Student Expectations
Published on Jan 24, 2006 at 7:36 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under college teaching.
A common discussion topic around campus with the faculty is in the area of student expectations in their classes. We, as faculty, expect the students to pay attention, read the materials, do the homework, and put their best effort into the class. When I was a student, I expected the professor to clearly lay out what was expected in the class, explain the material clearly, grade fairly, and not to expect more than would be reasonable work for the class.   The students today would likely say the same, but their expectations are vastly different from mine.
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For example, I expected the professor to clearly lay out what was expected. That meant tell me that we are doing homework, papers, etc, and what format these were to be done in. I did not expect a sample paper, a list of every homework problem for the semester and due dates, or even every test date. I did not expect to be reminded. If the prof did give test dates and homework due dates in the syllabus, I did not expect to be routinely reminded. I had been told that in college the prof tells you something once, and that is it. You will be told this and that are due in one month, but not reminded. You just turn it in when it is due. You will be told that a test will be given on such and such a date, but no review, no reminder, or anything. Rather the professor lectures the day before, without mentioning the test, and then walks in the next period and passes it out. If you didn’t keep track of when it was happening … tough. And, I actually had profs who did class in this manner. Some did not have test dates listed. Rather, one day in class they’d say that they thought that we’d covered enough for a test so there will be one next class period. That was OK be me, as long as I understood that was how it worked. My students, though expect me to keep reminding them, to lay out whole semester day by day in the syllabus, and so forth. They get upset if different professors have different requirements or formats for work.
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I expected the professor to clearly explain the material. I did not care if this was with overheads, chalkboard, computers (this was before powerpoint, of course, but there were other ways of showing things in my computer classes), sitting on the desk in front of the room talking, etc. The format didn’t matter, as long as it was appropriate to the class. For a history class, literature class, etc, sitting at the front of the class leading discussion was fine. For math, the blackboard was expected. I did NOT expect the professor to read the book to us. In fact, though I wanted the lectures to be related to the textbook, I preferred if they were different (not saying something contrary, that is, but adding to the text or saying it in a different way). That way the lectures were an aid to learning. The students today seem upset if you say something in a different way than the textbook, cover material in a different order, or use a different symbol in an equation ( like “x†instead of “yâ€, or “phi†instead of “thetaâ€). In fact, I distinctly get the impression that some of the students would just like me to read the book to them. As a student, I was distinctly aware that a college professor was someone who was supposed to be very knowledgeable in the field, much more so than a school teacher.  They were professors, and referred to as such. You never said anything like “my math teacherâ€, it was always “my math professorâ€. Â
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This gets to the point of respect. I always addressed to my professors as “Professor Soandso†or “Dr. Soandso.â€Â I would NEVER try to address them by first name. Not so with my current students.
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I expected to be graded fairly. By that, I meant graded consistently and everyone in the class graded in the same manner. I obviously would have liked for the grading to be a bit more lenient at times, but I never expected grades to be given to me. Grading tough was OK, as long as it was consistent and not unreasonable. I did not mind high standards being set. My students seem to be upset if I take off points for anything being wrong, or not complete. They are looking for an easy A without doing work.
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This brings up the idea of workload. I expected college to be tough. I expected to work my tail off, and my expectations were met. I had never worked so hard in my life. Then, graduate school set another higher standard for hard work. Now, I seem to work even harder than that at times! My students don’t seem to be willing to lift a finger. They don’t want to work at all. I expected homework. I expected to have to spend hours and hours studying for any class. My students seem put out if I assign anything to take home. This is a general statement for non-majors. At least the science majors expect homework, but they don’t seem to expect much. The non-majors seem to think that they are supposed to cover everything in class.
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I never expected the professor to review or prep us for a test. I figured that was my job as a student. Today’s students expect their faculty to review and go over the test before giving it.
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Oh, and I also took classes seriously enough to bother to find out where they were located BEFORE walking from one to another. Every first week of the semester, I have students drifting in all during class with the excuse that they couldn’t find the room or the building or whatever. Likewise, I’d never just get up and walk out. I would think to use the restroom before class. If I didn’t then I’d do my best to hold it until the end. Sometimes that didn’t work, but it was rare. Today’s students expect to get up, go get a drink of water, go take a smoke, go to the restroom, take phone calls, make phone calls, and who knows what else. No wonder they don’t do well — they are never in class!
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Also, I would check to see if a class that I wanted to take had a prerequisite. For example, if quantum physics required electrodynamics first, then I took electrodynamics first. If advanced mechanics required differential equations and calculus III, then I took differential equations and calculus III first. Well, my students seem surprised when they sign up for Physics II and I expect them to know things from Physics I and Calculus II (both listed prerequisites) and they have not had either. Physics for non-majors does not require calculus, but it does require algebra and trigonometry. I have students sign up while they are taking remedial math, and of course they can not pass the class. I expect ALL students to be able to multiply, divide, do ratios, raise to powers, do logarithms, etc. This is just high school math, but many of my astronomy students can’t do this. They don’t even look at the prerequisites. They are shocked to find math in astronomy, even though the textbook has equations just about every chapter.
Of course, they also seem to think that astronomy class will tell them how to cast horoscopes, but we won’t go there.Â
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So why are today’s students so different from those of years ago? At least here, a large part of it is the educational system. We reward school districts, and even teachers, by how well their students do on the state standardized tests. So, that is ALL that they teach in school. They even have class periods dedicated to testing strategies for the standardized tests. We sometimes do teacher workshops, and many teachers say that they are not even allowed to teach things that are not on the tests. So, students are coming to college being experts on how to take those tests, but not having any of the skills or knowledge base needed to do well in college. It is no wonder that our drop rates are increasing. The administrators talk retention, but that will only happen if nearly every student takes remedial courses so that they are ready for college. Every now and then, I see a glimmer of hope that things are improving, but they are usually dashed by the next thing that comes from the state. Always, they judge the effectiveness of any new educational program by how well the students do on some test. Eventually, all they teach is that test.
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So, does anyone have any comments?
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-Astroprof
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Dr. Galloway on July 28, 2008 at 12:30 pm: 1
I agree completely… I’d like to direct your attention to 3 things:
1.- my student responsibilities page that I use for my courses…
http://tech.jerrygalloway.com/support/responsibilities.htm
2.- a recent position paper of mine on related issues…
http://www.jerrygalloway.com/papers/LearningToday_Published.pdf
3.- the opening scenes of the old 70’s movie called “the paper chase” … about being prepared for the first day of law school.
You’re not alone in these feelings and perspectives.