This is what an instructor told me last week. My knee jerk reaction - really? As I am working on becoming more "polished" in my responses, I didn't say a word. I simply grabbed my 400 pound backpack and walked out of the class bewildered and amazed.
Thinking about it more, here's what I have concluded about that little interaction: Instructors see us (students) during one class period, I think that sometimes you believe that you are the only instructor that we have; that it's okay to assign reading that covers 200 pages to be completed in four days (that was what I questioned) - we should be able to manage our time and get that done. For one class, I would agree - that isn't a lot to ask. The problem comes when that request is multiplied by...say, four classes...that's when instructors get the "deer in the headlights" look from students. It's not a look of refusal, it's more a look of panic as we quickly calculate "80 pages out of textbook 'A," 40 pages out of textbook 'B,' another 40 from textbook 'C,' 20 from gigantic textbook 'D,' and now 200 from this guy." The look you see is the realization that over the course of a week, we will be required to read the equivalent of a fourth of War and Peace; not only read - but retain. And that is just the reading part... there are also the case studies, homework assignments, quizzes and exams for each class.
Now, I know this door swings both ways. As students, we generally see you only during that particular class time. I think that there is a belief among students that when you walk out of that room that you are done - you walk off into the sunset and don't have another thing to do...your job lasts an hour a day. I'm not really sure where we think you go, but for the most part there is an assumption that you're off doing whatever it is you like to do when you're not standing in front of us. We are impatient...we don't understand why you can't have our exams graded the instant we walk out the door and check OnCourse ...we wonder why does it take two weeks to get my assignment back ; after all you only have this one class, right? I'll come clean - I'll admit that I've walked up to the offices to speak to an instructor, and if you're not there I wonder "really? What could you possibly be doing? We're not in class."
So, we both have the same problem - we believe we are your only students, and you believe we take only one class at a time. The big question now is how do we fix it? How do we blend to two little worlds so we can see where we are both coming from? How do we as students understand that you as instructors are trying to balance teaching with grading and with staff meetings and with school activities and with home (I think that we forget sometimes that you are actually people that live in homes and have home responsibilities - you don't just pop out of a box every morning) along with the multitude of other things that magically appear when we walk in for that one hour a day? How do you as instructors understand that we as students are trying to balance your class with another class and another class and another class, with student activities (as we are so strongly encouraged to participate in) with work and home and other things such as sleeping and eating?
I have decided to extend the olive branch and let you, as instructors, peer into the world of a full time student. I know that everyone of you have gone through this - you have lived this life; you "know what we're going through." However, I think you have forgotten - I no longer relate to 17 year olds...and I was one of those once...it happens. So, I want to give you a peek into the life of a full time student. Here's what a four week snapshot of 15 credit hours looks like...
That doesn't include the time I'm actually in class...just what I have to do when I get home (don't judge...I'm a supply chain major...dry erase boards and flow charts is what I do). Scary right? Scared me - don't think I'll ever take a picture of it again.
So, next time you give an assignment and you see that "deer in the headlights look," don't assume it's because you have just assigned something that we really don't want to do - we are just trying to figure out how to get it done.
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