Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[fishbrains]

One of my pain-in-the-ass students decided to turn in a lab report nine days late. Oh well, you just lost 90% of your grade. I don't know how many times I tell them that there is a 10% loss each day. This student will find out the hard way and I'm sure I'll get a large dose of emotional manipulating language, which I really don't want to deal with. I'm way too overwhelmed at the moment. Even if I weren't overwhelmed- I wouldn't want to deal with it.

Remember the LarryC quote we should all have tattooed in mirror image on our foreheads: Our job is to report the results of their efforts.

Or something close. I really should have gotten that tattoo.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

One of my pain-in-the-ass students decided to turn in a lab report nine days late. Oh well, you just lost 90% of your grade. I don't know how many times I tell them that there is a 10% loss each day. This student will find out the hard way and I'm sure I'll get a large dose of emotional manipulating language, which I really don't want to deal with. I'm way too overwhelmed at the moment. Even if I weren't overwhelmed- I wouldn't want to deal with it.

Remember the LarryC quote we should all have tattooed in mirror image on our foreheads: Our job is to report the results of their efforts.

Or something close. I really should have gotten that tattoo.

Right. I know. I've just been in a grumpy funk lately, so all of the usual crap students throw my way just seems to hit harder.

[Parasaurolophus]

One of the essay topics I gave in my intro ethics class (they're timed and randomly assigned) was about how an ethics professor should handle a case of plagiarism.

At least one student plagiarized their answer.

[traductio]

One of the essay topics I gave in my intro ethics class (they're timed and randomly assigned) was about how an ethics professor should handle a case of plagiarism.

At least one student plagiarized their answer.

So many performative dimensions...

The most important question, of course, is whether the student provided an appropriate approach for you to follow. I mean, it seems like step-by-step instructions.

[Parasaurolophus]

One of the essay topics I gave in my intro ethics class (they're timed and randomly assigned) was about how an ethics professor should handle a case of plagiarism.

At least one student plagiarized their answer.

So many performative dimensions...

The most important question, of course, is whether the student provided an appropriate approach for you to follow. I mean, it seems like step-by-step instructions.

Alas, they did, and I complied with their instructions!

[Stockmann]

Yeah, that's particularly headbanging-worthy, Parasaurolophus.

In other quiz-related shenanigans, a student nearly handed in his quiz with no name on it. Apparently he handed in the previous with no name, either. The quiz before that? Didn't take it. Somehow I'm not very optimistic about his chances of passing...

[marshwiggle]

One of the essay topics I gave in my intro ethics class (they're timed and randomly assigned) was about how an ethics professor should handle a case of plagiarism.

At least one student plagiarized their answer.

So many performative dimensions...

The most important question, of course, is whether the student provided an appropriate approach for you to follow. I mean, it seems like step-by-step instructions.

Alas, they did, and I complied with their instructions!

So do they get bonus points for providing such an approved solution?

[mahagonny]

Mahag: Your midterm grade is "D." (Explains what needs improvement)
Female student who always dresses with minimal covering of flesh: "Is there any way I can end up with a B in this course?"
Mahag: "Yes. Starting coming class on time and study better."

Sounds professional enough, doesn't it? If only it worked more often.

[the_geneticist]

Mahag: Your midterm grade is "D." (Explains what needs improvement)
Female student who always dresses with minimal covering of flesh: "Is there any way I can end up with a B in this course?"
Mahag: "Yes. Starting coming class on time and study better."

Sounds professional enough, doesn't it? If only it worked more often.

There are [X many] points available in the course.  To earn a B, you would need [Y of X] points.  I suggest you focus on [the final exam/your presentation/creating a complete portfolio]
OR
There are [X many] points available in the course.  It is not mathematically possible for you to earn a B.

[Anon1787]

Stu asks two questions in a row about an assignment (which I have used multiple times) that are addressed in the instructions and that I explained in class. Stu is still very confused. I was likewise very confused by several of Stu's answers on the midterm. I suspect that Stu's reading comprehension is barely at the 6th grade level.

[bio-nonymous]

Student cannot figure out how to calculate their grade. It is in the syllabus. I went over it in a video posted to the LMS. I discussed on the class announcement board. I discussed it in person in class. These are future medical professionals in graduate school.

Sigh...

[AmLitHist]

There are [X many] points available in the course.  To earn a B, you would need [Y of X] points.  I suggest you focus on [the final exam/your presentation/creating a complete portfolio]
OR
There are [X many] points available in the course.  It is not mathematically possible for you to earn a B.

[/b]
Ah, yes--we're in Week 12, and I actually wrote up a form letter with the above for my (10-person) F2F Comp II class later today.  Several fall in that bolded category, with several more nearly there.  Only one is guaranteed a C, and could bring it up to a B.

I've had this situation before, and it makes the final few weeks pure hell:  the ones who remain really don't need a lot of help, so we just put in time and chug along to the end; most of those who remain and who could get Cs often just flake out after the LDW and end up with a D or F.

[Parasaurolophus]

Student cannot figure out how to calculate their grade. It is in the syllabus. I went over it in a video posted to the LMS. I discussed on the class announcement board. I discussed it in person in class. These are future medical professionals in graduate school.

Sigh...

This always makes me despair, because it's really not that hard. And it's one of the few basic math skills that is commonly used outside the high school classroom. Which, for them, was just a couple of years ago. Sigh.

[marshwiggle]

Student cannot figure out how to calculate their grade. It is in the syllabus. I went over it in a video posted to the LMS. I discussed on the class announcement board. I discussed it in person in class. These are future medical professionals in graduate school.

Sigh...

This always makes me despair, because it's really not that hard. And it's one of the few basic math skills that is commonly used outside the high school classroom. Which, for them, was just a couple of years ago. Sigh.

I wonder if it's as much of a math issue as an *autonomy issue; they often prefer getting someone in authority to tell them something explicitly rather than rely on their own ability to follow the prescribed procedure, whether there's math involved or not. It doesn't seem so much like laziness as a lack of understanding of the point of learning to do something themselves. I put it down to growing up with Google, so they expect "the answer" to any question is something someone else already knows, so them having to figure it out is just hoop-jumping. The idea that there's any question that they themselves would have to investigate in order to answer is incomprehensible.

* or perhaps "agency"

[EdnaMode]

Week 12 of the semester and I have had to point out to 3 students in a lab section of 24 that they confused radius and diameter.