January 16, 2008
An Undercover Prof and the Clueless Students
To help or not to help: That is the question that FemaleScienceProfessor asked herself while she was quietly working in her campus center and overheard a bunch of very confused students studying for a test in her subject area.
My first thought was: I’ll offer to help them. They might be freaked out that a professor overheard them being clueless, but they clearly need help.
Then I heard them talking about how much they hated the class.
In the end, feeling quite the coward, she didn’t step forward, figuring that the students would have been mortified if she had identified herself. Next time she has to hang out at the campus center, she’ll wear her special Science Professor hat and socks to make her status clear.
In the comments , “liberal arts chemist” suggests donning socks and sandals as professorial garb.
Richard Monastersky | Posted on Wednesday January 16, 2008 | PermalinkComments
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Socks and sandals? I’m afraid the only thing that getup will identify you as is a total dork.
— marci Jan 16, 04:44 PM #
The students must have been aware that they could be overheard, so it was a chance for the professor to discuss with them the contrast between their covert feelings and their enrollment in that class. Are they heading for careers in which they will spend alienated lives? Shouldn’t faculty intervene when students feel so disinterested from their learning, at least giving them a chance to talk about the alienation? Or do we just take student disinterest and anger for granted?
— Diogenes Jan 16, 05:05 PM #
I like the socks and sandals idea. Overcome the ‘cowardice’ (not my word for this situation), help the students anyway, and use an engaging sing-song voice. They’ll think hard before sounding off about other students and the prof — in public, at least. From the hotlink, that’s what they really wanted to gripe about.
— wm Jan 16, 05:57 PM #
Good idea…and undergraduate students should all wear beanie caps…different colors for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Grad and post grad students wear nothing….errr, that is, they are hatless.
— Jester Jan 16, 07:52 PM #
Sometimes a simple “Can I help? It sounds like you’ve got a problem.” can defuse the situation. If students already understood everything, they’d be teaching the class—and most students are attuned to this.
— Jeff Jan 16, 09:26 PM #
what’s wrong with good old fashion name/id tags?
— sue Jan 16, 09:48 PM #