Payam: I teach lots of first year and sophomore students. I find exactly what you do, that they don't come to office hours, don't ask for help, and don't follow instructions. However, when I can get them to talk about this, it boils down to them being intimidated by us, afraid of looking stupid, believing they can "wing it" or bring their grades up on their own. Often they THINK they understand the assignment and so would have no reason to ask for help. I require all students who get below 70% on any exam to have a meeting with me and set up a study plan. This helps when I tell them that many of their classmates have the same problem and that the first year of college is always the hardest because high school is a completely different kind of experience and they are not prepared to do critical thinking. I tell them I get paid to help them and that if they don't take advantage of my help, I am not doing my job and they are not doing their job as students. I think if you never move beyond blaming them and being angry, your prospects for happiness as a teacher as well as finding a tenure track job will be lessened as one of the things hiring committees look for is a real passion for teaching, which involves at least the attempt at reaching out to students and working WITH them. The longer I am in this gig, the more and more I come to love first year students. It's certainly draining and challenging, but they are so full of life.
Payam Heidary wrote: > Retta, > > My experiences have not been similar to yours. You say > that you give very clear and specific instructions and > that you find students following them. This is NOT the > case with my students. You may have upper division or > graduate students who have learned their lessons > through more experience but if you teach freshman and > sophomores like I do then I am certain you will not > have the same experiences. I also think that apathy > has a lot to do with it because if students did not > understand anything but cared enough to want to > understand then you would expect them to seek more > assistance such as coming to office hours, attending > the tutoring and writing center on campus, etc. But > clearly most students do not do this. Just go to the > tutoring and writing center on your campus and ask > them how many students they actually assist per day > and how many come in for help and compare that to the > number of students needing help and you will see what > I mean. > > Payam > > --- Retta Poe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I think we should be very cautious in making > > attributions of student > > apathy when students don't do what we think they > > should. One of the things I > > have learned in nearly 30 years of teaching is that > > at least some of the time > > (if not most of the time), when students don't do > > things the way I want them > > to, it's because 1. they haven't understood what I > > want, 2. they haven't > > understood that I _really do_ want something done a > > particular way (i.e., that > > I really CARE), or 3. they lack the skills to do > > what I want. > > So I try to figure out a way to address each of > > these. To address the > > first situation, I say what I want, I write it out > > clearly on a handout, and > > sometimes I even give them a quiz over the details > > of the assignment. If they > > have to take a quiz, they pay attention! > > For the second, I spend some time telling them > > why I care about some > > requirement, and I try to offer reasons that sound > > beneficial to them. For > > example, I tell them that I want papers > > double-spaced so that I can have space > > to write comments and suggestions. I tell them that > > I want a cover page so > > that their privacy is protected when I hand back the > > papers - others won't be > > able to see their grade and my comments on the paper > > because the cover page > > will "cover" the paper. > > For the third, I consider whether my students > > can reasonably be expected > > to already have the skills in question. If not, I > > don't lose any sleep > > worrying about why not - I just try to figure out > > how to help them acquire > > those skills. > > As for motivation - I do specify some clear > > contingencies for > > reinforcement and punishment, and I stick to them. > > For example, I do not want > > late papers, and I do not want to reinforce > > procrastination. So papers are > > due at class time on the dates specified. Papers > > turned in up to 24 hours > > late receive half-credit, and after 24 hours, papers > > aren't accepted (of > > course, I do make exceptions for extraordinary > > circumstances beyond the > > student's control). Guess what: last Friday, when I > > had papers due in one > > class, I received an on-time paper from every single > > student. > > What's more, I also do not receive criticism for > > my policy on my student > > evaluations. I think it's probably because 1. I > > make the policy very clear, > > and 2. I explain that I don't think it's fair to the > > conscientious students to > > give the less-conscientious students extra time to > > do their papers, so I am > > making sure that I don't reward students for being > > less conscientious. > > I guess my point is that I think apathy probably > > accounts for only a very > > small percentage of the problems various Tipsters > > have mentioned. Also, I > > would like to suggest that it may be useful to > > collect some data on this > > point. When students don't do what you want, why > > not conduct a brief, > > anonymous survey to ask them why they didn't do what > > you wanted? That way, > > you can know what you need to do differently. I > > have tried this at times, and > > I have found it to be very helpful. > > > > Retta > > > > -- > > Retta E. Poe, Ph.D. > > Professor of Psychology > > Western Kentucky University > > 1 Big Red Way > > Bowling Green, Ky. 42101 > > > > (270) 745-4409 FAX: (270) 745-6934 > > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://edtech.cebs.wku.edu/~rpoe/ > > > > "Live long, and prosper!" > > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Find a job, post your resume. > http://careers.yahoo.com > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- *********** Tasha R. Howe, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Psychology (Developmental) Transylvania University 300 N. Broadway Lexington, KY 40508 Phone: (859) 233-8144 FAX: (859) 281-3507 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.transy.edu/homepages/thowe/ftpdpages/index2.html Another website I created: http://www.scbwi-midsouth.com/ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
