October 3, 2008

Students 101

By P. SVEN ARVIDSON

Every professor encounters difficult students. Some students are simply uninterested, while others are more troublesome. The aggressive passive-aggressive student, the interrupter, the hijacker, the shy student — most faculty members are familiar with them all. And, as I have learned firsthand over many years of teaching, faculty members must approach each type in a slightly different way:

Uninterested Students. On any given day of teaching, most faculty members teach some