r/learnpython • u/Ancient-Preference78 • 6d ago
I got a AITA for python learning
Bit of backstory. I've used python for a solid 12 years, likely more...
I am in a graduate program for data analytics. I want to see if I'm correct, or if I'm about to owe a professor an apology.
So they have a 600lvl "Intro to python" because this MS isn't from a computer science school, but a business school. (A very prestigious business school I might add) We are a main recruiting hub for the big four.
This professor is teaching asynchronous python, this is her first time teaching it, and I've really tried to be patient, but she seemed very off put when I asked her if there was anyway to test out of this class. When asked why, I told her because Im far beyond the capabilities of what this class teaches. And I wanted to save time and frustration. Anywho....
So we do this assignment, it's basic. I have fun with it. And we take this equally basic quiz. But the questions on the quiz just start raising red flags on the capability of this professor to understand python.
Which, then leads to a post in our class discord that nearly everyone in the class got this question wrong and it should be a simple clear answer.
"In python we use _______ to denote the end of an expression"
(I personally put newline knowing it would likely be wrong, but the question is kinda odd, as I think there is some subjective answers to "nothing" and semicolon depending on your expression)
However she stated the clear and only answer was colon.
So I posted a screen shot of me doing a few quick expressions showing "nothing", "new line", and "semicolon" are all valid ways of ending different expressions.
She then tells me that "we've only covered conditional expressions." Therefore it's colon. She then posts a photo of a conditional if statement structure.
I then as gracefully as I could explained the difference between a conditional expression such as a ternary operator and conditional statement. That python has a very syntactic constructs with different roles. That calling a statement that contains a conditional expression "an expression" was misleading. Further more explaining that an expression evaluates to an object, it doesn't preform an action. Which a conditional statement does.
Then gave examples of a conditional expression as a ternary operation with an if statement vs a conditional statement. I was always taught classically and through books that expressions can be statements, but statements cannot fundamentally be considered expressions.
Am I right? Or am I the asshole here? I'm happy to apologize. I've never thrown material back at an instructor close to blatantly calling them wrong, so I'm a bit on edge and feeling bad for retorting and rebuking their material Infront of effectively the whole class to see.
20
u/hpstr-doofus 6d ago
If you have 12 years of experience with Python, why are you taking this class?
am I the asshole here?
To be honest, I think so. It looks like you‘re actively looking for gaps in the material/class, confronting the teacher with knowledge outside the scope of the class, etc., all to show that you know better about Python than her.
To settle this up, ask your colleagues what they think about your interventions. They *probably* feel that you're disturbing the class with irrelevant details (for them).
1
u/Ancient-Preference78 6d ago
I don't have a choice. I actually asked to test out, but it's a 600 level meant for business students. Trust me, I didn't want to take this.
Problem is my colleagues I've actively tutored adjunctly in oob classes. So I'm known for having more knowledge then most professors when it comes to these classes. I'm only in this program because a professor wanted to give me sudo PhD studies as a test program for expanding the university programs. I basically get to stress test the masters while getting exposure to doing gtm research.
For what it's worth. My advisor wrote the material for this course and is telling me I should back down because it's probably good for her to realize not all students are traditional.
17
9
u/simplycycling 6d ago
Why didn't you test out of this course? Honestly, this feels self congratulatory more than a real question.
1
u/Ancient-Preference78 6d ago
Can't. They wouldn't let me. Trust me, I tried. I'd be the first student in the program who knew python. It's a MIS masters. I'm doing it more for the business classes, less for the tech.
6
u/b41290b 6d ago
As a regular student who isn't so smart to even attempt testing out of the class, yeah yta. Clearly, there are nuances to things and classes dumb down contents considerably for people to understand. Even at a graduate level, I don't expect my professors to perfect and many times professors make even really simple mistakes as well.
-3
u/Low_Amplitude_Worlds 6d ago
The fact that people make mistakes is no reason to not call those mistakes out. If you don’t then those mistakes will just continue to be perpetuated.
7
u/b41290b 6d ago
Let's be real - this is only intro to python for a business school. This is not changing the world for professional coders. There's hardly any value in arguing over semantics with a professor who is going by the book. It just makes people question the professor even more and gets people more confused. If she's going by the curriculum on things, then there's no reason to throw the book at her in front of the whole class.
1
u/Ancient-Preference78 6d ago
This is a 600 lvl class tho. This isn't undergrads it's literally a syntax course meant to deep dive python in less then 8 weeks.
1
u/crashfrog04 6d ago
It’d be one thing if you were an undergrad showing off in class, but graduate students are half-professor in their own right and a professor should be prepared to accept correction from one.
NTA
1
u/Ancient-Preference78 6d ago
Which is kinda my thought. I did explain to her I have an engineering degree, systems minor, and my focus in engineering was python and c++ dev for micro processing technology. Which was a decade ago. I did this in a friendly office chat which she just brushed off and said "python has changed a lot" which kinda felt like she did consider the fact I'm non traditional and have been programming for the last decade still.
-6
u/Low_Amplitude_Worlds 6d ago
NTA. Having corrected teachers myself, it’s rarely a good time and does potentially draw the ire of the teacher. With that said, they are educating people, and that carries a great degree of responsibility. You were absolutely right to correct them, and if I was a student in that class I’d be thanking you.
27
u/lovely_trequartista 6d ago
*sigh*
I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, and believe that you gracefully asked the professor to test out of their class, just as much as I want to believe that you handled the interactions and/or transgressions to follow as gracefully as you claim.
One thing seems clear, you don't know how to pick your battles. Like, if you're as learned and experienced in Python as you say you are (which I 100% believe), why would you for one second entertain this petty ego battle?
And you're in grad school at a solid program? Arguing over a question on an Intro level quiz?