1.02.2007
Let me put on my Philadelphia lawyer hat...
The newest language required in a university syllabus:
"RECORDING AND TAPING CLASS
No student may record, photograph or film any classroom activity without the express written consent of the the Instructor. If there is a learning situation which requires a student to make recordings or films of class, he/she should contact the Office of Disability Resources to request the appropriate accomodation. These recordings and films are for personal use only and may not be further copied, distributed, published or used for any other purpose than that which is outlined in the accomodation request."
I have nothing shorter than a 5 page syllabus. One class I team teach has a 9 page syllabus (not written by me). If students spent as much time studying and working as they do looking for loopholes and lawyering grades, we'd live in a world of geniuses.
"RECORDING AND TAPING CLASS
No student may record, photograph or film any classroom activity without the express written consent of the the Instructor. If there is a learning situation which requires a student to make recordings or films of class, he/she should contact the Office of Disability Resources to request the appropriate accomodation. These recordings and films are for personal use only and may not be further copied, distributed, published or used for any other purpose than that which is outlined in the accomodation request."
I have nothing shorter than a 5 page syllabus. One class I team teach has a 9 page syllabus (not written by me). If students spent as much time studying and working as they do looking for loopholes and lawyering grades, we'd live in a world of geniuses.
# posted by The Noogerator @ 1:15 PM 
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I'm exaggerating for effect, but at a midterm "focus group"(!) for the Anatomy course I co-direct, the students almost asked for a HDTV podcast of the lectures that they could wifi download while they were at Starbucks...
Oh, and sorry about Gerald Ford. (The Wikipedia entry about the Indiana school district mentions you as a notable person for shaking his hand.)
But back when you recorded classes, no one was posting stuff on sites like rateyourprofessor.com or YouTube.
I love the "focus" group wanting HDTV. I've had students ask me to post my lecture outlines and Keynote presentations (that's like PowerPoint except that it's for a Mac and it actually works) on line. And unbelievably, many professor do it. Talk about not taking responsability. "Can I do your homework for you also?".
I love the "focus" group wanting HDTV. I've had students ask me to post my lecture outlines and Keynote presentations (that's like PowerPoint except that it's for a Mac and it actually works) on line. And unbelievably, many professor do it. Talk about not taking responsability. "Can I do your homework for you also?".
Following that day I've always considered Gerry to be a close personal friend and was saddened to hear he moved off this mortal coil.
Tim, getting back to the podcast requests...Really, that's not an unreasonable request now, is it? I mean, those "Gray's Anatomy's" are pretty heavy to be carrying around to the cyber cafes, aren't they?! ;)
There's something to be said for actually sitting in the class of a good lecturer. Support live theater, live music and live academics.
Has anyone out there gotten this one before, or is it just me:
"I couldn't attend class yesterday. Did I miss anything?"
"I couldn't attend class yesterday. Did I miss anything?"
I'm considering a pitch to the Discovery Channel (HD, of course) for a show called "YouToob Can Be A Doctor" wherein one gets a MD by simply watching television. Except that I'd be played by an actor who does the teaching. Maybe Elliot Gould. Or Richard Dreyfus.
Or my other favorite -- "Sorry I missed class. Did I miss anything important?"-- which is somewhat more insulting.
I always say "Nah, we just sat around and watched Maury and made fun of you."
Since most of my projects have at least 2 weeks of lead time between assignment and due date, I always love getting -- "I was going to do the project last night but than this happened and that happened and I just couldn't get it done".
Make sure the kids are paying attention - these are good things never to say to a professor when you go to college.
I always say "Nah, we just sat around and watched Maury and made fun of you."
Since most of my projects have at least 2 weeks of lead time between assignment and due date, I always love getting -- "I was going to do the project last night but than this happened and that happened and I just couldn't get it done".
Make sure the kids are paying attention - these are good things never to say to a professor when you go to college.
Thanks, Guys. Emily has had her first Enlightenment tonight. Her views of college have SO changed.
In all fairness, she said she planned to record the classes she actually attended for extra help with the notes.
In all fairness, she said she planned to record the classes she actually attended for extra help with the notes.
Hey guys, what's up? .......Oh, yeah college. Yeah, piece of shit college students. Did anyone see the Boise State game?....oh, well I'll just be right over here. Ooh look! Who brought the mixed nuts? I love mixed nuts!
Hey Ian, did I tell you Miranda found the "original" can of mixed nuts from o-so-many years ago. it's her favorite gag now and she pretty much offers everyone who enters our house "Mixed nuts?"
I'm late into this conversation, but in reference to 10 comments ago...Before school in the hallway, I get questions like, "What are we going to do in music today?" to which I usually answer, "We're going to paint pictures" or some other subject activity. I'd rather say, "Here's your sign..." but (I hope) the kids wouldn't 'get it'...
