Had to add my 5 cents
Responding to the reality that we were probably not perfect students either.
I completely remember playing the "do the minimum and maintain the GPA" game
in college. Even in grad school, while juggling work, school, and personal
life, there were textbooks and readings I did not completely keep up with,
etc. I guess the point is I understand that we may not be that different
from today's students.
However, The big (and often shocking) difference for me is this. When I
attended classes, no matter how I felt about the class, I had the sense to
present myself to the instructor as a highly motivated and dedicated
student, regardless of my interest level or occasional lack of preparation.
Also, if I hadn't properly prepared for a class, for whatever the reason, I
tried to bring as little attention to that as possible.
On the other hand, many of my students proudly make statements that I would
have considered (and still do) academic suicide. They often make it known
that your class is not even close to a priority. And if that's not bad
enough, they inform you that they have no intention of reading the book, or
even buying it. To make it worse, this lack of preparation does not prevent
them from asking uninformed and irrelevant questions.
Maybe college was more intimidating to me. Maybe it was good manners. I
actually recall as a 1st or 2nd grader when we were obligated to sit "eyes
up and at ready" with pen and paper on desk before our teacher entered the
class. Was I dreaming?
That was the problem. Here's my solution.
I like to think of our current students as having a skills deficit and help
them identify and develop a set of behaviors that they may not have ever
really learned. Such as body language that indicates interest, eye contact,
note-taking behavior.
When I teach freshman seminars, I usually bring this topic up and find that
there is some resistance to the idea that maybe they could stop using their
backpacks like a pillow on their desks, and instead, have a pen and an open
notebook on the desk. Some have actually argued that it would be dishonest
to act like they want to be there, when they really don't - which is another
whole topic. Anyway, I found that I have to convince them that its to their
benefit (in terms of grades) to act motivated (to act "as if") and that
looking prepared and interested can be almost as important to their success
as being prepared. Third grade stuff for me, but maybe not this cohort of
students.
On the good manners. I try to get them to see that, even though they may
hate a course, their instructors have probably dedicated much of their lives
to it and they are not likely to respond positively when a student devalues
their life's interest. Unless I'm fooling myself, or they're using my
suggestions to fool me I think my freshmen seminar students tend to respond
better if I frame it this way (with lots of examples and dialog of course).
I use myself as an example and let them know that I feel pretty bad when I'm
teaching a class about psychology, something that I really love, and they
look like they are undergoing dental surgery. Not only do I feel bad but I
may start to wonder if its my teaching skills, if my teaching is off the
mark, which they all deny, of course. I guess I try to generate a little
empathy for us here. The "we're people too" routine.
Haydee Gelpi
Broward Community College
Florida
-----Original Message-----
From: Esther Yoder Strahan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 9:00 AM
To: Stephen W Tuholski; TIPS
Subject: Re: Student goals, expectations
Dear Tipsters:
I understand how this issue of low student aspirations frustrates us as
profs, but I can also remember fairly clearly (or, given the nature of
memory, I believe I remember clearly) my own attitude as an undergrad.
I always intended to go to grad school (some day) and was an "A" student
who wished to maintain that GPA. However, depending on the nature of the
course and my relationship with the prof, I played games like finding what
was the least possible work I could do and still get an "A." This was
academic brinksmanship (brinkspersonship?? :{ ) with no emphasis on
learning at all. I also remember what (who) really engaged my passion, and
frankly my microbiology class was no competition.
Just my pitch for keeping in mind that our profs would have had reason to
tear their hair out about many of us, and that we can stimulate and engage
only to the extent that the student allows us to...
Esther
At 04:08 PM 2/27/01 -0600, Stephen W Tuholski wrote:
>Mike,
>
>Wow. 1 in 25.
>
>It has been suggested to me before that this is a real problem. We may
>want to teach at a high level, and try to motivate our students to learn
>the material, but at the end of the day many students only want to
>pass. I find this very depressing, although it does explain poor grade
>distributions despite my best efforts... you can lead some students to the
>classroom, but you can't make them want to learn....
>
>
>****************************************************************
>Stephen W. Tuholski Ph.D.
>Asst. Professor
>Dept. of Psychology
>Southern Illinois U. at Edwardsville
>Edwardsville IL 62026
>Phone: 618 650 5391
>Fax: 618 650 5087
>http://www.siue.edu/~stuhols
>
>"Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so."
> - Bertrand
> Russell
>***************************************************************
>
Esther Yoder Strahan, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Heidelberg College
310 E. Market St.
Tiffin, Ohio 44883
U.S.A.
Tel. (419) 448-2238
Fax (419) 448-2236
