Friday, July 22, 2016

You didn't teach me that!

I gotta get this out of my system or my head will explode....

I'm grading an exam in Moodle and asked how Squirrel Fur Weaving works.

A student answers: I don't know, but let me tell you all I know about Mouse Fur Weaving! [Explains in detail.] You must not have spent a lot of time on Squirrel Fur Weaving in class, because I take very good notes and I don't remember seeing anything about it when reviewing my notes.

My response: Well, we spent 90 minutes on it, I explained a worked example on the board, there was a handout LINKED from the schedule and there was an extra document with step-by-step instructions on how to do it, also LINKED from the schedule. Do I have to hide Pokémons in the files to get you to open them, or what?

Okay, I deleted that last sentence before pressing save. The audacity of this has me floored.

-- Suzy from Square State

9 comments:

  1. Now you know why I abandoned the educational practice, standard as little as one generation ago, of going over an exam during the next class. They show no interest whatsoever for learning from their mistakes, or learning in any way whatsoever: they just want to make that dreaded mewling sound, about how "unfair" and "hard" every goddamn one of the questions is.

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  2. We have a school rule that we HAVE to offer an extra "going-over-the-exam" session. If we don't and a student complains to the dean, well, you know what happens... Last term I offered a session, drove to school only for this appointment, and sat reading CM and other blogs for the allotted hour, as no one showed up.

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  3. I like the idea of telling students that there is a clue in the syllabus to finding a Pokemon. I have no idea if this is even possible since I don't follow that craze. Still, the students would be enthusiastic about finding it. The fact that there is no clue (except the clues they imagine are there) is beside the point. They read the syllabus.

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    Replies
    1. Memo to the distance learning office:

      Can we partner up to put pokemons in the books in the library?

      I've thought of clearing enough space on my phone to load the game for a couple of days just so I know what augmented reality my students are living it, but motivation is hard to work up for the project. In a sense the whole idea is enormously cool and I ought to be excited by it, but I'm not.

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  4. I give up. We have a generation of idiots!

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  5. I, too, rather like the idea in the last sentence (but agree that is was best to delete it). I'm sure that, before the fall semester, a number of professors will have found ways to integrate Pokemon into their classes (maybe an incentive for in-person attendance? I gather there's a way to lure a swarm of the creatures, which some restauranteurs are using to good effect). I won't be one of them, though I am interested in the possibilities of using augmented reality to convey historical information about a particular location (and would love to create such material myself, or have students do it, if the technology ever becomes user-friendly enough -- likely -- and I have a class for which the project would be appropriate -- sadly, less likely).

    I'm finding students at the moment a bit more audacious, too, but (the good news) they seem to give up pretty easily when faced with a bare statement of the truth ("you haven't done any work; why are you writing to schedule a paper conference?" -- okay, I said it a bit more nicely than that, and got back an acknowledgment that that, was, indeed, the case).

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  6. No. No. You don't have to Pokemon Go do this!

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  7. A pragmatic note: I imagine those who are interested in finding Pokemon (is that even plural - don't know?) will have found them all before the term starts...

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