Can you explain the instructions?

[marshwiggle]

Today I had an email from a student, essentially asking if I could explain the instructions for this week's lab.

Um, the instructions are the explanation. I asked if there were any specific requirements that were unclear.

Anyone else have this experience?

[mahagonny]

Today I had an email from a student, essentially asking if I could explain the instructions for this week's lab.

Um, the instructions are the explanation. I asked if there were any specific requirements that were unclear.

Anyone else have this experience?

Yes, similar; a few students think it's OK to show up and just declare "I was confused by this/I struggled with this when it is clear they just didn't attempt to do it seriously. The other day I said 'good. Keep on struggling.'
I do not have the ability to teach people who don't try.

[ciao_yall]

Today I had an email from a student, essentially asking if I could explain the instructions for this week's lab.

Um, the instructions are the explanation. I asked if there were any specific requirements that were unclear.

Anyone else have this experience?

Just got an email yesterday. "Will you look at my paper and tell me if I missed anything?"

Me: "Well, did you step through the instructions in the module? Do you have any specific questions about the instructions or how to fit something in/apply it to your project?"

[Aster]

I believe this falls under the Deplorable category of,

"Teacher, can you tell us what's on the test?"

[kaysixteen]

Sadly, this sort of expectation, often explicitly parent-driven, is veryyyy common in American hss.

[ergative]

I got a variant of that just this week. I've been working on a collaborative project with some colleagues in another department, and one challenge we've run into involves developing a proxy measure for a thing that's hard to measure directly. And we've played around with various proxy measures, published a paper with initial findings, and then set it aside for a bit. This year, one of my colleagues has decided to pose this problem of developing the proxy measure as a prompt for a master's thesis project for his master's cohort, and one of the students decided to take on this project. Cool, cool, I think. Colleague will be the student's advisor, and maybe something useful will come of the project, but otherwise I'm not going to be involved.

This week, I get an email from the student. 'Hi, Dr. Ergative, I'm [student] working with [colleague] on this project about developing a proxy measure. Here's what I've tried to do, but now I'm stuck. What should I do next?'

Well, Stu, I don't know. That's the point of the project: You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. I can't tell you the answer. I don't know the answer. And even if I did, it's your project. You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. That's the point. That's what earns you your degree.

[mahagonny]

Sadly, this sort of expectation, often explicitly parent-driven, is veryyyy common in American hss.

There may be several parties contributing, but think it is largely academia driven. Floating ideas like 'merit, showing up on time, giving the correct answer are arbitrary values that reinforce white supremacy' is very dangerous stuff to be playing with.

[marshwiggle]

Well, Stu, I don't know. That's the point of the project: You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. I can't tell you the answer. I don't know the answer. And even if I did, it's your project. You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. That's the point. That's what earns you your degree.

I've gotten this sort of question on a (student chosen) design project. Stu; "Is this what it's supposed to do in this situation?" Me: "I don't know; it's your project. What did you design it to do in this situation?"

[the_geneticist]

Today I had an email from a student, essentially asking if I could explain the instructions for this week's lab.

Um, the instructions are the explanation. I asked if there were any specific requirements that were unclear.

Anyone else have this experience?

Yep.  Sometimes I think the students are just feeling uncertain and want to triple check that "do X" means they should "do X".

[Caracal]

This week, I get an email from the student. 'Hi, Dr. Ergative, I'm [student] working with [colleague] on this project about developing a proxy measure. Here's what I've tried to do, but now I'm stuck. What should I do next?'

Well, Stu, I don't know. That's the point of the project: You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. I can't tell you the answer. I don't know the answer. And even if I did, it's your project. You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. That's the point. That's what earns you your degree.

Isn't the problem with this just that the student should come and talk to you if they are looking for some guidance? The student does need to do it themselves, but the reason they are a student is because they might still need some help. The problem isn't really the question, it's the format. By just asking "what should I do," the student is basically asking you to try to think through the problem by yourself and write back to them. That's annoying, because that isn't your job.

I assume if they just set up a meeting, you'd be happy enough to talk through the problem with them. The same goes for the student in the original post. Email is fine if you want to ask something specific. It doesn't work if you're just confused. An actual conversation with a student who is having trouble understanding something is fine, but there's no point in just writing out some different explanation of a thing you already explained.

[ergative]

This week, I get an email from the student. 'Hi, Dr. Ergative, I'm [student] working with [colleague] on this project about developing a proxy measure. Here's what I've tried to do, but now I'm stuck. What should I do next?'

Well, Stu, I don't know. That's the point of the project: You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. I can't tell you the answer. I don't know the answer. And even if I did, it's your project. You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. That's the point. That's what earns you your degree.

Isn't the problem with this just that the student should come and talk to you if they are looking for some guidance? The student does need to do it themselves, but the reason they are a student is because they might still need some help. The problem isn't really the question, it's the format. By just asking "what should I do," the student is basically asking you to try to think through the problem by yourself and write back to them. That's annoying, because that isn't your job.

I assume if they just set up a meeting, you'd be happy enough to talk through the problem with them. The same goes for the student in the original post. Email is fine if you want to ask something specific. It doesn't work if you're just confused. An actual conversation with a student who is having trouble understanding something is fine, but there's no point in just writing out some different explanation of a thing you already explained.

I think what annoys me about this is not the email vs. meeting, but the fact that colleague knows everything and more about the problem of the proxy measure that I do. There's nothing I can give this student that my colleague can't do, and since my colleague is advising this student in an entirely different department from me, there's no reason for the student to be emailing me in the first place.

[Caracal]

This week, I get an email from the student. 'Hi, Dr. Ergative, I'm [student] working with [colleague] on this project about developing a proxy measure. Here's what I've tried to do, but now I'm stuck. What should I do next?'

Well, Stu, I don't know. That's the point of the project: You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. I can't tell you the answer. I don't know the answer. And even if I did, it's your project. You're supposed to develop the proxy measure. That's the point. That's what earns you your degree.

Isn't the problem with this just that the student should come and talk to you if they are looking for some guidance? The student does need to do it themselves, but the reason they are a student is because they might still need some help. The problem isn't really the question, it's the format. By just asking "what should I do," the student is basically asking you to try to think through the problem by yourself and write back to them. That's annoying, because that isn't your job.

I assume if they just set up a meeting, you'd be happy enough to talk through the problem with them. The same goes for the student in the original post. Email is fine if you want to ask something specific. It doesn't work if you're just confused. An actual conversation with a student who is having trouble understanding something is fine, but there's no point in just writing out some different explanation of a thing you already explained.

I think what annoys me about this is not the email vs. meeting, but the fact that colleague knows everything and more about the problem of the proxy measure that I do. There's nothing I can give this student that my colleague can't do, and since my colleague is advising this student in an entirely different department from me, there's no reason for the student to be emailing me in the first place.

Ah, fair enough.

[dr_evil]

I have a number of students that ask for examples of what they need to do, exactly the same problem. I don't know if it comes from "learning" everything by copying step-by-step from YouTube, but they want to be shown how to do everything. This is usually after being shown examples. Then they'll ask if they should use number X for variable Y in the equation. There seems to be either a lack in confidence in what they need to do and they want it double-checked or that they can't do any thinking for themselves. I hope it's the former - that's annoying enough - but the latter is all too possible.

[darkstarrynight]

Last week a student complained that I was too harsh when I graded hu's paper and asked for a regrade! The student had earned an A on the paper.

[kaysixteen]

So what did you say to him?