Well, through past litigation by students across the US, the syllabus has almost achieved the status of "legally binding contract". So if they went ahead and posted something anyway they would be failed for the class . Same as plagiarism or cheating. And like plagiarism they would probably be brought up before the University for possible expulsion or other academic action.
I guess we'll find out. Someone is bound to test it.
I guess we'll find out. Someone is bound to test it.
Joe, I do know that the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at West Virginia University would also call the class syllabus a "legally binding contract". I hear about stuff like this all the time.
It's most interesting when a professor has crafted a syllabi that crosses University policy. Fur and more tends to fly then. Since my wife is the above-mentioned person in charge of such matters, I have a front row seat to the cage match!
It's most interesting when a professor has crafted a syllabi that crosses University policy. Fur and more tends to fly then. Since my wife is the above-mentioned person in charge of such matters, I have a front row seat to the cage match!
What's being contracted? The course information vis a vis testing? Or is it a copyright issue?
I don't follow what the legal issue hinges upon?
I don't follow what the legal issue hinges upon?
Tim, generally it becomes a "contract" regarding grades. Remember how you knew what an A, B, C, D, F meant? Now you have to quantify what each grade means in writing and how it will be evaluated. Now days pretty much any grade can be challenged by students and if there isn't a clear enough paper trail maintained by the professor, they can win. So teachers need to spell out exactly what points are deducted for and there has to be a clear rubric for grades based on the points.
Due dates also get challenged when they are changed, so every syllabus has the qualifier :"schedule subject to change without notice". I've started to issue a new schedule (lecture/assignment) every time I change it just to cover my ass.
And trust me, students will try and argue that "the class didn't teach me what it was supposed to" so even course content is probably subject, though I've never heard of it being challenged legally.
There is a real consumer mentality amongst the current generation - what are you going to give me? Don't know if you get that in Medicine but it's the prevailing attitude here.
Due dates also get challenged when they are changed, so every syllabus has the qualifier :"schedule subject to change without notice". I've started to issue a new schedule (lecture/assignment) every time I change it just to cover my ass.
And trust me, students will try and argue that "the class didn't teach me what it was supposed to" so even course content is probably subject, though I've never heard of it being challenged legally.
There is a real consumer mentality amongst the current generation - what are you going to give me? Don't know if you get that in Medicine but it's the prevailing attitude here.
Could it be the trickle-down effect in action when elementary students are given grade/point rubics for their projects?
The consumer mentality: is that a by-product of the high price of higher education? There must be other factors as well...
And let's break some more ground: what about helicopter parents? I promise you, I'm not one; I don't intend on becoming one. But I know lots of them.
The consumer mentality: is that a by-product of the high price of higher education? There must be other factors as well...
And let's break some more ground: what about helicopter parents? I promise you, I'm not one; I don't intend on becoming one. But I know lots of them.
Nell, I'm not sure about any of those points. I've done some reading on the so-called "millennial generation", which are people born roughly after 1980 (i.e. just entering the workforce at the turn of the century)-2000 (i.e. end date is hard to gauge since no one is really sure yet). I'm no expert and probably know just enough to be dangerous (remember when you took that college psych class and started analyzing everyone you know?).
Just as Baby Boomers and Gen X had distinct characteristics, so do the Millennials. Generally speaking:
They are highly valued children, meaning that parents are having less children and having them later in their lives, so the children are in more valued - or I should say valued in a different way than in the past. This is evidenced in things like higher involvement by parents in all aspects of the children's lives which results in the children having a greater expectation for "parenting". I suspect this has a lot to do with the service mentality I mentioned.
They are confident and optimistic about the future. They tend prefer to work in groups and perform well in groups, less well as individuals. They multi-task and utilize technology with ease.
Distinct characteristics in terms of school/learning:
Students are naive about the reliability and credibility of sources and information. Plagiarism is not perceived as necessarily a bad thing. They have trouble grasping larger, overarching concepts as they invariably focus on details.
In my own world, the best example is the recurring scenario where students will email me or CALL ME AT HOME about a problem with a piece of equipment when the MANUAL is less than 10 feet from them in the lab. They literally have absolutely have no conception of LOOKING TO THE MANUAL FOR INSTRUCTIONS/SOLUTIONS - they have to ask for help. It is infuriating.
I think the grading thing has to do with elementary schools, high schools and the Satan of all educational legislature No Child Left Behind. Thus they are completely obsessed by grades and will scrap and fight for the smallest point to raise the grade slightly. I remember many classes in which my performance was less than stellar which have become the most important courses in my education process. They don’t see this way. The bottom line is the grade. The idea that you could get a C in a class and have come away successfully is not something they are capable of understanding. I’ve recently changed my grading scale (for a number of reasons) so there are a lot less As in my class and the hue and cry has been deafening.
