This is a rant about my students. Some of them, at least. WHY do some students think that they should be given the answers to everything and not be required to think for themselves or do any work to receive a good grade? I was just reading through the course evaluations and I'm seriously pissed at them right now. What part of REVIEW can some of them NOT understand? A review sheet is supposed to be a review of everything covered since the last exam, NOT "all the test questions in advance." Be glad you're even GETTING a review sheet for the exams, since I'm not required to give them. ESPECIALLY since I give you fucking extra credit if you complete it and hand it in.

Of COURSE the class is hard. It's a fucking university-level biology class, not 8th-grade science! There is a limit to how much I can simplify material before the theory behind it is lost. Yes, I'm sorry I can't spend more time on certain topics or give more hands-on activities, but I have 14 chapters to cover in a class that only meets once a week for less than two hours. That's why I've made it very clear that you need to ask questions, come up and talk to me, or email me if you don't understand the material.

I am seriously steaming here. Fucking ingrates. We REALLY need a "pissed as fucking hell" icon.

They're coming out of our public education system that tells them they're amazing and gifted just for breathing. They can't handle having to put forth effort and have real expectations.

I returned to college after having gone 15 years earlier and I was SHOCKED at the difference. No more cumulative finals, minimal major assignments, extra credit, extreme forgiveness of poor grammar and spelling...the list goes on and on. And these kids will cry and/or have their parents call the professors if they don't like their grades!

OMG, I don't envy you!

They're coming out of our public education system that tells them they're amazing and gifted just for breathing. They can't handle having to put forth effort and have real expectations.

I returned to college after having gone 15 years earlier and I was SHOCKED at the difference. No more cumulative finals, minimal major assignments, extra credit, extreme forgiveness of poor grammar and spelling...the list goes on and on. And these kids will cry and/or have their parents call the professors if they don't like their grades!

OMG, I don't envy you!

This is why I'm seriously starting to consider just going into government or private work. I mean, sure I occasionally get good students that seem to appreciate me and realize that they need to put in effort, but they are FAR outnumbered by the assholes who think they deserve an A for just showing up. It just REALLY pisses me off when I read my evaluations (that go to my department head, no less) and I'm getting absolutely slammed in them because I'm not treating them like 10 year-olds, or because of something that I can't control, like the amount of material we go over (I have a set list of topics that my department requires me to cover).

I can relate. Of course, we cannot strike at the root of the problem until and unless we come clean that college is not for everyone and it should not be used as a "union card" for most professions.

On an semi-related note about the decline of the academy, see 02138 § A Million Little Writers It is not just students who are gaming the system.

~~Amaara

I can relate. Of course, we cannot strike at the root of the problem until and unless we come clean that college is not for everyone and it should not be used as a "union card" for most professions.

On an semi-related note about the decline of the academy, see 02138 § A Million Little Writers It is not just students who are gaming the system.

~~Amaara

Yep, I fully agree. Not everyone should be going to college. There are so many people pushed into it by their parents or by expectations, when they really shouldn't be there. People are so afraid of hurting little Jimmy's feelings by criticizing him that they're just doing him a disservice. I've got students that have completely flunked out of college in the past (and now they're flunking my class, too). You'd think that they'd realize, "Hey, maybe this isn't right for me" or "Maybe I should take some time off and get some real-world experience and then see if I want to come back."

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people becoming what they want to be. But ONLY if that's really what they want to be and if they can hack it.

As an academic, that article gives me the shudders. It's despicable (the practice, not the article).

They're coming out of our public education system that tells them they're amazing and gifted just for breathing. They can't handle having to put forth effort and have real expectations.

I returned to college after having gone 15 years earlier and I was SHOCKED at the difference. No more cumulative finals, minimal major assignments, extra credit, extreme forgiveness of poor grammar and spelling...the list goes on and on. And these kids will cry and/or have their parents call the professors if they don't like their grades!

OMG, I don't envy you!

You know what? Sit down for this... We completely and totally agree on this topic.

I think one reason for the dumbing down of grammar and spelling (at least when I was teaching ... short lived!) was that most of my students didn't speak much English. I had one class where there was no majority or minority. They were from all over the world. There was one native English speaking person in the class and that was me.

