Favorite student emails

[mythbuster]

And, many schools have the textbooks only in the classroom. They never leave because the schools does not have enough of them. So students only ever interact with the book during class time.

[Charlotte]

I would not give a pass to a freshman, even a first generation one, who asked if a textbook was needed.  Virtually all classes they would have had in hs, other than some non academic ones, would have required a text, so why would they assume college classes would somehow be textless?  I would mot be rude in response but would certainly make it crystal clear they had to have all required texts for college success.

Nope. When I was in high school plenty of my classes had absolutely no textbooks. We had textbooks for mathematics classes and novels to read for English and French but otherwise textbooks (provided by the school, not paid for out-of-pocket) were hit or miss. Some classes had them, plenty of others didn't.

To add to this, I know many professors who are choosing to use articles and videos for assigned materials. Either printing them out for the students in class or posting them in LMS.  Some just prefer the customization it allows them and others don't want the students to have to buy expensive textbooks.

[research_prof]

Student posting publicly on piazza 4 hours before the homework deadline:

"About question 3 of the homework, is X the correct answer?"

My response: "Thank you for the question. Unfortunately, we cannot provide feedback on whether a certain answer is correct before the deadline. Thank you for your understanding."

Asked a senior, well-accomplished colleague what he would reply if he were in my shoes. His answer: "I would not reply at all".

So, now I am wondering what this student will say about me when the time of evaluations come: the student cannot say I did not answer their questions, since I did. But they can say "research_prof did not make me feel appreciated" or "research_prof was so dismissive when I asked a simple question".

Thoughts?

[San Joaquin]

Your job is to create an environment in which the student has the opportunity to learn if they so choose.

In every class there will be a student or two who complain about you, no matter how well you do.  Your chair and the Dean know that.  Keep good records, and hope you never have to provide them.

[research_prof]

Your job is to create an environment in which the student has the opportunity to learn if they so choose.

In every class there will be a student or two who complain about you, no matter how well you do.  Your chair and the Dean know that.  Keep good records, and hope you never have to provide them.

My question really is: is there a better way to handle kindergarten level questions like this one? I cannot believe that a 20+ year old person does not understand that this is an inappropriate question to ask and I cannot believe that they sincerely expect a response to such a question. 

So, one solution would be to not respond at all. The other solution was what I did. Any better solutions?

[FishProf]

Student posting publicly on piazza 4 hours before the homework deadline:

"About question 3 of the homework, is X the correct answer?"

My standard reply is "I don't pre-grade assignments.  Submit what you think is the best answer, and if it is wrong, THEN we can work to correct your understanding".

I often have to use a variant of this DURING exams.

[Caracal]

Student posting publicly on piazza 4 hours before the homework deadline:

"About question 3 of the homework, is X the correct answer?"

My response: "Thank you for the question. Unfortunately, we cannot provide feedback on whether a certain answer is correct before the deadline. Thank you for your understanding."

Asked a senior, well-accomplished colleague what he would reply if he were in my shoes. His answer: "I would not reply at all".

So, now I am wondering what this student will say about me when the time of evaluations come: the student cannot say I did not answer their questions, since I did. But they can say "research_prof did not make me feel appreciated" or "research_prof was so dismissive when I asked a simple question".

Thoughts?

I assume you are grading the homework for accuracy instead of just completion? If so, yeah, that's the right response.

[research_prof]

Student posting publicly on piazza 4 hours before the homework deadline:

"About question 3 of the homework, is X the correct answer?"

My response: "Thank you for the question. Unfortunately, we cannot provide feedback on whether a certain answer is correct before the deadline. Thank you for your understanding."

Asked a senior, well-accomplished colleague what he would reply if he were in my shoes. His answer: "I would not reply at all".

So, now I am wondering what this student will say about me when the time of evaluations come: the student cannot say I did not answer their questions, since I did. But they can say "research_prof did not make me feel appreciated" or "research_prof was so dismissive when I asked a simple question".

Thoughts?

I assume you are grading the homework for accuracy instead of just completion? If so, yeah, that's the right response.

Yes, for this question there is a single correct answer which is what the student believes. But obviously I could not say that because I would have compromised the integrity of the homework and it would have been unfair to more than half of the students that had submitted already.

