I am TAing a class this semester, which means for the first time I actually have to teach tutorial sections, where I go over problems and clarify confusing points from the lectures.
We were going over a problem involving the relative costs of various approaches to building a certain system, and the question asked at what price one approach A beat out approach B. The answer turned out to be that the two approaches were equivalent at $1000. I was moving on to the next problem, when a student asked “Isn’t the answer really, then, $1000.01 for A to beat B?”
"Yes, " I said, and then turned to the rest of the class and said “And you can all thank him if you we decide to mark off for that on the quiz!”
It was intended as a joke, but I immediately regretted saying it, and didn’t manage to catch the student after class to apologize. It was a valid point, that I decided to gloss over, but I don’t want to discourage people from bringing up such details - it could just as easily have been something important I overlooked.
On the other hand, it was clear to all involved that I was just kidding, and it wasn’t the first time I’ve made a joke about the subject matter or class itself.
No way. The kid’s probably forgotten about it already.
Man, I thought this was going to be about something BAD. I’m kind of disappointed. I’ve said way worse to my students. (In my defense, the stuff my students pulled would have gotten them expelled in America.)
I definitely wouldn’t apologize unless, like tdn asked, he looked embarrassed. If he did, a private quick “hey, sorry about my off-hand remark last class, I was trying to make a joke” wouldn’t be out of the question.
Your remark wasn’t rude, but you do really need to make sure that bad question/answer pairs like this aren’t common on these tests. If the question was (as you say) at what price does approach A beat out approach B, then the answer cannot be the point at which they are equal.
In a way you were pointing out that he got a better answer, or his answer pointed up the ambiguity of the question–I’m not sure how he would feel bad about that.
I wouldn’t’ve done it. I would’ve thanked him for a good point. But it all depends on context.
I would never put a student down unless I was convinced the student was heckling. In that case (and it has happened to me), I would demonstrate that I could give as well as he.
The answer in the official solutions was indeed listed as $1000.01. But this is an engineering class, not a class on business decision-making or whatever, and neither I nor the rest of the staff would care if a student got all the actual engineering right, and overlooked this little detail.
Now that the moment is history I wouldn’t make any effort to apologize, since the kid has probably forgotten about it and it would seem weird. If you had caught him at the time a casual apology wouldn’t have been out of order.
The statement itself wasn’t cruel or anything, but since the student had a valid point it would have been better to follow up with a statement saying so, just so there is no ambiguity. If you do make jokes like this, it needs to be obvious that it was a casual quip, not a criticism of his answer, which to my mind seems like a valid technicality - if I was in your place I would definitely want to encourage students to be careful about these sort of things.
I’m confused here. Mark off for what? For your answer ($1000) or for the official answer ($1000.01)?
If it’s for the former, were you saying (theoretically, I gather you were joking) that you weren’t going to mark off for the wrong answer until he pointed out that it (and you) were wrong?
If it’s the latter, were you saying that you were going to mark off for the right answer, which presumably no one would have given after your tutorial, but which some might give now because he raised the issue?
I don’t understand the dynamic here. I don’t get what the joke would be.
I don’t understand this either. Okay, you want them to know how to work the problem. But doesn’t engineering involve some things that have to exactly right? Things where a little detail can make the difference between success and catastrophe? Why encourage, or at least allow, sloppiness on any detail? I would think you’d want them to learn consistency in getting all the details right, so as not to develop a habit that could potentially have very negative consequences.
Bolding mine- I think in light of that comment, it would be proper for you to begin the next session by saying something like, “Last class, [student] raised a question about the hypothetical regarding the two approaches to building a certain system. I gave sort of a flip response, but I don’t want anyone to take that as an indication that I don’t want to hear your insights and questions about the lesson. If you ever have questions or are unclear about the lesson, please don’t hesitate to speak up.”
The original comment was done in front of the whole class, so any sort of apology should be as well. And this way you let them know it’s OK to make the comments, without actually having to eat crow.
Well, that’s how you should have answered him. If a question is nit-picky or off-topic then it’s okay to say something along the lines of “You don’t have to worry about that, the point of this problem is to see you do X,Y, and Z”.
I agree with corkboard, that it might be worth clarifying to the entire class – ie, recognize his point and explain why you (effectively) disregarded it. It’s not a big deal, but it sounds like it’s worth a clarification.
If I understand the OP correctly, the class was discussing the problem. It wasn’t actually on a quiz, so there was no single right answer to the question, “At one point does A beat B?” A beats B at EVERY point above the breakeven. The nitpickers are misreading the question as “What is the lowest amount, rounded to the nearest penny, at which A beats B?”
A multiple choice test might have two options that exceed $1000 and expect students to select them both, or select “D. Both B and C”. I took a certification test last year that worded some questions and answers this way–it wasn’t enough to know the technical answer, I had to understand the reason the question was being asked.