Ever try to teach anatomy to people who don't speak English? It was spooky. I finally gave up. The students were as sweet as they come, they were hard working, they wanted to do well. But when everyone in the room doesn't speak the same language it is amazingly hard to teach any subject.

You know what? Sit down for this... We completely and totally agree on this topic.

.

Hey, sumtimz i knuwlegible.

And judgmental.

I agree - college is not for everybody. I wonder about my 12 y.o. He's smart as a whip but just not a "scholar" and I really don't think he'll be much of a college student, but here, if you're white middle class and don't go straight to college, people are shocked. As for my 16 y.o., he's the scholarly one and he goes out of district to the top academic HS in the state. I was really leery of it at first, since they have a modular schedule with free periods during the day, during which juniors and seniors are allowed to leave campus. I thought it was too much freedom. But the school swears by it and I'm starting to see that it does make them budget their time and prepare better for a college schedule -

Way back when I was young and working in my first career incarnation I used to be an undergraduate admissions counsellor for a well-known and respected Canadian university. The people I dealt with were those who were not among the current crop of Ontario highschool graduates. This meant I routinely reviewed students holding foreign qualifications in terms of their eligibility to our programmes. All students whose first language was not English and who had not previously completed qualifying studies in English were required to successfully pass a test showing that they are proficient in the English language. The situation which Wasa ran into would never have happened at this university.

We also required all students to have a strong academic background with high grades. This is how it should be, I think.

Academics aren't for everybody. A democratic and egalitarian society should mean that everyone of equal ability is given an equal chance; it does not mean that everyone has equal ability. Short, chubby, elderly women do not expect to have careers as models, do they? Why then should mediocre students expect to be given university degrees?

I have a suggestion for you, Laurend. Perhaps you might prepare some sort of statement as to what university is all about and what your expectations will be with respect to the academic performance of your students. You might read this to them during your first session with them, ask them if they have any questions which they would like to raise, and then send a printed copy home with each and everyone of them. Then when they start to whine you can shut them up by referring to The Statement. :heh:

I have a suggestion for you, Laurend. Perhaps you might prepare some sort of statement as to what university is all about and what your expectations will be with respect to the academic performance of your students. You might read this to them during your first session with them, ask them if they have any questions which they would like to raise, and then send a printed copy home with each and everyone of them. Then when they start to whine you can shut them up by referring to The Statement. :heh:

Ooh, I like that idea, Green! If I'm still teaching next semester, I just might do that. (I don't know yet whether I will be or not. I've applied for a few jobs, so I'm waiting to hear from them before I commit to teaching.)

Good luck on the jobs.

Yes, good luck! I know job hunting can be nerve-wracking.

~~Amaara

Good luck on the jobs.

Yes, good luck! I know job hunting can be nerve-wracking.

~~Amaara

Thanks, guys! I don't know whether to wish that I get one of the positions or wish that I don't. One's in Georgia and the other is in Florida, so it could make finishing my thesis on time pretty tough, depending on how often I would need to be back in Kentucky to do something. On the other hand, I'm REALLY starting to feel like I need a break from teaching for a while.

Thanks, guys! I don't know whether to wish that I get one of the positions or wish that I don't. One's in Georgia and the other is in Florida, so it could make finishing my thesis on time pretty tough, depending on how often I would need to be back in Kentucky to do something. On the other hand, I'm REALLY starting to feel like I need a break from teaching for a while.

At least you will be living in the same country. My friend is living in Montreal and working on his doctorat in Paris. :faint:

At least you will be living in the same country. My friend is living in Montreal and working on his doctorat in Paris. :faint:

There is that!

Lauren,

I am a Master's Level Student at UT College of Social Work and feel the same as you. The students I am in class with continually heckle the teachers, don't want to do group assignments, which is a burden on those of us that are willing to work and earn the grade. I have also run into the powers to be being to toxic to deal with, went outside her scope, and was validated. I am paying my good earned money (not on scholarship, because I work, nor do I have mommy and daddy supporting me.) I would like to learn for the money I am paying $3500 for 9 college hours.

I finished by last exam yesteday and sent my paper in today. Done until January 9, 2008.

Sharon/Memphis