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[expatinuk]

Don't do homework. Homework is so HIGH SCHOOL.

[smart_e_pantz]

Don't do homework. Homework is so HIGH SCHOOL.

I would love to eliminate homework in my stats class.  But, if I do, I know full well that about half my students would fail the class because they would not look at the book until the night before the exam--if then!  This would be okay with me if not for the fact that I teach at a SLAC where nothing is EVER the students' responsibilities.

[dr_prephd]

I got a zero once on an unstapled paper.  I went to the bookstore and spent 99 cents on a travel-sized stapler for my bookbag.  Never happend again!

[wiley]

Thank you all for your responses. I've decided to continue not bringing a stapler for my students to use. Since I return homework by letting them rummage through a stack after class, perhaps the inconvenience of lost/mixed up papers will lead them to the path of enlightenment.

Maybe once I am tenured I will start deducting points, because I do feel that this needs to be corrected. Many of the classes I teach are at the pre-college level (I'm at a CC), and so I feel I owe it to my students' future teachers and to the students to train the students to be college students.

[yatchie]

Ok, this is my first time teaching -- it's a university transferable stats class at a cc.  I was amazed at how many papers came in unstapled.  I had explicitly stated in my syllabus that homework must be stapled, too.  I mean, I just finished grad school, and you bet I would track down a stapler, or even buy one from the bookstore if I knew I was going to lose points for homework.  I debated about providing one for them or if it was really worth getting upset over.  But I finally settled on this -- I found out there are two staplers in the library, one at the reserve desk and one at the reference desk.  (I put all my handouts on reserve so they should figure out where that was anyway.)  I told them that the library opens one hour before class and that if they need a stapler they could staple their papers there.  (It's a 2 minute walk.)  Since then, if they turn in homework unstapled, they get one warning, then I just won't grade it.  So far it has worked.  Now how do I get them do bring a calculator to the tests???

[diana_prince]

Is it possible to use a web-based course management tool like WebCT or Blackboard? This solved so many problems with students not following directions. It really puts a lot of course management back on the students, although there's a time commitment from the instructor initially.

I didn't have to worry about whether papers were stapled since the students submitted all of their assignments online in the assignment dropbox. The assignment dropbox closed at midnight on the due date. If the assignment wasn't submitted by then, per the course syllabus, points were deducted. The syllabus and all other course materials were available online.

If math teachers are able to use WebCT or Blackboard and still have students show their work, I'd like to know how they accomplish this.

[yatchie]

Believe it or not, not all colleges use the internet (let alone Blackboard)!  Very few instructors post anything online at the school I am teaching at, and students are not required to have access.  I post all my handouts online, but too many were complaining that they couldn't open pdfs or their connections were flakey, so I just put an additional copy on reserve in the library.  Slightly more work for me, but now they have no excuses.

[trentsands]

I second diane on web-based course management tools.  I find that it helps put the expectations back on the students because not only am I providing information information in the classroom, or sometimes via email, all information produced for class goes on the web, where it is almost always accessible 24 hours a day.  My students have absolutely no excuse not to know the information, from stapling homework to how many pages to write.

[cc_alan]

Don't do homework. Homework is so HIGH SCHOOL.

I disagree.

In math and science classes it gives students a chance to work problems and see if they really understand the material. In an assigned text, there are so many problems that it can be overwhelming to the student. Assigning problems gives them something to work from.

Of course, many students go to the extreme and think all exams problems should be just like homework problems. I get comments on my evaluations to that effect- "exams problems aren't like the homework problems."

I had a student complain to me in class after an exam was passed back.

Student- "Sheesh. Your exams are nothing like the homework problems or what we cover in lecture. And I understood the material."

Me- "Really?"

Students- "Yes, and we've all talked about it."

Me-"Huh. Let's look at one of the exam problems that people had a difficult time with. First, you'll find the concepts of this problem in your lecture notes when we discussed topics a, b, and c. Second, this exam problem is really a combination of homework problems x and y. If you *really* understood the concepts like you said you did, you had the basics down. And if you understood those assigned homework problems, you should have been able to do that exam problem. I would look at that exam problem and see how you did on it. If you did poorly, I would seriously question your understanding of the material."

I feel that it is my job to help the students learn how to be students. They need to learn not only what questions to ask but how to ask them.

Homework problems give them something to question their knowledge. When they come with homework problems, I can then work with them to see the concepts they don't really understand and help them.

Alan