I don't want to get into an argument, but, again, I think it's good to
avoid those internal attributions. Maybe there are other reasons why students
don't attend office hours or go for tutoring. For example, many of my
students work a significant number of hours - and they must, because they
otherwise would not be in school. Other students commute long distances to
campus, and may not be able to make the drive on a whim. Others may come from
a background that makes asking for help difficult. Some may have gone for
help and found the "help" not helpful...and so forth.
So I still believe that rather than assume student apathy is the reason
for their behavior, it might be a good idea to consider some other reasons
(situational determinants) for their behavior, and it might be useful to ask
them why they don't use those resources or why they haven't followed what were
supposed to be clear directions.
Incidentally, I teach first-year students as well as upper-division and
graduate ones. I find that especially in the case of first-year students, the
main problems are lack of information and lack of skill, not lack of interest.
Retta
Payam Heidary wrote:
> Retta,
>
> My experiences have not been similar to yours. You say
> that you give very clear and specific instructions and
> that you find students following them. This is NOT the
> case with my students. You may have upper division or
> graduate students who have learned their lessons
> through more experience but if you teach freshman and
> sophomores like I do then I am certain you will not
> have the same experiences. I also think that apathy
> has a lot to do with it because if students did not
> understand anything but cared enough to want to
> understand then you would expect them to seek more
> assistance such as coming to office hours, attending
> the tutoring and writing center on campus, etc. But
> clearly most students do not do this. Just go to the
> tutoring and writing center on your campus and ask
> them how many students they actually assist per day
> and how many come in for help and compare that to the
> number of students needing help and you will see what
> I mean.
>
> Payam
>
> --- Retta Poe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I think we should be very cautious in making
> > attributions of student
> > apathy when students don't do what we think they
> > should. One of the things I
> > have learned in nearly 30 years of teaching is that
> > at least some of the time
> > (if not most of the time), when students don't do
> > things the way I want them
> > to, it's because 1. they haven't understood what I
> > want, 2. they haven't
> > understood that I _really do_ want something done a
> > particular way (i.e., that
> > I really CARE), or 3. they lack the skills to do
> > what I want.
> > So I try to figure out a way to address each of
> > these. To address the
> > first situation, I say what I want, I write it out
> > clearly on a handout, and
> > sometimes I even give them a quiz over the details
> > of the assignment. If they
> > have to take a quiz, they pay attention!
> > For the second, I spend some time telling them
> > why I care about some
> > requirement, and I try to offer reasons that sound
> > beneficial to them. For
> > example, I tell them that I want papers
> > double-spaced so that I can have space
> > to write comments and suggestions. I tell them that
> > I want a cover page so
> > that their privacy is protected when I hand back the
> > papers - others won't be
> > able to see their grade and my comments on the paper
> > because the cover page
> > will "cover" the paper.
> > For the third, I consider whether my students
> > can reasonably be expected
> > to already have the skills in question. If not, I
> > don't lose any sleep
> > worrying about why not - I just try to figure out
> > how to help them acquire
> > those skills.
> > As for motivation - I do specify some clear
> > contingencies for
> > reinforcement and punishment, and I stick to them.
> > For example, I do not want
> > late papers, and I do not want to reinforce
> > procrastination. So papers are
> > due at class time on the dates specified. Papers
> > turned in up to 24 hours
> > late receive half-credit, and after 24 hours, papers
> > aren't accepted (of
> > course, I do make exceptions for extraordinary
> > circumstances beyond the
> > student's control). Guess what: last Friday, when I
> > had papers due in one
> > class, I received an on-time paper from every single
> > student.
> > What's more, I also do not receive criticism for
> > my policy on my student
> > evaluations. I think it's probably because 1. I
> > make the policy very clear,
> > and 2. I explain that I don't think it's fair to the
> > conscientious students to
> > give the less-conscientious students extra time to
> > do their papers, so I am
> > making sure that I don't reward students for being
> > less conscientious.
> > I guess my point is that I think apathy probably
> > accounts for only a very
> > small percentage of the problems various Tipsters
> > have mentioned. Also, I
> > would like to suggest that it may be useful to
> > collect some data on this
> > point. When students don't do what you want, why
> > not conduct a brief,
> > anonymous survey to ask them why they didn't do what
> > you wanted? That way,
> > you can know what you need to do differently. I
> > have tried this at times, and
> > I have found it to be very helpful.
> >
> > Retta
> >
> > --
> > Retta E. Poe, Ph.D.
> > Professor of Psychology
> > Western Kentucky University
> > 1 Big Red Way
> > Bowling Green, Ky. 42101
> >
> > (270) 745-4409 FAX: (270) 745-6934
> > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > http://edtech.cebs.wku.edu/~rpoe/
> >
> > "Live long, and prosper!"
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > You are currently subscribed to tips as:
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> __________________________________________________
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> ---
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--
Retta E. Poe, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Western Kentucky University
1 Big Red Way
Bowling Green, Ky. 42101
(270) 745-4409 FAX: (270) 745-6934
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://edtech.cebs.wku.edu/~rpoe/
"Live long, and prosper!"
---
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