Ya know… Every once in a while I hear about my students complaining behind my back about how “bad” of a teacher I am. How FAST I go, and how I don’t explain every little detail to them.
It’s also fun to read the comments they put on the back of their instructor evaluations. Unfortunately, I don’t get those until the end of the following semester. So.. if a book is bad, I wouldnt know it until after I’ve already selected it for the following semester. Or, if my teaching is bad, I’d never know about what I can do to improve until I’m well into the next semester.
This past Tuesday, in my Networking class, I gave my students a quiz on the reading I told them to read last Thursday. Nobody reads the book. Well, in this case, two of them said they did. Six of the eight students didn’t do so good on the quiz. At the end of the class I said we’ll be covering chapters X and Y this Thursday and we’ll be having a quiz, so go home and read it. I’m sick of people not putting forth the effort to learn the material required for the course. Most will have a RUDE awakening when/if they graduate and when/if they get a real job.
At the first of the semester I told each of my classes a few things.
#1 You’ll want to spend at LEAST 6 hours outside of class for this course a week. These six hours a week should probably go towards studying the material, going over notes from class, and doing homework and example problems from the text. This is a given for any upper-division CIT program. I am not going to give them everything they should know during class time. They will have to be learning stuff on your own so you can come to class and ask questions. This is the same for the real world. I don’t learn everything I do at work.. AT work. I have to spend time, outside of work, to study.. continue my understanding and keep up with the latest and greatest technologies. Many a time have I pulled up a PDF for a router or switch configuration on my laptop while I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep.. learning stuff all the time is what it’s all about. If they can’t do it now, how will they succeed in the private sector?
#2. I go fast. Yes, I am a speed demon. I type fast, I talk fast, and I think fast. This, again, is a result of the private sector. You bill by the hour. You have emergencies that you have to resolve quick, otherwise servers stay down.. the Internet stops working..and people start crying..and you end up losing money. If you are unable to think quickly through problems, identifying potential solutions and ways to fix the problem then a demanding IT job probably isn’t the best. Even in the world of design, quick results mean more money. Given, it takes time to come up with ideas and make them work in the design world.. if you’re not always thinking about things behind the scenes it’ll take you even longer. Which is why accuracy, speed, and completeness are essential traits in my sector of work. Initially I told my students that I go FAST. I also said that if I go “too fast”, slow me down. If you don’t ask questions, then I won’t know that you aren’t getting it. If you don’t do #1 and #2 then you’re probably not going to be getting it. You’ll be just filling a seat with a blank stare on your face or you’ll probably not be paying attention doing your homework for other classes (in my class), or chatting away on IM. Yes, I have students that do all of the above.
So what do I tell these students of mine that aren’t really interested in learning? I’m not going to give them an “A” for just showing up. If they do #1 AND #2 from above, then they’ll get an “A” in the class. I have students that don’t have to put a full 6 hours a week outside of class and are getting “A”s. Maybe they get it? Maybe it is that they pay attention in class, take notes, and read the texts outside of class. Maybe they do their assignments before they are due instead of waiting until the last possible minute to start them and then running into issues.
My oh my how I rant. But it is true. The work ethic amongst students and the up-coming working generation is diminishing. Everybody wants it handed to them on a silver platter. Nobody wants to work for their education or even once they have their job, they don’t want to work to further their education while at that job. They just expect to be given raises, more responsibility, and more time off when they don’t earn it. I do see a correlation between the classroom and the workforce. There are those that put the time in to the course, learn the material even if it takes them MORE time than 6 hours a week, and get “A”s out of the class. These students I’d love to pick up in a heart beat. Unfortunately, they already know that they are well sought after and have good jobs elsewhere.
If you’re a long time reader in this blog you’ll know I rant about this subject from time to time. Usually this happens when grades are given or we near the end of the semester and students have an awakening that their “all As throughout college streak” is about to come to a close. I’m a nice guy, I put up with a lot of crap in the classroom. But I also demand results and for my students to put forth the time in their upper-division courses. If they don’t then they’re not going to be able to accomplish what they want to after graduation.
