Every year I teach a language course; the first semester culminates in reading/translating a text. The text is edited by me (thus not subject to copyright) and is about 22 pages long. Before CMSes were invented, I used to photocopy the text, at my expense, and sell them to the student at cost. I remember the cost started at $2 and over the years went up to $3. Then our campus launched the CMS and I just put the text online and let the students download it. Then smartphones were invented...
So now the students keep failing to download the text. They keep trying to use it on their smartphones, which will not work because it has a glossary at the end (very cumbersome to scroll back and forth from the text to the glossary) and they are supposed to be making all kinds of annotations in the text. But they complain that they don't have a printer, that they can't afford to pay the cost of getting it printed out at our computer center, etc. Some of them ask if I'll just sell them a printed copy.
I'm reluctant to print out copies for sale because I foresee that the students could still not buy them, and I'd be left having spent money and time for nothing.
How do you suggest I enforce the requirement that they have a printed copy and bring it to class?
Quote from: Hegemony on September 12, 2019, 10:41:02 AM
How do you suggest I enforce the requirement that they have a printed copy and bring it to class?
Isn't the obvious answer to penalize them if they don't do it?
They need laptops or computers for school work. They could use the in conjunction with the phone: the glossary on the phone and the other part on the laptop.
Or you could split the document into 2, the main part and the glossary, and they can switch between the two files on their phones.
But still, my main thought is if the students don't have the wits to sort it out for themselves, they they should not be passing a college course.
Maybe put some line in syllabus stating that points will be deducted for not bringing required materials to class. Make it enough points to sting for each instance.
And then print a bunch of copies to give to anyone in class who doesn't have their own hardcopy. Then you can mark right then and there on a roster or gradebook or whatever that they are having points removed.
I guess this sort of depends on how many students you have, how many times they need to have this document in class, and what your inclinations are towards having a bunch of "free but with penalty" hardcopies printed up.
I do something like this in my classes (mandatory hardcopies), but students are able to operate in class without them. They just operate very poorly. Sort of like your students using their phones I suppose. I don't know... maybe you might just leave your bad students to their poor choice of using the smartphones? For me, much would depend on how disruptive the use of phones would be.
What about printing out the glossary and distributing that?
Quote from: Hegemony on September 12, 2019, 10:41:02 AM
Every year I teach a language course; the first semester culminates in reading/translating a text. The text is edited by me (thus not subject to copyright) and is about 22 pages long. Before CMSes were invented, I used to photocopy the text, at my expense, and sell them to the student at cost. I remember the cost started at $2 and over the years went up to $3. Then our campus launched the CMS and I just put the text online and let the students download it. Then smartphones were invented...
So now the students keep failing to download the text. They keep trying to use it on their smartphones, which will not work because it has a glossary at the end (very cumbersome to scroll back and forth from the text to the glossary) and they are supposed to be making all kinds of annotations in the text. But they complain that they don't have a printer, that they can't afford to pay the cost of getting it printed out at our computer center, etc. Some of them ask if I'll just sell them a printed copy.
I'm reluctant to print out copies for sale because I foresee that the students could still not buy them, and I'd be left having spent money and time for nothing.
How do you suggest I enforce the requirement that they have a printed copy and bring it to class?
Refer to it regularly during class and assume they have a printed copy. If not, ask them to share with the students who have one. Eventually peer pressure will cause them to cough up the $2.20 to print a 22 page document.
Refer to it regularly during class and assume they have a printed copy. If not, ask them to share with the students who have one. Eventually peer pressure will cause them to cough up the $2.20 to print a 22 page document.
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This is what I've been doing for several years, and peer pressure has not been effective. I also suspect the number of points I'd have to deduct to make them get with the program would have to be something like 25% of the grade, which I am unwilling to dedicate to something that's purely a yes-or-no decision.
Bringing free copies to class seems as if it just encourages them not to download it. The ones who are on the fence will just think, "No worries, she's handing out copies, I'll get one of those rather than bothering to do it myself." But I really have a prejudice against spending my own money, not to mention the time and hassle, to enable lazy students who want the prof to do every slightly inconvenient thing for them.
I guess I will just levy a penalty on those who don't, and at least have the satisfaction of taking points off, even if it doesn't make the class go any more smoothly.
How about giving them an option at the first class to purchase a printed copy from you—BUT those interested have to give you the money right then or at the following class. You don't make the copies until you have the money, and you let them know that there won't be another chance (i.e., if they want a printed copy thereafter, they will have to get it printed out themselves).
I can see that this process might result in complaints or poor response also, but it might be worth trying.
I logged back in with an additional thought. If you try the suggestion above, I would have them write their names down on a sign-up sheet when they give you the money. I would leave two spaces at the right-hand side of the sheet. In the first you and the student would put your initials as a record of the transaction. The second space would be for receipt of the printout, and you could ask the student to initial it when you give the printout to them. Or you could do some simpler variant, but I would want to avoid any arguments over whether a student received the printout, since they would be asked to pay in advance.
Quote from: Hegemony on September 12, 2019, 10:41:02 AM
I'm reluctant to print out copies for sale because I foresee that the students could still not buy them, and I'd be left having spent money and time for nothing.
How do you suggest I enforce the requirement that they have a printed copy and bring it to class?
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but does the text change from one semester to the next? If not, excess printouts one semester could be used for subsequent semesters/students.
But if they can afford to pay you for a printed copy, they can also afford to print the text themselves. (And $2.20 for a language text is far less than any other language textbook costs.) Could you schedule part of one class in a computer lab to give them time to print the text themselves?
AR.
I had a similar problem this year: I used to require students to purchase a course pack reader at our local copy shop, which subsequently went out of business.
