You know, it is funny but yesterday I was driving a student to and from
Toronto for a talk and had a lot of time to chat (poor student). I was
recalling two of the smartest kids I knew in lawschool. I don't remember
if they attended lectures. They certainly didn't do any work until the
day or two before the exam (those were the days of 100 percent finals on
12 month courses) where they would borrow notes from someone or cobble
together bits and pieces from a text and then proceed to pass. They were
delightful kids, unbelievably smart and just had more important (?)
things going on their lives than studying -- like reading really
interesting books etc. Of course those of us who had to do the grunt
work loved to hate them tho' in truth we were all close friends. I only
know what happened to one of them. He is a highly successful senior
barrister in Sydney and I came to the conclusion that his study skills
were perfect preparation for his career -- unbelievable bursts of fast
preparation, integration of diverse concepts under high pressure etc etc.
The problem with all of our students who do not appear to be following
our every word is they make us feel redundant. I also recall, however,
the perfect student in one of my early classes -- appeared to hang on
every pearl of wisdom, write diligently etc and didn't have a clue and
failed (maybe he was writing a novel). Just an excellent actor.
Ultimately, students work or don't work, pass or fail. We just should
never fall into the trap of doing their work for them (and I agree, we
should make sure normal rules of courtesy are applied in the classroom).
If students don't do the work, most aren't smart enough to pass. So be
it. If we use our customer parallel: a customer can come into our store,
pay for our goods, and leave. But if they don't read the instructions,
and can't work out how to use the product, it isn't our job to go to
their home and work it for them.
Sally
[log in to unmask] wrote:
>Keith,
>
>When I was an MPA student at Alabama there was a guy in my public personnel administration class (this was a combined senior level undergraduate and graduate level course) who always showed up 5 minutes late, never with anything other than the grey sweats he always seemed to wear - no paper, no books, no backpack, nothing. One day the professor finally offered to get him some paper (and a pen!) so he could take notes. Those of us who were students in the class genuinely disliked this young man because we felt he made the rest of us look bad. There were probably 25 of us and we wanted the professor to know we really were working hard. Toward the end of the class our professor, exacerbated by almost a semester's worth of nothing from this student, finally asked him what he wanted to do with his life. He mumbled something about maybe moving to Israel and after the final, we never saw him again. That was in the fall of 1993.
>
>Fast forward to today -- While I had thought that student was the epitome of laziness, it turns out he was merely the vanguard of the throngs of students that have graced my classes since I started teaching full-time in 2001. While some people may disagree with my methods, I don't believe in coddling students or passing them merely because their tuition check cleared the bank. Now on day one, after handing out course syllabi, I give my students a power point presentation on the rules of the class. I make it clear that I would rather you fake it than sit there doing nothing. Last semester I had four students sitting in class in the back with no books, paper or anything else. I asked if I might could possibly run out to the local McDonald's pick them up a danish or maybe some coffee and hashbrowns as I didn't want my lecture to interfere with their social hour. They (and the rest of the class) got the message. And students who tend not to do the work, tend not to do well in the course as we quiz over every two chapters in the text (this makes up for 50% of their grade in my largest class).
>
>My most basic premise is this: despite what my students may or may not do in class, I ultimately write the tests they have to pass in order to get a grade in my course. If the students cause my level of frustration to rise, I merely write a test that is more difficult than the last. When they don't pass, the admonition that taking notes usually helps seems to settle in a little more. I have to give you kudos for all the bleeding you are doing on those last tests. I've noticed that when students see a paper smothered in red ink, it gets their attention.
>
>Many of us here feel and understand your pain!!
>
>RDP
>
>
>---------------------------------------------
>Richard D. Parker, Ph.D.
>Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing and Advertising
>Vice President, Southern Association of Canadian Studies
>University of Arkansas at Little Rock
>375 Reynolds Business Center
>2801 South University Avenue
>Little Rock, AR 72204-1099
>501-569-8861
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