Hello everyone:

On every assignment for every class I teach, I offer feedback. Students are also sent emails via our announcement page, and they get special postings where they can locate additional instructions on how to successfully complete an assignment.

But some students doggedly hang onto the wrong way of doing something, too stubborn to follow the instructions. Why would they do that? They are paying a lot of money (or someone else is) for them to go to college, yet they absolutely refuse to learn. I don’t understand.

Case in point: I am teaching an online writing class where I went over the instructions via the announcement page. The instructions are also in the syllabus. I explained and re-explained (if that is even a word), only to get emails from students who told me “I didn’t know….”

Well, now we know who isn’t paying attention. We now know who spends more time paying with his or her handheld device than checking out what my announcements and the syllabus say.

Funny thing, it isn’t just the online student doing this. I had a residential student who was so intent on her texting that, when I specifically mentioned her actions in class, she never noticed. I stopped speaking and stared at her, looking amused (I’m hoping it was my amused face, that is, and not my really-ticked-off face).

The whole class turned around and looked at her, and still she texted on, totally oblivious to what I had just said. The class got the giggles, albeit, briefly. The silence finally got her attention. She looked up. I asked, “You finished with that yet? Are you ready to re-join the class now?”

A few minutes later, the phone was back in her hand.

Here’s the lesson to be learned: Pay attention, follow the instructions, ask questions if you don’t understand, and stop texting while the instructor is talking or you may end up with the words “I didn’t know….” coming out of your mouth.

My reply? “I talked about it while you were texting…”

Best,

Dr. Sheri