Teaching Tales: A Challenge

The Sadistic Teacher

“Class, give me your attention. For this part of the lab, you’ll be studying osmosis by observing water uptake by raisins. First, weigh a raisin while dry, then soak it in distilled water for 2 hours. Weigh it again and record the weight gain. At the end of the period, turn in your calculation of how many molecules of water were absorbed per gram of raisin per minute.”

Hearing this as I walked by a class being taught by Dr. Walsh, I couldn’t believe my ears. He expected first-year students to be able to do this? Unable to resist the temptation to tease him, I stepped into the classroom, “Dr. Walsh, what kind of an assignment is that? You’re a sadist!”

The students laughed, but I could detect that they were a little anxious about his reaction. They need not have worried. With a glint in his eye, he told me, “Maybe your students can’t do this, but mine can. Just shows who’s the better teacher.”

 Extra Credit

Walking away, chuckling under my breath, I thought it through. Maybe my students could do it. Certainly, the more able ones might enjoy the challenge. I resolved to present this as an extra credit assignment. After all, a critical goal of teaching is to help the students become independent learners. All the information needed for the calculation was in their books, but I hadn’t gone through it.

The day that I wrote this assignment on the board brought predictable reactions. Shanice and Neshat, who sat together, immediately got out their books and began discussing how to solve the problem. Maureen turned red, and tears started to flow. Many students pronounced me unfair, even though it was extra credit, and didn’t even try. 

Adam surprised me by losing his official look and becoming positively enthusiastic. Perhaps what I’d interpreted as self-importance was actually boredom. After working furiously for a time, he came to my desk. “Dr. Crocker, I think I have it. Look!” Here, he led me through his thinking and calculations.

“Well, you’re very nearly right. But you forgot an important step. Think about it some more.”

Frowning, Adam returned to his bench. When his lab partners attempted to speak to him, he moved to another table. “OOHH!” he exclaimed, making everyone jump. “I got it! I know I’m right this time!” He showed me his answer. He weighed the raisin before and after soaking it in water for 2 hours. The difference between these two weights would be due to water absorbed. After performing a calculation, Adam could tell me how many molecules of water the raisin absorbed in a minute.

“You got it,” I congratulated him.

 Mine are Better Than Yours!

Just then, Dr. Walsh walked by my class and saw the assignment on the board. Walking in, he pointed to it, “What’s that I see? After giving me a hard time.”

I laughed, “Really, I thought it was a good idea…and Adam here did it! How many of your students got it?”

“Four.”

I turned to the class, “Okay, guys. We need to beat Dr. Walsh’s record and prove who has the better class. I’m counting on you.”

In the end, half of my class did it, but it wasn’t really a fair test. Adam was far too excited about his answer to keep it to himself. Dr. Walsh didn’t need to know that!