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
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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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