That whole having-to-do-the-work-of-the-class-to-pass-the-class thing is just so unfair. In this new, enlightened age of students as consumers, there must be an alternative (and yes, as the video points out, there is, which is putting pressure on real colleges and universities to do the same).
I've now turned back almost a half-dozen research paper "proposals," most of them handed in late in the first place, for revision because they contained barely a paragraph of prose (rather than the suggested 3 paragraphs), or a single source, or no bibliography at all. This after I wrote a detailed assignment, gave students sample proposals to read and comment on, provided my own comments, etc., etc. And while I've changed other parts of the class, this assignment, and the way I present it, really haven't changed. It certainly feels like the "you mean I really have to do the work you assign to pass the class?" tide is running especially high and strong this year. I really can't tell why, but my best guess is some combination of intensified economic pressures and the cumulative effect of a standardized-test-oriented K-12 culture. A class in which they actually have to produce something completely flummoxes some students.
Sawyer! Mea culpa. I zapped your comment by error. It was right next to one by someone using multiple logins. My fat fingers could not operate the tiny mice that we use at the compound.
This is an example of being winged, and I apologize.
At first I was like, "Does saying things are only funny when they happen to someone else but not when it happens to you hit too close to home? Is self-deprecation no longer appropriate comment material? Must all comments be deragatory and directed at someone else?"
Then your explanation gave me almost as big a giggle as the vid did. Now I feel like Daryl in "The Walking Dead" last week.
This is excellent. Particularly the leit-motif of attendance. 'I'm not here to talk about attendance". Nor about any other way you could actually meet the requirements of the course.
The end of this is worthwhile: Here is a list of professors I do not like that teach this class.
ReplyDeleteOh so wish I could do that...
That whole having-to-do-the-work-of-the-class-to-pass-the-class thing is just so unfair. In this new, enlightened age of students as consumers, there must be an alternative (and yes, as the video points out, there is, which is putting pressure on real colleges and universities to do the same).
ReplyDeleteI've now turned back almost a half-dozen research paper "proposals," most of them handed in late in the first place, for revision because they contained barely a paragraph of prose (rather than the suggested 3 paragraphs), or a single source, or no bibliography at all. This after I wrote a detailed assignment, gave students sample proposals to read and comment on, provided my own comments, etc., etc. And while I've changed other parts of the class, this assignment, and the way I present it, really haven't changed. It certainly feels like the "you mean I really have to do the work you assign to pass the class?" tide is running especially high and strong this year. I really can't tell why, but my best guess is some combination of intensified economic pressures and the cumulative effect of a standardized-test-oriented K-12 culture. A class in which they actually have to produce something completely flummoxes some students.
Wow. That's a pretty dark ending.
ReplyDeleteWow....as Academic Monkey says "that's a pretty dark ending". I'm just speechless...don't know what to say at all now.
ReplyDeleteBravo! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI loved the ending! The whole thing pretty much captures a typical interaction with a 'flake.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSawyer! Mea culpa. I zapped your comment by error. It was right next to one by someone using multiple logins. My fat fingers could not operate the tiny mice that we use at the compound.
ReplyDeleteThis is an example of being winged, and I apologize.
Wilhelm
Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteNo biggie, Herr Kaiser.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was like, "Does saying things are only funny when they happen to someone else but not when it happens to you hit too close to home? Is self-deprecation no longer appropriate comment material? Must all comments be deragatory and directed at someone else?"
Then your explanation gave me almost as big a giggle as the vid did. Now I feel like Daryl in "The Walking Dead" last week.
Though the ending is a bit dark, everything up to that point is spot-on 'flake behavior.
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent. Particularly the leit-motif of attendance. 'I'm not here to talk about attendance". Nor about any other way you could actually meet the requirements of the course.
ReplyDeleteIt's so simple that it's apparently really hard (attending a class and doing the work, that is).
ReplyDelete