Yay another rant! Sorry.

[molested_cow]

Some of you may remember my rant about my students a few months ago. Well, I actually got over that and pretty much accepted the fact that that's how students are nowadays. Well, the new semester has started and two out of my three classes offered are way short in the number of students that it take to reach the minimum count.

The one class that is has no problem is a core class, so everyone has to pass it in order to move on. The two that are in trouble are "electives" in which they have options to choose from. One is titled "Design Communication", a brand new class that was added by the department because they saw how much the students need to brush up their communication and presentation skills. The second class focuses on behavior observation and analysis, a class that provides students the environment to learn how to analysis a user/consumer's subconscious values through various observation techniques. Now this is a class that is NOT OFFERED in any university because you usually only get to be exposed to this in much higher level of design profession when you actually get a job in the business. This would be a dream class if I had the chance as a student.

Not only that, for the first class, I managed to have a very good friend, a senior design manager in a mega corporation to host a series of workshops to create learning opportunities for the students, and this is unheard of. For the second class on behavior analysis, I've went out of my ways to convince a kindergarten(also tried with other organizations but none were being positive or helpful) to let us get involved with their kids to create a collaboration in which we teach and guide the kindergarten kids to create their own original stories to be made into a fun stop-motion short film, in exchange for the chance for our students to learn about behavior observation through this interaction.

So this is the first week of our semester here and both classes are short of students. If we don't meet the minimum student count by Monday, the classes are off. Now, I don't care if the classes are off. I've accepted that luck is never on my side and also the fact that bad luck likes me. However I do care for the fact that if I fall below the minimum required teaching hours, it is my department that gets discredited. I am new here and I know how hard everyone in the department works to make it what it is, and even though our department is kinda the rockstar department that brings in loads of competitive points and media coverage, the school won't hesitate to drop the hammer because they see this as a major fault on the department's part, when in fact, it's the students who are just too damn clueless to know what they need.

Why don't the students sign up for these two classes?

It's not because of the content of the class. It has more to do with "oh I don't want to get failed for other classes so I am not going to pick this one up, just in case I can't handle them". This may sound like they are trying to manage risk, but they really aren't. They are just avoiding the reality. Anyways, I don't even know what to feel about this. I feel terrible having to tell my friend and the kindergarten that the classes may be canceled because the students have other priorities. I feel that the seed will be planted in them, of distrust and/or even despise at college students, which means that this gate that I've worked so hard to open will be closed forever. Well, at least I have, and it's buried deep.

 

[mishele]

I'm going to rant about the size of this rant!! That is way too much to read!! :mrgreen:

 

[molested_cow]

I'm going to rant about the size of this rant!! That is way too much to read!! :mrgreen:

YOU SOUND JUST LIKE MY STUDENTS!!!!

 

[Overread]

She is - she's the one at the back who's always sleeping/texting in class

 

[mishele]

She is - she's the one at the back who's always sleeping/texting in class

No, no, I'm the one that doesn't show up.
:blushing:

 

[71M]

I'm going to rant about the size of this rant!! That is way too much to read!! :mrgreen:

Once it goes beyond like eight things I have to consider my brain melts.

 

[TWright33]

I'm going to rant about the size of this rant!! That is way too much to read!! :mrgreen:

YOU SOUND JUST LIKE MY STUDENTS!!!!

Maybe they know you are a molested cow.

 

[Derrel]

You might have to try to PERSONALLY lobby/promote/beseech in order to get some students signed up for these two brand new classes. Take some initiative. Maybe salvage your classes. People are not going to do it for you. You complain about your students being lazy. Well...the shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it? If you want a brand new venture to be successful, you might have to actually put some of your own effort into it. Sorry to be so blunt, but your rant falls on deaf ears here, at this end.

 

[table1349]

A keg of beer works wonders for attendance. :cheers:

 

[pgriz]

Poor marketing. The first one should be called "Wanna score? 5 easy secrets." The second should be "How to know what she really thinks".

Really.

You need the bait, then the hook.

 

[molested_cow]

Promotion and marketing? Of course I've done that, on many occasions.

 

[Tiller]

Be super nice and cool and talk about how easy the class will be UNTIL drop add passes. Then be all like, "Screw you guys you're all going to stay here and freaking enjoy it!"

What school are you at?

 

[rexbobcat]

Being a college student myself, I think a lot of students' mentality is just that "Well, I like this subject, but I don't want to be stressed to get a good grade, so I'd might as well take easier classes, because I get the same degree regardless."

Learning seems to be secondary to a lot of universities. The main goal at mine is to get the numbers up and pump out as many researchers as possible to make us a tier 1 research school.

They literally have a "Hispanic student quota," because I'd we reach a certain number we get labeled as Hispanic Preferred or something and we get more funding.

That's one reason why a lot of people are switching out of our Mass Comm college (not the Hispanic thing, the learning thing.) They look at the curriculum and say "Why the hell do I need 4 PR classes and 3 marketing classes as a journalism major?" So, telling students what they do and don't need to know (even if you're right) isn't a great way to get them in the door. Lol

P.S. Ever since taking my student job in he marketing department of this college, I have just become more and more jaded toward the whole higher education system. It feels like I've gotten a glimpse at the man behind the curtain, and I don't like what I see. Maybe a lot of students come to college and become disillusioned with the whole thing so they just give in and say f*** it, I'm just gonna do the minimum amount of work required to get a degree.

 

[minicoop1985]

Having been a college student fairly recently, a lot of kids look at it this way: Do I have to take it to pass? No? Ok, does it require work? Oh, it does? Screw that then.

 

[deeky]

I'm guessing that the majority of your students are traditional students. My program as a student was a five-year program that involved a full year of internship during the fourth year. My last year of classes took on TOTALLY different meaning after I had been out in the real world.

Your students don't get it because they haven't done it. Stated abruptly, they are ignorant due to lack of experience (life and otherwise). It's just they way they are. The classes I teach have a good mix of trad and non-trad students with the occasional high schooler thrown in and there is a HUGE difference between the trad and non-trad. In general, I would much rather teach non-traditional students because they have already been there, done that, and know why they need to know. They tend to care more and because of that do better.