Note to University Students

[BillH]

If you are struggling in a class and your instructor has office hours, the proper thing to do is to go see him during his office hours relatively early on in the semester after you have determined that you are not doing well. It is not wise to do nothing and then send him an email the day before the final exam asking if there's anything you can do to raise your grade because you don't understand the material.

Also, if you don't want to come to the scheduled exam time and your instructor is being overly generous by agreeing to let you take the three-hour exam outside the normal time, saying that he is free "all day Thursday and in the morning on Friday" the proper response is not "Great! Can we do it Friday at noon?"

This is a free public service announcement. Please feel free to share it with your friends.

 

[Davidnic]

True.

 

[stephenc]

I feel your pain.

No, honest.

 

[futuredoc]

If you are struggling in a class and your instructor has office hours, the proper thing to do is to go see him during his office hours relatively early on in the semester after you have determined that you are not doing well. It is not wise to do nothing and then send him an email the day before the final exam asking if there's anything you can do to raise your grade because you don't understand the material.

Also, if you don't want to come to the scheduled exam time and your instructor is being overly generous by agreeing to let you take the three-hour exam outside the normal time, saying that he is free "all day Thursday and in the morning on Friday" the proper response is not "Great! Can we do it Friday at noon?"

This is a free public service announcement. Please feel free to share it with your friends.

Wow do you really let students reschedule exams? In undergrad we only got to skip if we were dying and then you repeated it with the class the following quarter. Until then you had an incomplete.

 

[BillH]

Wow do you really let students reschedule exams? In undergrad we only got to skip if we were dying and then you repeated it with the class the following quarter. Until then you had an incomplete.

If they have a good reason, I'll let them do it within 48 hours of the scheduled time. I'm a softie that way.

 

[FullyMT]

I only wish some of my profs would let me know how I was doing early enough in the semester so that I would know I needed help!

Some of our profs will let us take an exam with a different section if we already have two exams in one day. We just have to let them know at least two weeks before the exam.

I hear ya Bill...

 

[Gwendolyn]

Eep.

I'm guilty.

I have horrible social anxiety and I was terrified of going to my professor to ask for help. I was very embarassed that I even needed help. It took me a month and a half to work up the guts to say anything, let alone ask for help...

Now I'm screwed... It's 1 week after the final (which I wrote) and I still have papers outstanding...

I might fail...

I'm so not built for a school environment.

 

[Assisi]

I was in a bad bad situation last year and I got behind in a subject. It is soooo hard to overcome the shame, approach the lecturer and admit how far behind you are. But lecturers are in general really really nice and they usually are very understanding and accommodating. s to you VeP. I hope it works out.

Oh, and while it may feel like you're the worst student in the world, trust me, the lecturer has seen far worse.

 

[fragmentsofdreams]

If you are struggling in a class and your instructor has office hours, the proper thing to do is to go see him during his office hours relatively early on in the semester after you have determined that you are not doing well. It is not wise to do nothing and then send him an email the day before the final exam asking if there's anything you can do to raise your grade because you don't understand the material.

Also, if you don't want to come to the scheduled exam time and your instructor is being overly generous by agreeing to let you take the three-hour exam outside the normal time, saying that he is free "all day Thursday and in the morning on Friday" the proper response is not "Great! Can we do it Friday at noon?"

This is a free public service announcement. Please feel free to share it with your friends.

I sympathize. I recently had a student schedule a doctor's appointment halfway through lab thinking that this could work.

 

[helenofbritain]

I didn't know you worked at a college Bill. What do you teach?

 

[BAFRIEND]

Do you use scantrons, Billh ?

 

[Pogue]

I'm a good student. I bring in chocolates for my lecturers and join their appreciation societies on facebook.

 

[Antigone]

None of my teachers have facebook, as far as I know.

Having just finished a substantial portion of the first draft of my masters' thesis (teacher said to send it in at the end of april; which is today), I feel quite good about myself.

What do you teach, Bill?

 

[BillH]

I didn't know you worked at a college Bill. What do you teach?

What do you teach, Bill?

Economics. My specialty is international trade policy, but this semester, I'm teaching intro-level classes.

Do you use scantrons, Billh ?

No. I've debated doing it for the intro classes because the sections are large (about 125 a pop this semester) and my intro-level exams are multiple choice anyhow. But I didn't like doing scantron when I was a student, and the people who operate the scantron
machine at my school are kinda weird (they'll only give you your results if you give them a 3.5" floppy disk to keep -- who even uses floppy disks anymore?) Plus, I have a grad student who helps me with the grading.

 

[BillH]

I understand the shame and nervousness part if you feel like you're not doing well. I generally try to mention on a regular basis that I have office hours and that students should try to use them if they're having trouble with the material in order to get across the idea that it can be normal to be struggling with some of it. I seriously don't know of any university professor who looks down on students that are having trouble but are making a serious effort to learn. I mean, if you could understand the material without our help, what would be the point?

Thing is, I just don't get the impression that shame is a major constraint for people who ask if I can change the grading standard for the course ex-post facto, or assume that I'll make up an extra-credit assignment for them on the spot when they haven't done a good chunk of the regular assignments, or will even just ask me if I can change their grade for no better reason than that they need a higher one for something or the other. To be clear, these folks are a small minority of my students, but when you're teaching a few hundred of them, it only takes a small fraction before they get on your nerves...

 

[helenofbritain]

Economics. My specialty is international trade policy, but this semester, I'm teaching intro-level classes.

Can I interest you in a debate with Cosmic Charlie where I get to watch?

 

[geocajun]

lol you are too nice, Bill. They will never get away with that sort of inconsideration in the business place (at least not working for me).

 

[Pogue]

I'm not a good student anymore. One of my tutors now has his door taped up.

 

[Davidnic]

I understand the shame and nervousness part if you feel like you're not doing well. I generally try to mention on a regular basis that I have office hours and that students should try to use them if they're having trouble with the material in order to get across the idea that it can be normal to be struggling with some of it. I seriously don't know of any university professor who looks down on students that are having trouble but are making a serious effort to learn. I mean, if you could understand the material without our help, what would be the point?

We get the same thing with people being nervous using the Library and asking for help or advice. Many are embarrassed to ask or wait until they need things the next day.

And we also fight the: "Google is not just as good a source as your library resources" argument, as well as: "We do have hundreds of electronic databases you know!"

 

[BAFRIEND]

I have two business degrees and liked economics even though it was harder than most classes because like statistics you are seeing material in a paradigm not covered in high school.

This one time during a lecture my dice fell out of my bag and rolled across the floor disrupting the class. I am certain it is the teacher who got me invited to be interviewed by the campus police.