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

[arcturus]

Dear Fresh-peeps:

When we say "Watch the video and report your observations" we mean that. We expect responses to be related to what we present in the video. Random responses - based on a google query - look really odd. And if your google'd response does not include a citation, that is academic misconduct. This really isn't hard. If you don't want to spend 6 minutes watching the video, we provide a pdf with stills of the most important parts of the video (i.e., those things we ask questions about). That is much less time consuming than going through the academic misconduct process at this school.

Signed.
Prof the-first-thing-that-comes-up-in-my-rate-my-professor-profile-is-that-I-will-file-academic-misconduct-on-almost-anything

[kiana]

Just. Go. Through. The. Fucking. Module. In. Order.

STOP emailing me and telling me that you can't access y. Yes you are right, and IN the picture that you sent me it says you have to do x first and gives you a clickable fucking link.

[arcturus]

Dear anxious student,

Yes, the project is a signficant portion of your grade in this class. I understand that it is scary to have so much weight on an open-ended project (i.e., you have some choices). However, sending me an email asking what each of the learning outcomes means is a bit too much. These are words that have common usage in the English language. If they still don't make sense 10 weeks from now, after you have completed one of the specified projects, then we can talk. But, for now, please just use your best understanding of what these words might possibly mean in any reasonable context.

Signed.
Prof It-really-isn't-that-hard

Dear Anxious student number 2,

Please stop sending me emails asking if X is ok, when possible project X is described *exactly that way* in the list of possible projects for this class.

Signed.
Prof. Yes-it-really-isn't-that-hard

[OneMoreYear]

Dear graduate student,

Did you seriously send me an email telling me that you would not be able to turn in your project until 2 weeks after the due date and expect that would be OK? Let's see, at a 10% grade penalty per day, that would be -140% to start. But I'll be nice and just assign a 0.

I know we are encouraged to be flexible but sheesh.

[the_geneticist]

Dear TA,
You showed up late to teach your lab, never picked up your keys, emailed me after class started to ask how to use the projector (which you don't need to use), and didn't notice that you had an EXTRA STUDENT until halfway through class.  I'm concerned.  As in, how on earth did you make it into graduate school?!?

Bang! Bang! Bang!

[statsgeek]

Digital natives, my rear end!  Stu is almost 4 weeks late getting started on the discussion activity because they couldn't get into the online platform (supplementary to our LMS).  Multiple un-returned emails and missed appointment later I finally get Stu on video call to see if I can help.  All it took was trying a different browser. 

[FishProf]

We are past the drop deadline.  7 of 14 students haven't taken the syllabus quiz yet, which means they cannot do any of the work.  Three weeks in and they have done nothing (and yes, this is the same class I posted about in student emails).

Note: If they had dropped before the deadline, they would not be on my roster.

They say they want online courses, but do they really?

[mythbuster]

Statsgeek, it's issues like that that made me drop all supplemental online platforms. They are great in theory, but the reality of getting everyone registered and logged in is just too much. My start of the semester is now much easier for everyone, even if it means I need to create some extra assignments myself.

[downer]

Some supplementary platforms have the ability to integrate into your existing LMS -- how smooth the integration is may be another issue. But possibly worth checking out.

I did the independent supplementary thing once a couple of years ago. The supplementary resources were actually pretty good. But teaching the same course this semester, I decided against using it again. I will wait until the textbook publisher that does the platform gives me more incentive.

[the_geneticist]

We are past the drop deadline.  7 of 14 students haven't taken the syllabus quiz yet, which means they cannot do any of the work.  Three weeks in and they have done nothing (and yes, this is the same class I posted about in student emails).

Note: If they had dropped before the deadline, they would not be on my roster.

They say they want online courses, but do they really?

They want the convenience of having all the time in the world to not get around to doing the work.
My vent is that my students really don't understand that "online" does not necessarily mean "no due dates".  The due dates are IN THE SYLLABUS.  So is the policy on late work.  No, I will not create an "alternative assignment" or "makeup assignment" - that's more work for me.  No, I won't make an opportunity for "extra credit points" when you are not bothering to complete the already available normal credit points.
Now, a student has to really try to fail my classes.  But I'm not dragging anyone kicking and screaming towards passing.  Life is full of choices, choices have consequences.

[Larimar]

[/quote]

They want the convenience of having all the time in the world to not get around to doing the work.
My vent is that my students really don't understand that "online" does not necessarily mean "no due dates".  The due dates are IN THE SYLLABUS.  So is the policy on late work.  No, I will not create an "alternative assignment" or "makeup assignment" - that's more work for me.  No, I won't make an opportunity for "extra credit points" when you are not bothering to complete the already available normal credit points.
Now, a student has to really try to fail my classes.  But I'm not dragging anyone kicking and screaming towards passing.  Life is full of choices, choices have consequences.
[/quote]

My hybrid students are already showing some signs of this too, during the second week of class.

[FishProf]

They want the convenience of having all the time in the world to not get around to doing the work.

This.  So Much This.

I changed this class a few years ago to do away with a series of deadlines.  That was so much work for me - dealing with the "I didn't know" emails.  But now, I'm dealing with the 'doing no work until may, then begging for an extension b/c "This is my last class to graduate and/or I am very serious about my school work" emails'.

Response:  "No, it isn't - you need one more, perhaps this one in Summer" OR "Clearly, you are not."

[marshwiggle]

They want the convenience of having all the time in the world to not get around to doing the work.

This.  So Much This.

I changed this class a few years ago to do away with a series of deadlines.  That was so much work for me - dealing with the "I didn't know" emails.  But now, I'm dealing with the 'doing no work until may, then begging for an extension b/c "This is my last class to graduate and/or I am very serious about my school work" emails'.

Several years ago, the university decided to make the final drop date for courses the last day of term. Some profs thought it would help since there wouldn't be pressure to get mid-terms written and graded before the drop date. However, there was so much end of term whining, (or whining by students who failed a course they forgot they were enrolled in), that they reverted back after only a year or two.

Something about giving people more rope to hang themselves.....

[arcturus]

They want the convenience of having all the time in the world to not get around to doing the work.

This.  So Much This.

I changed this class a few years ago to do away with a series of deadlines.  That was so much work for me - dealing with the "I didn't know" emails.  But now, I'm dealing with the 'doing no work until may, then begging for an extension b/c "This is my last class to graduate and/or I am very serious about my school work" emails'.

Response:  "No, it isn't - you need one more, perhaps this one in Summer" OR "Clearly, you are not."

FishProf - if none of the work is required unil May, how do you ensure that the students have meaningful peer-to-peer interactions, as is required (per my University's admin people) for accreditation purposes of online courses? My adminicritters are very very adamant that my students must engage with each other, not just me, for my asynchronous online course to count as normal college credit. I take the easy way out on this - weekly discussion questions - but it does mean that there is weekly work due in my class. For pedagogical reasons - and sanity in terms of grading workload - I also require other work to be handed in weekly, so it is not just discussion posts. But my query to you is how you get around the peer-to-peer interactions requirement given your class design?

I do hear you about the students who claim to be very serious about their school work, but have yet to hand anything in...

[FishProf]

Ha!  Standards for Online Courses?  Not at FishProfU