next »

[2nd Year Prof]

I teach 3 sections of an undergrad ed. psych. class.  I give them all the terms (more than will be on the test, of course) ahead of time, and all of the essay questions because I have found they overstudy and learn the material better, and there's no whining about "I didn't know it would be on the test".  In the last two days the following have been my experiences:
1. A phone call at 11 pm last night from a student who says she has been working too much to study.  She says she will be glad to show me her time card.
2. Some incredible emails; examples?  "Hello. I have been filling out the study guide this weekend and haven't been able to find "Response Cost" or "Fading". If
you could tell me where I could find those answers, I'd
appreciate it" and "After working on the study guide I have a few questions.
There were a few of the vocab words that I could not find.
They were response cost, hierarchial learning, and fading.
I'm not sure if I can be online for the study session
tonight, so if you could please e-mail those terms and their
definitions back to me that would be great. Thank you, hope
you had a good weekend."
3. During an online study session a student told me "if you asked better questions it would be easier to find the answers".
4. A student who said, "I know you've suggested two pages for each essay, but I don't want to write more than one."

I've been teaching grades 9-grad for over 20 years.  Is it just me, or have students become incredibly demanding and incredibly passive at the same time?

[Velma]

Some students seem as though they can never be satisfied. They are bottomless pits of academic need. The adage "give 'em an inch and they take a mile" springs to mind. No matter what you do, what you give them to prepare for the exam, some students will continue to demand more. I have found that I need to set strict limits (detailed in my syllabus) based on what I feel comfortable with in terms of hand-holding, stick with the limits, and curtail the inevitable whining with good humor and a change of subject. My limits: I do not post my Power Point lectures online, nor do I give them a study guide before the comprehensive, essay final exam.

[%sig%]

[Ex-adjunct]

I think many students are lazy and/or dumb, too. I just returned an exam on which 5 out of the 12 questions were assigned word for word as homework, and an additional one was done in class the day before. I alloted the day before class to review and questions, and most students left by about halfway through. Half the class failed...

[tamiam]

It's like the cops who get us to say "thank you" after they give us a ticket. It's all about marketing.

Make the first quiz of the semester really hard, preferably multiple choice so they'll think it's "supposed to be easy". Then, anything you do to make their lives easier (i.e. to get them to learn the material in a meaningful way) will make you a hero.

See, they will always want more. We know this. It's a negotiation; start low and be willing to "give" up to the point you feel comfortable.

And the answer to all the questions about definitions should be "it's in your notes. Oh, you weren't there that day? Well, you'd better check with another student then. Have a fun time studying".

[Zarkov]

I've had similar comments over time, and in a totally different field.

I think that part of the problem is that many students don't read the text, or perhaps they read poorly.  That is, maybe they read the text like a piece of light reading.  Some also don't take good notes, or skip classes.  (I'm guessing the terms you mentioned are in the text or were covered in your lectures.)

Basing exams on homework usually works pretty well for me, at least with the middle to upper range of students who do the homework and ask questions in class.  I don't know what to do about the slackers, who don't do the homework and skip class.  (Even when homework is part of the grade.)

PS:  I agree about the passivity, and I think it come out in how questions are sometimes asked.  "I don't understand what that means."  Gee, could you be more specific?

[history grrrl]

I give out the same kind of study guide; in fact, I distributed one last week for a midterm that will be held tomorrow. I didn't get emails quite as ridiculous as yours, but did have a student email to ask for details about two of the IDs (both pieces of Congressional legislation) because she "didn't write down their names" in her notes. I suggested that, if her notes were incomplete, she might do a little research in the books that are listed under Suggested Readings in the syllabus and on reserve in the library. I mean, come on! This is stuff you could look up in Wikipedia.

A few students emailed to ask whether they would have a choice of questions at the actual exam (a clever way of asking whether there are some questions they can avoid preparing -- answer, "No"). And then there was the message I got a few hours ago -- 24 hours before the exam -- asking if I could email the study guide because they were all gone from the box outside the department office.

I use the study guides because I think it helps students to be more focused in their exam prep, thereby resulting in more coherent exams. But sometimes I wonder if it just heightens their expectations of being spoonfed.

[%sig%]

[I don't know either]

"I don't know what to do about the slackers, who don't do the homework and skip class. "

You're kidding, right?  Flunk them and move on.

[Re the study guides]

Are the study guides like a Cliff's Notes? If they read the study guide and cram what it says, they don't have to do the course reading??

If that's the case, it does sound like spoonfeeding/dumbing down, and you're doing more work and they're doing less.



>
>
> I use the study guides because I think it helps students to be
> more focused in their exam prep, thereby resulting in more
> coherent exams. But sometimes I wonder if it just heightens
> their expectations of being spoonfed.
>

[%sig%]

[history grrrl]

No, it's nothing like that. I just give them an expanded version of the actual exam. Let's say the actual exam will have six IDs and two short essays. They get a sheet with 12 IDs and four short essays. The idea is that they can prepare ahead of time, thereby maximizing thoughtfulness and coherence (hopefully), but they won't know which ones they'll have to write when they show up for the actual test. They can't use their notes during the test, obviously.


Re the study guides wrote:

> Are the study guides like a Cliff's Notes? If they read the
> study guide and cram what it says, they don't have to do the
> course reading??
>
> If that's the case, it does sound like spoonfeeding/dumbing
> down, and you're doing more work and they're doing less.
>
>
>
> >
> >
> > I use the study guides because I think it helps students to
> be
> > more focused in their exam prep, thereby resulting in more
> > coherent exams. But sometimes I wonder if it just heightens
> > their expectations of being spoonfed.
> >
>

[%sig%]

[wondering]

What is an ID??? Individual dilemma?

[original me]

ID= identification

I, too, use study guides that are pretty much identical to History Grrrl's.  ( I also teach history)

I find that despite some of the annoying questions like above, the guide cuts waaaay down on a lot of post-exam complaining.  In theory, they prepare all of the terms and essays on the guide and my hope is that they will learn something in the process.

[wondering]

Thanks OM. But identifying what? historical dates and events? Why is it called ID and not memory work?

[history grrrl]

"Identify the following and explain its historical significance:"

There's a wide range of possibilities: Radical Reconstruction, Brown v. Board of Education, social settlement movement, Truman Doctrine, Gulf of Tonkin incident, Wagner Act, etc., etc. But it's not just memorization; it's explaining why the event/action/etc. is important.


wondering wrote:

> Thanks OM. But identifying what? historical dates and events?
> Why is it called ID and not memory work?

[%sig%]

[memory what?]

We call them IDs too, I've never heard of memory work.

Since I could no longer stand the crappy exams students were returning, I now give weekly quizzes covering "memory work" to make sure they're keeping up with the facts, and then 4 take home essay exams spaced through the semester.  

They get to choose 2 of 3 questions and I expect a 2-3 pg thoughtful essay for each, well typed and proofed in a few days.  I try to structure questions that make them pull threads together and contribute something of their own view to it.

I feel they engage with the material and integrate it better this way and actually learn it instead of regurgitate it.  Probably just my rose-colored glasses there.

But it's cut down the "is this going to be on the exam" and frantic night-before exam emails asking what terms mean. (Now they're about computers and printers crashing, corrupted disks, etc.)

[%sig%]

[Fiona]

"Memory what?" may have the right idea for what to do with students who have short attention spans.

I've been doing more and shorter assignments, too, though back before the Civil War (and how many students can give you the correct dates for that???) I used to prefer long research papers.

[%sig%]