I’m a senior in my last semester. I have a class I need in order to graduate. Unfortunately, the class is taught by a guy who is a horrendous teacher and this is the third semester in a row I am stuck with him. His class is also very difficult and he now has a new habit of giving almost no homework credit no matter how good your answers are. The homework’s take about 7 hours to do and I’ve lost all motivation to do them especially since I’m losing ridiculous points. Homework is worth 30% of my total grade. How can I get myself motivated to do these assignments?
I have no special magic to offer. It is unfortunate that you have had to endure a poor teacher, but this is the real world too, and you need this class to graduate, so you have no choice but to just get yourself through it and pass. That’s all you need to do at this point to graduate and finish your degree, PASS your classes. You might consider breaking those seven hours into chunks and rewarding yourself with a brief period of something you enjoy doing when you finish each chunk, but other than that there isn’t any special advice except to just do it.
When you are older and look back at your life’s highs and lows, this class is going to be but a blip on your life’s timeline, it’s only a few months, you can do it.
Now I see at least why you are angry at CWRU. This is your chance to buck up and learn to just work, for what you want, a bachelors degree in CE at CWRU. In general any well paying job in engineering, is way worse, unfortunately for fairness. CWRU may not be a picnic but at least you are getting experience at dealing with difficult people and impossible situations so you are in some sense well prepared for your career in engineering. Most engineers get layed off by age 50 and need to retrain in business or law, or start their own company or buy a small business. Its the way the engineering profession is structured. So when students suffer in college, one way to look at it is, you are now tougher for life. Good luck in that course. Aim for a C. Don’t worry one C will not kill your chances at a job. No one cares about grades, really. Avoid the D if possible. Study your brains out, get tutoring, and try to learn the material as best you can. If you can earn a B, with a nasty and useless instructor, definitely tell yourself you are in it for the long haul and you are suited to becoming an engineer.
- Form a study group
- Get a tutor
- Talk to the professor about the homework