Overheard behind me as I walked back from my intro class yesterday:
Student 1: Oh, there was some class . . . psychology? Yeah, I think it was psychology. They had a test, and then they had to go back to class after the test to watch a movie! OH MY GOD!
Student 2: You're kidding!
Student 1: No! Someone . . . oh, it was Josh . . . Josh said, "I just had a test, but I have to go back to class at 2 to watch a movie." Can you believe that? They took a test and then had to go back to class after the test!
(Josh is one of my advisees, by the way.)
Student 2: Just to watch a movie?
Student 1: Yes! Can you believe that?
(Both students laugh incredulously, as though this is the most absurd thing they've ever heard.)
Me (over my shoulder): Actually, it was a short exam, so it was perfectly reasonable to expect them to come back to class. And they'll be tested over the information presented in that "movie." (Incidentally, I originally hadn't planned to test the students over the video, but suddenly, it seems like a fantastic idea . . .)
The students stop talking, but I can hear them trying to contain their laughter. We split off as I go toward my office, and they rush ahead, more than slightly embarrassed.
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Yeah, so instead of giving few exams that cover a load of information, I give more frequent exams that cover less information. These exams take most students 40 to 50 minutes to complete, so instead of having them leave after they're finished and losing three hours of class time during the semester, I have them come back to class to start on the next set of material. Poor, delicate students. Has our recent damp and foggy weather led them to be taken with consumption? They must be absolutely spent after 40-50 minutes of exam-taking. Yet I demand that they come back to class! It's like Abu Ghraib up in here!
And don't get me started on the perception that videos are useless time-fillers. I spent more than an hour previewing that video and creating discussion questions for it. Perhaps in the future, I should just watch videos in the comfort of my own home while sitting on my couch in my pajama pants, drinking a beer, and then I'll just lecture about the videos during class. Maybe that would seem like less of a waste of time to them.
I guess the incident bothered me. Just a little.
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2 comments:
When I was in college (cough cough) years ago, I was taking anatomy, and we had a test every Friday, and were expected back in class for the last 20 minutes to start lecturing on the next chapter--giving us 30 min to complete the test. I think there was initial incredulous-ness (is that a word?) Your students should get over themselves.
Ok, did I just sound like a Grandma? "Back when I went to school we walked 5 miles to school in 2 feet of snow, uphill both ways...."
Hey Grandma,
Just tell your kids that they shouldn't complain about that kind of thing. Or at least tell them that if they do complain, they shouldn't do it when they're in earshot of the professor they're talking about (and a hearing impaired professor at that . . .).
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