This year I told my students they were REQUIRED to have it in class, printed, by Day 3. I made a Big Hairy Deal about it. Only 2 did not comply. I know since I walked around the room to see who had it, and gave those without the stink-eye. My stink-eye is scary: they both had it at the next meeting. I also give in-class writing assignments in which the students need to consult their readers. We have an "electronics free" class room, meaning, no phones or laptops out. If they don't have the reader, they can't do the assignment. Alas!
So, my advice is make a big hairy deal about it and for a fat honorarium I'll come out and give your students the stink-eye, since you're obviously nowhere as scary-looking as Hungry Ghost.
But seriously:
I would tell them that printing this out is required, that printed copy is required course materials, look at your campus policy to find out how much per page printing costs for students and say "Estimated cost "$N," and again this is REQUIRED materials, period.
Tell them that the alternative would be to require them to buy a book, which would be far more expensive, so you're providing this material and letting them do their own printing as a generous, cost-saving measure. But do not under any circumstances allow them to imagine that not having a hard copy is an alternative.
I would explain to them WHY they need it printed (so they can write notes on it, so they can set the glossary and text side by side, etc) (not why NOT to use their phones, they tune that right out). Also, if they print on campus, I bet that printing for students is subsidized at less per page than a copy shop in town.
If this doesn't work, next year go through your campus copy center, make it a (tiny) course pack and have them go buy it there. Simply stop making it available through the CMS.
Quote from: Hegemony on September 12, 2019, 10:41:02 AM
Every year I teach a language course; the first semester culminates in reading/translating a text. The text is edited by me (thus not subject to copyright) and is about 22 pages long. Before CMSes were invented, I used to photocopy the text, at my expense, and sell them to the student at cost. I remember the cost started at $2 and over the years went up to $3. Then our campus launched the CMS and I just put the text online and let the students download it. Then smartphones were invented...
So now the students keep failing to download the text. They keep trying to use it on their smartphones, which will not work because it has a glossary at the end (very cumbersome to scroll back and forth from the text to the glossary) and they are supposed to be making all kinds of annotations in the text. But they complain that they don't have a printer, that they can't afford to pay the cost of getting it printed out at our computer center, etc. Some of them ask if I'll just sell them a printed copy.
I'm reluctant to print out copies for sale because I foresee that the students could still not buy them, and I'd be left having spent money and time for nothing.
How do you suggest I enforce the requirement that they have a printed copy and bring it to class?
Wait a minute - why are you paying for copies? Don't you have a department photocopier for syllabi, exams, etc? I mean, not a privilege to be abused but still, seems like a reasonable use of college resources.
I'm paying for copies because we have an allowance for photocopies, I mean a maximum number per year, which is 1500. After that the machine simply refuses to photocopy. (We have to sign in with IDs at the photocopier — do you not do that?) At 40 students and 22 pages per text, that's 880 copies out of my yearly 1500 on that one text alone. I teach language classes with a lot of worksheets, so I need to save those 1500 for other things.
In-class "open book" quiz on day 3 of the semester that is worth 10 percent of the final grade, for which a hard copy of the text is required. Then a second open quiz on day 5, also worth 10 percent of the final grade.
Quote from: Hegemony on September 12, 2019, 08:17:17 PM
I'm paying for copies because we have an allowance for photocopies, I mean a maximum number per year, which is 1500. After that the machine simply refuses to photocopy. (We have to sign in with IDs at the photocopier — do you not do that?) At 40 students and 22 pages per text, that's 880 copies out of my yearly 1500 on that one text alone. I teach language classes with a lot of worksheets, so I need to save those 1500 for other things.
This is still at an R1? I've never had a maximum number of copies set so low, even at Super Dinky.
Back to the original question: At a regional branch campus, we were encouraged to have central duplicating make a whole packet of handouts for the term and then put the results in the bookstore for purchase at cost for $15 or so for the bound packet with plastic covers.
I've also operated under systems where the students were charged an extra materials fee ($25 or so) that went to the department and then we handed out a bazillion photocopies.
Dosnt your campus have a library outfitted with computers and printers? If so, they all have printers and buying a copy from you would not save money, it is just laziness (or lack of organization). Regardless, I would do what you are doing and direct them to the library.
If you do not have printers on campus, it seems there are bigger issues at hand.
Maybe in requiring a hard copy you can collect them and grade the annotations? Lots of language of "I want to ensure that you're on the right track for this high-stakes assignment." Maybe that's a deliverable that feels less punitive than other approaches.
And maybe reading their annotations will actually tell you something useful about how they encounter the material.
If this is true for your material, you can emphasize that if they print it themselves, they control the format. They can put it in a binder, folder, or use staples, print one-sided or double-sided, print two pages per sheet, etc. These things make a difference in reading comfort and the utility of a text, and it's nice to have that control. (As a student, I hated being given a course reading pack of research papers printed one page per sheet, one-sided, even though it was free.) Of course, this would require them to have been reading enough in general to have developed preferences.
Can your campus bookstore do Print-on-Demand? Or a local copy shop that handles custom texts? When I was an undergrad (way back in the dark ages), we had a fair number of custom texts that we had to purchase at the local copyshop for a nominal fee.
Another, more tech-oriented possibility is https://web.hypothes.is/ (https://web.hypothes.is/), an online annotation tool which can be used either group or individually, and supports annotating webpages, publicly-available Google Docs, and PDFs. There's a lot more information on their site & in their FAQ.
I have used https://web.hypothes.is/ in the classroom, and it is an excellent, free tool for group annotation (once the students get the hang of it). But I don't know that it would necessarily work well for a text that has a glossary at the end. I may be old fashioned, but I think a hard copy would be much more easy to work with for that sort of thing.