Do you guys seriously believe that someone 20+ years old would legitimately think that asking such a question is ok and would expect to receive an answer? I am trying to understand if my junior-year undergraduate students legitimately behave like kindergarten students or they are just messing with me...

[FishProf]

Do you guys seriously believe that someone 20+ years old would legitimately think that asking such a question is ok and would expect to receive an answer?

Absolutely believe it.  Have directly experienced it.

Whether they SHOULD think that is entirely different.  There is no doubt than many of them DO believe it.

[marshwiggle]

Do you guys seriously believe that someone 20+ years old would legitimately think that asking such a question is ok and would expect to receive an answer?

Absolutely believe it.  Have directly experienced it.

Whether they SHOULD think that is entirely different.  There is no doubt than many of them DO believe it.

Indeed. There are students who not only think that education feels like hoop-jumping, but that it is hoop-jumping. In other words, most students realize that even though they don't always understand the purpose of a requirement, there probably is one. However, this group of students assumes that any requirement that has no purpose they can see in fact has no purpose. (Or, the purpose really is just to put the "right" answer in the "right" box. Mindlessly following instructions is the required "cost" of a piece of paper that is the "ticket" to employment. )

[the_geneticist]

Do you guys seriously believe that someone 20+ years old would legitimately think that asking such a question is ok and would expect to receive an answer?

Absolutely believe it.  Have directly experienced it.

Whether they SHOULD think that is entirely different.  There is no doubt than many of them DO believe it.

Welcome to the wide world of teaching!  Like you, I used to be shocked when students straight up asked for answers (on homework, quizzes, exams, etc.).  Or when student got upset when they were graded for correctness and not just get full credit for any sort of attempt. 
Just be consistent and fair.
If one student says "Dr. Research-Prof was SO MEAN and wouldn't answer my questions about the homework", just shrug it off.

[kiana]

Welcome to the wide world of teaching!  Like you, I used to be shocked when students straight up asked for answers (on homework, quizzes, exams, etc.).  Or when student got upset when they were graded for correctness and not just get full credit for any sort of attempt. 
Just be consistent and fair.
If one student says "Dr. Research-Prof was SO MEAN and wouldn't answer my questions about the homework", just shrug it off.

Reminds me of when, as a TA, the student complained to the professor that hw was graded for accuracy as well as completion (half points on each).

"The other times I took this class, it was only graded on completion!"

[Caracal]

Do you guys seriously believe that someone 20+ years old would legitimately think that asking such a question is ok and would expect to receive an answer?

Absolutely believe it.  Have directly experienced it.

Whether they SHOULD think that is entirely different.  There is no doubt than many of them DO believe it.

Welcome to the wide world of teaching!  Like you, I used to be shocked when students straight up asked for answers (on homework, quizzes, exams, etc.).  Or when student got upset when they were graded for correctness and not just get full credit for any sort of attempt. 
Just be consistent and fair.
If one student says "Dr. Research-Prof was SO MEAN and wouldn't answer my questions about the homework", just shrug it off.

Often with questions like this, you are better off pretending that the issue isn't really about grades and writing something like "Just complete the problem and answer in the homework and then if you have any additional questions about it, just come to Zoom office hours and we can go over it there."

[RatGuy]

Student email: "Turnitin won't let me submit my homework. I would like for you to fix it on your end so that I can submit it."

My reply: "Turnitin won't let you submit because it's after the deadline. You've had since Monday to complete this homework, so no late work is accepted. As stated on the syllabus and assignments sheet, you shouldn't wait until the last minute as technical issues aren't an excuse for late work."

Student's reply: "It wasn't late when I submitted it. Anyway it's my birthday and I'm at a dinner in my honor so let me know when you fix the problem with Turnitin. I do not deserved to be penalized."

I will not be responding to that.

[Cheerful]

Student's reply: "It wasn't late when I submitted it. Anyway it's my birthday and I'm at a dinner in my honor so let me know when you fix the problem with Turnitin. I do not deserved to be penalized."

Is the birthday excuse a thing?  Because I've also received the birthday excuse recently.