As for helicopter parents - well. There are certainly advantages to having parents engaged and committed to the children’s success. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of common sense. I often want to take a parent aside and ask “When little Mary doesn’t get her first raise at work, are you going to call their boss and ask for an explanation?” They don’t realize that at a certain point they are doing the kids a grave disservice and I’ll be curious to see, as the millennials establish themselves in the workplace what the outcome of this lack of independence comes to. I guess it’s part of the late-in-life-kid thing on the parents part. I think I may have called my Mom once every couple of weeks when I was in school. I don’t know that I talked to my Dad except when I was home on breaks. Many students talk to their folks several times a day. That just seems wrong to me. I dunno. Ask me in 10 years when Miranda goes to college.
Just as Baby Boomers and Gen X had distinct characteristics, so do the Millennials. Generally speaking:
They are highly valued children, meaning that parents are having less children and having them later in their lives, so the children are in more valued - or I should say valued in a different way than in the past. This is evidenced in things like higher involvement by parents in all aspects of the children's lives which results in the children having a greater expectation for "parenting". I suspect this has a lot to do with the service mentality I mentioned.
They are confident and optimistic about the future. They tend prefer to work in groups and perform well in groups, less well as individuals. They multi-task and utilize technology with ease.
Distinct characteristics in terms of school/learning:
Students are naive about the reliability and credibility of sources and information. Plagiarism is not perceived as necessarily a bad thing. They have trouble grasping larger, overarching concepts as they invariably focus on details.
In my own world, the best example is the recurring scenario where students will email me or CALL ME AT HOME about a problem with a piece of equipment when the MANUAL is less than 10 feet from them in the lab. They literally have absolutely have no conception of LOOKING TO THE MANUAL FOR INSTRUCTIONS/SOLUTIONS - they have to ask for help. It is infuriating.
I think the grading thing has to do with elementary schools, high schools and the Satan of all educational legislature No Child Left Behind. Thus they are completely obsessed by grades and will scrap and fight for the smallest point to raise the grade slightly. I remember many classes in which my performance was less than stellar which have become the most important courses in my education process. They don’t see this way. The bottom line is the grade. The idea that you could get a C in a class and have come away successfully is not something they are capable of understanding. I’ve recently changed my grading scale (for a number of reasons) so there are a lot less As in my class and the hue and cry has been deafening.
As for helicopter parents - well. There are certainly advantages to having parents engaged and committed to the children’s success. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of common sense. I often want to take a parent aside and ask “When little Mary doesn’t get her first raise at work, are you going to call their boss and ask for an explanation?” They don’t realize that at a certain point they are doing the kids a grave disservice and I’ll be curious to see, as the millennials establish themselves in the workplace what the outcome of this lack of independence comes to. I guess it’s part of the late-in-life-kid thing on the parents part. I think I may have called my Mom once every couple of weeks when I was in school. I don’t know that I talked to my Dad except when I was home on breaks. Many students talk to their folks several times a day. That just seems wrong to me. I dunno. Ask me in 10 years when Miranda goes to college.
Isadora is 7. She has 30-60 minutes of homework every night. (don't get me started on how stupid i think that is).It's all about attention to detail, it has nothing to do with concepts. She'll come home with stuff that nobody has ever discussed with her. So, I teach it to her. She demonstrates mastery of the broad concept (which no one has shared with her), but gets points off for detail mistakes. So, what does she think is important? She's alrady learned that and so she gives priority to detail. No wonder kids are described that way.
Howard County- our county- frequently ranks in the top five richest per capita counties in the country. We're all a bunch of blue state liberals so we allocate a lot of tax money to our schools. We're in one of the highest ranking school districts in one of the highest ranking states in the country. They can't even get it right here.
Can you imagine what's going on in Inner City Newark or in Rural South Carolina?
Howard County- our county- frequently ranks in the top five richest per capita counties in the country. We're all a bunch of blue state liberals so we allocate a lot of tax money to our schools. We're in one of the highest ranking school districts in one of the highest ranking states in the country. They can't even get it right here.
Can you imagine what's going on in Inner City Newark or in Rural South Carolina?
This whole discussion--esp. Ian's mention of Isadora's homework-- takes me back.
In 2nd grade, my first in Indiana, PA, Mrs. Gerheim ceremoniously yanked a dozen or more unfinished worksheets from my fliptop desk and yelled in front of the class. I was redfaced.
My mom later told me the worksheets were stupid and that's probably why I didn't do them.
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In 2nd grade, my first in Indiana, PA, Mrs. Gerheim ceremoniously yanked a dozen or more unfinished worksheets from my fliptop desk and yelled in front of the class. I was redfaced.
My mom later told me the worksheets were stupid and that's probably why I didn't do them.
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