45. Which of the following settings are required for one host to communicate with other hosts on other networks using TCP/IP?
a, IP address
b, Subnet mask
c, Default Gateway
d, DNS Server
e, All of the above
Answer: a, b, c.

This question appeared on our final today. What kind of question is that? First of all, there's no mention that more than one answer is applicable. In the event of missing instructions, I believe it's a fair assumption to choose one answer. Imagine how well I'd score in most tests if I defaulted to the opposite (i.e. selecting multiple answers for each ambiguous question). I felt that this belief was also circumstantially supported by the inclusion of choice e, All of the above. That implies that, unless choice e is correct, only one applies. If more than one answer was meant to be circled, choice e would not have been necessary; answers a through d could individually be circled. Having reasoned that a DNS Server is the only one not mandatory, I eliminated choices d and e. I was lost. The answer, then, was neither none of the above (since the manual settings can be avoided using DHCP) or a, b, c. I ended up choosing c, Default Gateway, because I knew it could be configured separately from the IP address and Subnet mask in Windows 95 and 98. That, to me, was the best answer.

I asked him about it in class later, and he said that the IP address and Subnet mask settings still needed to be there and that the best answer was a, b, c. I had had it with this guy and so I just said, "Forget it. It's the last day of class. I'm not going to argue with you." And then I get the test back at the end of the class and the points deducted don't even match the score I was given. He collected everybody's tests at break, except for mine. If I hadn't noticed a blank beside my name, I probably would have received a zero. He didn't record my score until after class, only beacuse I asked him to. But even now, my score is lower than I deserve. I'm pissed, but there's nothing I can do about it. He knows I don't want to see him again as it is--and he's completely right.

There was a question last week, equally poorly written. His justification for the answer? "In the ideal situation, the answer I chose is right." He didn't specify that it was an ideal situation--and even then, I still wouldn't agree with his answer. Any other teacher would have given me credit for the question or annulled it. I would not be so disappointed and upset if his ineptitude was confined to a few lousy test questions; it is apparent in both his lecture style and his ability to judge the knowledge acquired by his students throughout the course. Even if this guy isn't out to get me specifically, he's one heck of a rotten educator. The thing that annoys me most is that after class people were thanking him for his wonderful teaching. During break all they can do is bitch and complain about him. I suppose there's a lesson for me to learn here: The instructor is always right... and he darn well knows it, so it's absolute futility to contradict. It's absolute futility to learn, if miseducation is all that's available; just shrug it off and move on. That's what the others did. Higher learning is great.