Too late for me to tell my D, whose college career is ending, but it may be useful for the students who are just starting:
Change “professor” to “boss”, and it may not be too late to tell near-graduates!
Tell your 1st year students that, depending on class size, they may inform the instructor if they have to miss a class. But, upon return, that student should ask a peer to fill him/her up on what was missed. Don’t expect the instructor to do so. And, don’t ever go to the instructor and say “I missed class yesterday. Did I miss anything?” …“Ah, no we thought you were so important we decided to reconvene after you returned.” or “Nah…we played pool”.
I agree with most of it, BUT… it isn’t really the student’s fault if they show up without the appropriate computer skills to find the profs comments on assignments, etc. Especially students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Now would it be great if the college covered all that for the students at orientation? Yes. But it is a little “Ivory tower” for a prof to not want to explain that to a student who hasn’t learned it elsewhere. Especially a prof who is teaching frosh OR is using some funky method of posting stuff that isn’t the college standard (which is all too common). And at a big university, a student might not know anyone else in their class (I had tons of classes like that at Michigan, especially as a freshman).
But that brings me to something I would put on this list. You should never have to be taught something like that more than once. Take notes, for crying out loud. Steps on how to do whatever someone is taking the time to show you so you don’t ever have to ask anyone again. So… if it were my list, I’d sub out not asking question about how to get at the syllabus, grades, turn in assignments, etc. with DON’T ASK TWICE and LISTEN WHEN IT IS EXPLAINED.
This list with the exception of the computer skills/computer related stuff* would have been applicable to anyone attending my public magnet HS or others like it.
If anything, it was a bit of a shock for me to find college Profs not only at my LAC…but also 2 different elite Us where I took summer/grad courses were much more accommodating about deadlines, extensions, and teaching students basic skills they should have mastered beforehand.
And I was more shocked with some undergrad classmates who came from boarding schools with much more accommodating instructors/school policies who were complaining our Profs were “too rigid”.
One tip I’d add…don’t make it a habit of asking classmates about material you missed because you decided to goof off from class, weren’t paying attention, or inebriated from some controlled substances. It’s ok to ask once in a while…but making it a habit tends to give other classmates the impression you’re trying to use them as your academic crutch. Not cool.
- Computers and internet weren't nearly as commonly widespread outside of a narrow band of academia and certain industries when I was in college. The widespread consumer use of the internet didn't really start until I was around halfway through my undergrad years.
I would add “actually read your syllabus – there is important information there that the professor is not going to read to you on the first day of class.” This is not high school where the teacher patiently explains class policy and gives you warnings. A friend’s son flunked two classes (in which he had an A and a B) and got a C in another (from an A-) his freshman year because he did not notice that the classes had a strict attendance policy. Thought that as long as his papers were good and he studied for the tests that showing up was optional; by the time he figured it out, he was well over the limits. Had to petition to be able to return his second semester and is just now (end of sophomore year) completely getting off academic probation.
This seems ripe for a counter-article titled: “7 things college professors don’t know that drive college students crazy”
I agree with the prof’s computer skills issue to a certain point - if there is a learning lab or other support service offered where the student is expected to learn those skills, the student should not be asking the professor. At best, ask the TA. That is another life-lesson that needs to be learned: if you need assistance, figure out who is at the proper level to assist you, where they are located, when they are open, and go there.
I have 75 students, and I can send them where to go to use Canvas, fix their email woes, learn to format a Word document, etc, but I can’t really spend a lot of time teaching them.
They cheerfully admit that they are terrible at computer skills. Files are lost, viruses abound, “I can’t fix the margins, I don’t know why”, “I didn’t format it that way; the printer did”–etc etc.
Telling parents to check if their kids have these skills, or the ability to access the correct sources for help, IS important. Someone’s got to make sure they do.
The digital generation label is over-used. And they’re the ones who tell me that.
Oh, and if one more student tells me they didn’t work on their paper, come to an appointment, ask me an important question sooner, etc. because “I was studying for my accounting test”–I may scream. Or at least whimper.
Oh, and I’m totally going to be unmoved by a “seven things professors do…” rebuttal because I’m not doing them. Whatever they are. I’m moving heaven and earth trying to get these kids through my class with at least a start on the skills they need. So a rant on what some other professor did somewhere else doesn’t change the issues that are epidemic in my classes. Good thing I love them all (mostly!) anyway! 
Amen! to that. The number of times I’ve had student ask me things that are on the very first page of the syllabus, things that are required to be on the syllabus here and so in fact are on the first page of every single syllabus they’ve seen at this institution, and then look offended when I say so…
Most of what drives the professors (and teachers before that) crazy is stuff kids learned from modeling teachers, lol.
Definitely, though it’s usually mostly a problem when you’re teaching freshmen.
I found that what worked best was to employ the “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore approach” during the first couple weeks … aggressively (and even publicly) calling out this kind of laziness and stupidity. Honestly, most students quickly step up their game after you make it clear that they are expected to function as adults. Just need to demand it. Then you can be nicer as the semester goes on or when people have genuine problems grappling with the material.
Just posted the last of my grades and I can tell you @garland that they probably weren’t studying for that accounting test:) I loved this list! This semester I had my worst students ever in 27 years. It’s not that they aren’t capable, its that they can’t self-manage and don’t set school as a priority.
Here’s a recent example: my students have a lot of reading assignments to do during the semester, and most have a concurrent written homework, with a portal on Canvas on which to upload it. The reading assignments and the written responses are all listed on the syllabus. Additionally, Canvas automatically reminds students of upcoming homework assignments.
A few times, I do not assign written responses, such as when they have another more challenging work due (like a paper draft.) However, on those days, I found out this year that no one does the reading because “Canvas didn’t tell me to” even though it’s on the syllabus and I also mentioned it in class.
So now I guess i have to make non-homework, reading only Canvas columns, so that it will “remind” them. grr. Or perhaps pop reading quizzes.
garland, one of my grad school professors got fed up with folks not reading the assigned material and did just that: after every reading, students were given a short quiz (a few multiple choice questions) that summarily counted towards 3-5% of the grade. It certainly encouraged reading! Canvas would automatically grade such quizzes, I hope.
The annoying thing is, the reading responses usually help avoid the didn’t-read issue. So it only came up when I was trying to give them a break! I really don’t want to resort to quizzes. So annoying.
I give quizzes on the reading every class for face-to-face courses, every week online; each one’s only worth a little bit, but they add up to 10% of the grade. It’s kind of a pain, but you use the tools you;ve got, you know? (Also, it encourages getting there on time, so there’s that, too.)