Which would you prefer?

[skarletstarlet]

Hey all,

 

I am in my 3rd year of my undergrad and my advanced biology prof is giving us each a choice:

 

a. 100% of your grade is your grade from your final exam

b. 45% of your grade is your final exam grade, 55% of your grade is a project done in pairs.

 

I know nobody in the class. Lets face it, I don't know anyone's work ethic and will be more than likely stuck with a slacker as always seems to be the case.

 

The project is quite intricate and requires a whole set-up display on a disease/organ system (from what I can tell, haven't had the first class yet). She wants 4+ boards of info, a banner, a multimedia presentation, some other form of media (maybe something on my iPad?), plus us speaking and educating whoever comes by. She basically sent out a 50 page manual on what she wants for the project.

 

My fiance said, "you're gonna have to study for the exam anyway, so why add a project on as well?" After this particular class each week I have 4 hrs on campus before my next class so I could study my butt off for the 100% final.

 

Which would you choose?

[future_doc]

Go for 100% exam as this is at least in your control to a higher degree. My first group project, I had a slacker, so it was all on my shoulders, we got an A only b/c I did all the work. Good luck!

[thehumanmacbook]

Hey all,

 

I am in my 3rd year of my undergrad and my advanced biology prof is giving us each a choice:

 

a. 100% of your grade is your grade from your final exam

b. 45% of your grade is your final exam grade, 55% of your grade is a project done in pairs.

 

I know nobody in the class. Lets face it, I don't know anyone's work ethic and will be more than likely stuck with a slacker as always seems to be the case.

 

The project is quite intricate and requires a whole set-up display on a disease/organ system (from what I can tell, haven't had the first class yet). She wants 4+ boards of info, a banner, a multimedia presentation, some other form of media (maybe something on my iPad?), plus us speaking and educating whoever comes by. She basically sent out a 50 page manual on what she wants for the project.

 

My fiance said, "you're gonna have to study for the exam anyway, so why add a project on as well?" After this particular class each week I have 4 hrs on campus before my next class so I could study my butt off for the 100% final.

 

Which would you choose?

 

Usually in my UG, I preferred group projects (I would do most/all of the work anyway) so I would have some control over the mark. In addition, 100% MC could be very disastrous if the questions were harder than expected...

 

But in this case, it seems like MC is the way to go. You don't really know anyone in the class, and it seems like the project would detract from studying. I vote for the exam.

[Clever]

I would choose dividing up my marks. Why? Well, the people that are likely to choose to do the paper are very likely to not be slackers. Doing just one exam to determine your entire grade is very appealing to lazy people. So most likely your partner will be a smart cookie.

There are other things to consider.. like how difficult the paper will be marked. Why is the prof giving you the choice? Is it because he believes not many people will decide to do the paper so he won't have to give up time to mark them, or does he want to see which students truly care about the course and wants to reward them with easy marks?

[skarletstarlet]

I would choose dividing up my marks. Why? Well, the people that are likely to choose to do the paper are very likely to not be slackers. Doing just one exam to determine your entire grade is very appealing to lazy people. So most likely your partner will be a smart cookie.

There are other things to consider.. like how difficult the paper will be marked. Why is the prof giving you the choice? Is it because he believes not many people will decide to do the paper so he won't have to give up time to mark them, or does he want to see which students truly care about the course and wants to reward them with easy marks?

 

I love the first two answers because they agree with my prior thinking will assess this one first.

 

Clever, APPARENTLY the prof is giving us a choice because so many people complained about the intensity of the project. Not only is it a paper, its a full presentation to the class and then outside of class hours, a 6 hour exhibit. Like I said she emailed us a 50 page document of what she expects.

 

I know that I want to go to med school and must prepare for this sort of stuff but this along with my other courses is going to be nuts. I was thinking that the other students would choose the project because it seems to not be that bad until you are halfway through the semester and must cram and put the project together at the same time as balancing your other courses. A few friends who took the course said "be glad you have a choice to opt out." Haunting! But still, I'd like to make the decision myself (with some thoughts from other premeds of course!)

[charmer08]

I would go for the 100% final exam. But it depends how many exams you have during the final exam period? If its 4 or 5, then I would drop one of the courses and choose a course that doesn't have a final in the final exam period. Either way, I would still do the 100% final... the project is a lot of work plus its subjective marking and you might end up with a terrible partner (which unfortunately is quite common).