Every University student has at one time or another pondered which class is the most difficult at LSU.
The Faculty Senate has quantified this issue by ranking the University courses with the highest average numbers of D and F grades, as well as “W’s” for classes.
Economics 2000 has the highest average DFW rate for the past five years with 34.4 percent, followed by History 1003 with 32.4 percent.
While the percentages change year to year, the average percentage list is based on data from 2005 to 2009.
Karl Roider, alumni professor who teaches a History 1003 class, said he was surprised to see the western civilization class so high on the list.
Roider said the fact that the course is a general education class and is typically taken by underclassmen could be possible explanations for the high DFW percentage.
The poor grades are not a trend with Roider’s smaller classes that include older students, where he sees few upperclassmen on Facebook or texting, he said.
Ritu Roy, psychology sophomore who took History 1003 as a freshman, said the subject matter could be a cause for the low grades.
“A lot of people don’t like history,” Roy said.
Roy said the class required a lot of writing, with essay and short-answer tests.
“They are ‘gateway’ courses that, in some degree, measure aptitude for specific areas for study. Hence, the higher rate of low grades,” Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille.
Cope said these courses are typically graded objectively instead of the grade inflation on which smaller courses are based.
University Registrar Robert Doolos said it’s interesting that many large classes taught in the Cox Communications Center for Student Athletes Auditorium are not on the list.
He said it’s hard to determine which courses at the University are the most difficult because it depends on how an individual defines the course.
The Mathematics Department had the most classes make the list with four of the top 10 being 1000-level math classes.
Phoebe Rouse, precalculus mathematics director, said the numbers surprised her because the national average for people passing college algebra is 50 percent, but the pass rate at the University is 71 percent.
An A, B or C grade is considered passing, Rouse said.
Grades in several math classes have improved since 2006, when the MyMathLab program and the Pleasant Hall labs were introduced at the University, Rouse said.
Rouse said the students who take these classes are not science, technology, engineering or mathematics majors, meaning most of the students dislike math or lack strong math backgrounds.
“We work hard to get students in and out in one semester so they can go on toward their major,” Rouse said.
Kiara Johnson, biology freshman, said she doesn’t think Mathematics 1021 will be one of the hardest classes she takes during her academic career and believes some people get poor grades because they consider it a “blow off” class.
Although the Pleasant Hall math labs have strict policies about cell phones, studying for other classes and browsing the Web, it isn’t 100 percent effective in making students use lab effectively, said Ashley Ericksen, chemical engineering senior and tutor at the math lab.
“I really think people don’t take advantage of time in here,” Ericksen said.
Science classes were also present on the list, with Chemistry 1201 at fourth place with a 30 percent DFW rate and Biology 1201 at fifth place with 27.6 percent.
 
 
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Contact Celeste Ansley at [email protected]