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It’s Academic

Steven Taylor ponders the question of why a student mathematically eliminated from passing his class would nonetheless take the final exam. My hypothesis, based on anecdotal evidence only, is that the kid isn’t very smart. That, alas, is often the case with people failing introductory political science courses.

About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.

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That answer had occurred to me.

Of course, it remains a baffling practice...

Posted by Steven Taylor | May 4, 2007 | 04:36 pm | Permalink
 

Or he needs the class for his major, so knows he will be there next year. Thus he decides to see what the final looks like. How much he studies for it is an open question.

Of course if your failing a class required for your major, you may want to reconsider your major.

Posted by yetanotherjohn | May 4, 2007 | 04:42 pm | Permalink
 

This doesn't elevate my view of poli-sci majors. The Ph.D.'s are still cool. ;-)

Posted by Sean Hackbarth | May 4, 2007 | 05:24 pm | Permalink
 

This doesn't elevate my view of poli-sci majors.

My guess -- based on four-year-old experience teaching at that institution -- was that the student was an education major forced to take Poli-Sci 101.

Posted by James Joyner | May 4, 2007 | 05:27 pm | Permalink
 

In college I ripped on the poli-sci majors. Studying the more analytical social science, economics, made me a bit of a snob. Poli-sci majors I knew always were double majoring yet still had plenty of time to drink and party. The University of Minnesota Duluth program couldn't have been that difficult.

At the bottom of my majors scale were the education majors taught by people with Ed.D, fake doctorates. Then there were the business majors who thought the business stats course was tough. They should have sat in my stats course I took for my math minor. It would have made them cry.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth | May 4, 2007 | 05:47 pm | Permalink
 

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