Class Discussion
My professor is pissed!
We got this e-mail this morning:
I want to reiterate what is stated in the syllabus. Whether using laptop computers or not, students are expected to be fully prepared and to follow class discussion. If a student using a laptop responds to a question by saying, “Would you repeat the question?’ I will assume that computer use has distracted that student and will consider him or her as on call for the remainder of the class.
In addition, I have become concerned enough about the nature of class discussion that I am going to announce periods in class when students will be required to close their computers and listen to their fellow students.
Now, as far as I’m concerned, I’m way more likely to be listening than taking notes in Constitutional Law, because the way he teaches it’s so hard to take notes. He likes to tell stories, and discuss things, and do a lot of “What if?”s that are more about stimulating your brain and teaching you how to think, than about giving you information that you need to regurgitate. So the idea of me being focused on my laptop instead of him… it’s unlikely to happen. Though in other classes, yeah, sometimes I stop paying 100% attention, so that I can make sure that I’m getting the notes down right.
But what he’s actually upset about is a student yesterday who got called on, asked him to repeat the question, and then repeatedly responded with “let me look through my notes…” — so I’m pretty sure the problem was less that he wasn’t paying attention and more that he hadn’t read the material for that day (which boggles the mind since Monday we had a snow day, so he had plenty of time to catch up). Or he’d read it, forgotten about it, and zoned out during one of the stories.
Regardless, I love how this teacher responds to an incident like that. “If you demonstrate that you aren’t paying attention and don’t know what you’re talking about, I will target you mercilessly throughout class.” — I’m not even sure if I’m being sarcastic or not. On the one hand, it’s unlikely that someone will be caught uninformed again, after an experience like that, but on the other it’s kind of a waste of time for the rest of us, who do know what’s going on and were sort of hoping to get some kind of meaningful discussion out of the day.
Sigh. I don’t claim that I always put 100% effort into all of my homework, but I at least try to come to class with some inkling of what’s going on, and when I’m there I very rarely zone out.
Filed by Cally at March 5th, 2009 under Tags: angry professor, con law, homework