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logan

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Posts posted by logan

  4. Online Class Not Included in GPA

    in School, College and Child development

    Posted

    In the fall of 2008, my daughter, who was a sophomore, took a course online because the school could not fit the in-class course into her schedule. It was approved by the principal and chair of the Math Department prior to her enrolling in the online class. When she received her final report card in June 2009, this online course was not recorded. The following are the communications between my daughter and the principal.

    Hi Mr. Principal:

    I hope you are enjoying your summer so far. I received my report card today and was very satisfied with my grades (I also enjoyed reading the marajuana pamphlet
    :D
    ), but I noticed that one of my classes was missing: Advanced Pre-Calculus. I called somebody from the guidance office to make sure that this course was included with my credits and GPA, but she said that since it was taken online, it does not count. (WHAT?!
    :)
    )

    "Oh great," I thought. "All that year's-worth of intense studying packed in three stressful months was for nothing." Is it true that this course doesn't count? The provider Johns Hopkins University is a reputable source... and I even gave my score report and "certificate of authenticity" to my guidance counselor. I would grealy appreciate it if you approved my Pre-Calc through JHU as a credit-receiving, GPA-boosting course. Please, please?

    Thank you for taking the time to read this message. Have a good day.

    Hi Miss Student:

    It is true that on-line classes are not included in the calculation of GPA. When determining class rank, we only count Our High School classes taught here and those taken as part of our cooperation with the Next Town High School.. As Principal, I approve (or not) he awarding of credit for various courses completed outside Our High School.

    I don't believe that the course was taken for nothing. First of all, It satisfies Our High School credit requirement that allows you to progress toward graduation. Second, it allows you to move on to the next level of study in mathematics. Third, JHU is a very prestigious school and your successful completion of the course will be looked upon favorably by college admissions counselors.

    I trust this answers your question. Have a fun and relaxing summer and we'll se you as we get close to next school year.

    Hi Mr. Principal:

    Thank you for taking the time to respond to my message. I noticed, however, that you did not include a rationale or reference to a policy as to why online classes are not included in the calculation of GPA. To satisfy my curiosity, I can do the research myself, with other schools as well as the state. I recently sent you an official transcript from Johns Hopkins for the Precalculus course. As you can or will see on the transcript, my final grade was a 99, and according to the grading system in the Student Handbook, it is an "A+." Who was responsible for recording an "A" on Our School transcript for this class? Maybe I should discuss this with him/her. If we cannot resolve this through email, do you think we should meet?

    Hope you are enjoying the sun! (Who knows how long that will last?)

    Hi Miss Student:

    The rationale for not including on-line courses in GPA calculation and class rank determination is that they are not reasonably available to all students. To keep the playing field level in this competition, we include only those courses that are taught by Our High School or those taken as part of our cooperation with Next Town High School. As you know, there is no school money available to pay for on-line classes and sonme students would not be able to afford them.

    As for your request to amend your Our High School transcript to show an A+ from JHU, I will forward that to the registrar to make that change.

    My 15-year old daughter's response to this last correspondence was "It's not very objectivists. He's taking away from what I earned just because others cannot pay for it."

    What do you think?

  7. Reaffirmation Through Denial

    in Questions about Objectivism

    Posted

    Also, as a kind of trade of values, I offer you the reason why the reaffirmation through denial is a precursor to, but is not the same as, the stolen concept. The reaffirmation through denial involves me trying to disprove something by an argument which already assumes the existence of said thing. So, the usual example is the psychologist who tries to disprove the consciousness as a just an illusion of a bunch of chemicals in the brain. However, an illusion assumes someone is having the wool pulled over their eyes - i.e. it assumes some exists to be fooled.

    Now, the stolen concept does more than this. When I commit this fallacy, I am not necessarily trying to disprove something via the assumed existence of it (though it may be what I do), but rather, I am attempting to affirm the application of a concept in a way that disproves its antecedents. Now, whereas the reaffirmation relies on accepting the existence of the concept itself to deny it, the stolen concept takes on the wider fallacy, of eradicating the very meaning of the concept when you try to cut it off from its conceptual ties. The classification of the reaffirmation requires grasping that you cannot contradict yourself; the stolen concept requires grasping that all knowledge is hierarchical and integrated.

    Would it be possible for you to explain this in simple words, please . . . maybe another example. Logan~

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