Here's the dirty secret - I haven't changed my assignment instructions in, oh, let's say 3 years. Maybe more.
For major assignments, I give students the following:
- a full page description of the assignment, which I put in the syllabus, and also in electronic format on the courseware,
- additional verbal instructions in class,
- one on one advice when they bring me topic proposals,
- a grading scheme that breaks down the assignment grade into a series of elements, each with a percentage weight,
- additional email advice when they ask me specific questions,
- a model or example of an A assignment.
- The one thing I don't do is give one of those rubrics that explains, "an A paper contains the following elements..." because I hate that shit.
This used to be enough to satisfy the majority of students, but lately, I keep getting these complaints about specificity. I would love to hear you opine, Dear CMers, on what you think is behind this change. Is it really a complaint about instructions not being specific enough? Or is it code for something else - "following the instructions was too much work"? Or something else entirely?
Also, please be sure to indicate sarcastically whether the question was clear enough for you.
"Unclear" in student-speak means lacking a list of links to sites where they can find the information and either copy-paste or, in the best of cases, retell it in a clumsy fashion. In my experience, absolutely anything other than this is perceived as "unclear."
ReplyDeleteI'd guess that it means something along the lines of "I couldn't tell after glancing over the assignment for 30 seconds how to complete it in under an hour and get an A."
ReplyDeleteOr maybe "it doesn't present the requirements in bullet form." My students seem to really like bulleted lists. I haven't succumbed completely, but I'm definitely presenting more and more information in that format, even though I teach a class which involves the reading and writing of complex texts, and I actually think that extracting key details from a well-written series of paragraphs would be in keeping with that focus.
It's all a big disunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the ad space in the sidebar is touting ProofreadingPal.com, which promises "Get an A on your Essay!/APA and MLA experts/Two proofreaders on every document." This kind of thing (like one of the grade icons on Blackholeboard, which has an A and a check on it), doesn't help.
ReplyDeleteIt could be a case of "tldr". Perhaps you are giving too much guidance. So much so that they think they should be getting the answer directly from it. Lazy f***s!
ReplyDeleteThey really want the rubric, I think. They would especially like to discuss why you only gave them 10/15 points on their thesis statement, for instance. Why did you take off five points? They HAVE a thesis statement! What do you mean, it's not a good one? Is this a writing class?!?!
ReplyDelete...grrrrrrrr.....
I don't doubt the "unclear" criticism was probably made unthinkingly or even in bad faith, given the usual flaky gripes.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, one thing I imagine might have helped me when I was flake would have been to see not just a model A paper but also model B and C papers. (My work typically received As, sometimes Bs, but I never felt like I knew what I was doing, just winging it mostly.) With marginalia & summary comments on each model--all downloadable PDFs from the class web site or CMS, of course--at least those who are taking the course seriously and yet are struggling with how to approach the writing might grasp the distinctions between A-, B-, and C-quality work, seeing the models side-by-side.
Or maybe "it doesn't present the requirements in bullet form." My students seem to really like bulleted lists. I haven't succumbed completely, but I'm definitely presenting more and more information in that format....
ReplyDeleteCassandra, I once made the mistake of presenting things to cover in a 3-4 page paper in list format numbered as I recall).
What did I get? Several students who just turned in a bullet-pointed list, often sans sentences.
My lesson learned:
Always, ALWAYS make sure you tell them to write an ESSAY if that's what you want. Oh, and remind them they need not only SENTENCES but also PARAGRAPHS. Some will still ignore those missives though.
I could bring on the patented Strelnikov Ultraviolence (tm) but this is not worth it....if these little worms are too lazy to do the work I would staple Armed Forces recruiting forms to the back of their papers. If on the other hand these nekulturny duraki are laboring in pure ignorance, to the writing center they must go.
ReplyDeleteAll the essay guidance I've ever got in Flakeland was a list of five topics, the word count, the deadline and a brief refresher on the Harvard Referencing System.
ReplyDeleteI'm not actually sure what anyone else needs to write an essay...
