better book for you. It gives you an opportunity to outdo the others in your class.
Remember, he is only commenting on your WORK, and not on YOU as a person. YOU are no below everyone else is class, it's just that this specific work is below the others, and he wants you to up it a notch. Which he wouldn't bother telling you to do if he thought you were a lost cause.
So grab a hold of yourself and don't turn this into a pity party, but see it as the opportunity it really is.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (2 April 2014): Books that are recommended as "essential reading" are often recommended either because they give a lot of information around a very broad subject or because they are seminal works which inspired many others.This is why they are often recommended to students as soon as they have been accepted onto a course (or in some cases when they apply) to give the student time to acquaint themselves with the basics before they turn up on their first day.These recommended texts are really only intended to guide you towards other books/studies. They shouldn't be used as the main source of all your information. Most of them are simply too broad and you may need to focus on one very specific aspect of a subject, especially in your final year.On another note, unless your supervisor is also head-of- faculty he probably doesn't have much say in which books are recommended anyway and he might just be airing his own personal opinion about the book.I suggest asking him (and other students and tutors) which books they found most useful.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (2 April 2014): He didn't put you down. He put your admittedly lame attempt at an intro down, not you as a person. Don't take it so personally. You said it yourself it was crap and vague, and sorry OP but as a final year student you should know better than to just hand up something even you think is pretty shit and not expect to be pulled on that.
Yes of course they do. OP the idea is that in your studies you're probably going to come across it anyway and use it. I mean I used nothing on any of the reading lists from my courses on my FYP as it was a very specific topic and the angle I took on it was different from anything we'd done.
OP be careful you're not asking whether lecturers give you books not on the list so you can feel some kind of injustice about this whole thing. You submitted work that was well below standard, he told you that and he gave you that book to help you, not for any other reason because he most likely thinks the books that they gave you while enough for others haven't worked for you because of what you submitted so now he's trying something else.
You have no reason to feel hard done by here, he's trying to help. Next time hand up your assignment only when you're completely happy with it. They want to gauge your real attempts OP, he can't help you if you only hand up half done vague crap and as a teacher I can tell you I'd pissed off too that you wasted my time when you put in very little effort. I could be getting on with my own work instead of holding the hand of a person who seems like they're not even trying then turning on the water works to get away with it. (I'm not saying that's what you did, but in his position I'd certainly see it that way).
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (2 April 2014): I'm judging by your age your at Uni? In which case lecturers expect you to read the recommended books, and then make your own research and read more into the topic. You use the recommended reading list as a starting point, you note the references of interest and then you go read parts of those too. You decide for yourself whether a text if of use, your lecturers want to see their students critically thinking over their selection of texts. When you're at Uni you are responsible for putting the effort in and extending your own learning, they're not going to spoon feed you. I am 24 and in my 2nd year of a full time degree. I also work full time hours and on days off cover absences at another job. I've got a mortgage to pay and want a First in my degree had enough to sacrifice most of my social life! So if I can fit in the required reading and then more, so can anyone!! There's no point crying about it now, what's done is done. Now you have to take on board all the suggestions given to you and put ALL you effort into making this assignment worthwhile and worthy of a decent grade. Us Brits pay a fair amount for university education, so get your money's worth! Your library may have writing classes to help improve your style, they may also offer proof reading too. Take advantage of any help you can get and don't take criticism of your work personally, its done to get the best out of you. This time of year is stressful for everyone as most big assignment deadlines are looming. Lecturers don't want to waste their time reading something dire, imagine how many projects they're going to have to read! Make yours as best as you can and offer original, well supported ideas.
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