managing expectations

[Marasme]

Another year, but the same question.
As the mad race, gladiator style, to improve our NSS survey continues, we face the biggest obstacle: students' experience

we have addressed their feedback, provided countless sessions filling the gaps they wanted filled, go above and beyond, feedback within 10 days, answer email within 2 days, yada yada. You name it, we do it.

BUT - they are still not happy (different cohort, through, obviously). Our programme has an early start, and our "testing the water" survey already shows big areas with significant discontent.

Can you think of any way to highlight to the little darlings how things are actually not that bad? they have been told about past feedback and what was done to improve.

[I hate customer service so much :( ]

Oh gawd, I've had similar. I don't understand 'x'. Did you read explanatory material / the week's reading on 'x'? 'No, it looked boring'. Probably the same student who at the end of the year opined that 'all of the readings for this course were boring'.

Oh that is depressing. ‘It looked boring’

My colleague and I were talking today about the weaponised use of ‘I’m confused’ by our students. Apparently their confusion is our problem to solve, not their own. And the fact that they didn’t attend the classes or read anything or make any attempt to clear it up themselves is absolutely reasonable. Because, well, those things are boring.

Student: "Miss (really!), you went too fast, now I will have to read the textbook chapter!"
Me: "Did you read the paper I've put on the virtual campus?"
Student: "No, I don't like anatomy."

I think it is hardest in the first year. They are school children in their minds still. They also understood they are customers. Most of my students are rich or at least well off. They know how much the parents are paying and are expecting to sit it out to a certain degree. Once year 3 the feedback is more useful.

I’ve just marked several third attempts where the second year students have ignored really basic feedback like: ‘the task asks you to select a journal article and analyse it. You cannot pass unless you do this.’ or ‘the article you have chosen is about elephants but you have written about stick insects. It’s very important that you discuss material about elephants so that it’s relevant to your article’. They’ve had exactly the same feedback twice (and now three times).

Or the student whose 4th attempt was exactly the same essay she’d submitted the previous 3 times. No changes whatsoever. Because clearly this time I was going to decide that actually it was good enough.

Student: "Miss (really!), you went too fast, now I will have to read the textbook chapter!"
Me: "Did you read the paper I've put on the virtual campus?"
Student: "No, I don't like anatomy

Did you take the opportunity to ask if that applied to both top and bottom anatomy or just one of these?

Or the student whose 4th attempt was exactly the same essay she’d submitted the previous 3 times. No changes whatsoever. Because clearly this time I was going to decide that actually it was good enough

I suspect that happens (academic emits a 'noooooooooooooo I can't take it anymore howl, reaches for the alcohol of choice and just passes the paper). I'd actually call it self-plagiarism.

ArbitraryName

My colleague and I were talking today about the weaponised use of ‘I’m confused’ by our students.

Are you my colleague?!

I'm not agin the students, who I don't see as the enemy, or a whinging academic wishing we were back in the expansionary '60s & days of Lucky Jim. But. The teaching model we have does not allow for us to respond to them only when they are ready to engage, on a one-to-one level, just before their deadlines.

I do make myself a bit more available then, as far as is reasonable. And my colleagues are already very sympathetic and 'client-focused', but at some point it's unreasonable to dumb down further and turn the course material into pure edutainment.

People learn more when it's a bit hard. This is how I learned. If we want them to learn there has to be a bit of struggle.

If departments give the impression that it's all a problem on our side then it will be rational for students to push harder for more concessions. There needs to be a good mix of responsiveness and hardening of defences. My dept has done an awful lot of the first and now needs to shore up a bit, before standards collapse or a number of colleagues move on to something appropriate to their skill level and mix. I didn't come into it to be a therapist or substitute parent, even though I know that many are having a hard time with anxiety and all sorts of social and other pressures, and do sympathise.