The instructions are "unclear" because they are thorough. That means they won't read them because the instructions are more than 10 words. Failure to read instructions = "unclear" instructions.
ReplyDeleteIt's all your fault. You can't actually expect college students to read AND to follow directions, can you? They have so much beer to drink and tanning beds to lay in. The pressures the poor kids face when deciding between LOL and OMG! When they wake up, they are faced with the overwhelmingly difficult decision of whether or not to change out of their jammies. You can't expect them to be bothered with minor details in life like how to complete an assignment.
I had this assignment once where every semester, the students would make the same damned mistake. Finally, I put a statement at the end of the assignment sheet--in boldfaced 24 point font, no lie--explaining the most common mistake and how to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you know, the day the assignment was due, Suzy F. Lazycakes came to class, PISSED. "Dr. Snarky!" she said with anger. "Why did you put that note all the way at the bottom of the page? I only saw it when I got to the end of the assignment!!!!"
"Well, Suzy," I said evenly, "it's generally good practice to read the entire set of instructions before you begin writing."
Shooting daggers with her eyes, she huffed, "This is not fair. Your assignments are SO UNCLEAR!"
[Insert appropriate sound effect here]
"Unclear" = "You didn't do it out for us to copy and paste from these instructions."
ReplyDeleteSheesh.
I have been sorely tempted to write this:
ReplyDeleteAssignment:
1) Turn on computer.
2) Open up word-processing problem.
3) If you have not already done so, breathe in and then out.
4) Repeat 3 as needed throughout the time you work on the assignment.
I think they are used to just having things done for them, period, always, by everyone. But why? Who raised them? Where do they get this "if you did not explicitly spell it out for me I don't have to do it" attitude?
I was never taught how to write an essay, not in university anyway. I just did it. Now, students are required to take essay writing courses. I was also never taught proper citation. I just picked up an MLA style guide pamphlet in my English department. Then again, in those days, admissions standards were a lot higher too.
ReplyDeleteTwo repeated points here come to mind and are at the heart of the issue.
ReplyDelete1. As issyvoo said, students are not taught the skills they need to survive in freshmen comp before they get to college. We keep teaching FC as though students have learned how to write an essay and have the ability to look at a schematic and understand it. For the most part, students have not been taught how to write an essay, and they no longer possess the ability to read visual directions (an example of MLA style, for example, showing them spatially how things should appear) and visually match their own work to said directions. There is a huge disconnect between what they are taught in high school and what they are expected to know upon walking into any first-year college course, especially FC.
2. As many others said, "unclear directions" means, "you aren't doing it for me," or, "you aren't making exceptions for me when I screw up." Again, it's a disconnect between what they've learned in high school and what they're expected to know for first-year college courses, and it doesn't matter where they attended high school. If they come from "better" schools and are allegedly ready to move right into FC, they've been coddled and pampered and told they're precious and that you'll take late work and work any way they give it to you--and hence never have had to follow directions. If they come from city or rural or otherwise underperforming schools and (most likely) need some remediation, they've been rewarded simply for showing up, breathing, and not causing too much trouble--and hence never have had to follow directions.
It doesn't matter what you do. I have worked to make my assignments clearer. I include
ReplyDeletePURPOSE: To explain X clearly
AUDIENCE: Someone who has not read X (so provide background and context)
It doesn't matter. About half of them drop the reader headfirst into the material without explaining where it comes from or why it's important. This is also AFTER I have lectured (and posted the lecture in D2L) about how to engage an audience and why it's absolutely necessary to provide context. Doesn't matter.
I provide a rubric with Higher Order Concerns (thesis, organization, support, context for outside cited material) and Lower Order Concerns (grammar, style, etc.). It doesn't matter. They don't follow it. They just keep doing what they've always done, and expecting to pass.
A number of them are in for a rude surprise in the next week or so. It will come as a surprise because they haven't chosen to follow directions.
The short way of saying all of this: IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S THEM.
I wonder if your colleagues' instructions are changing; possibly they are expecting more from your instructions by comparison with what they get in other classes.
ReplyDelete