# Professor's guide for how to piss off students **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 13, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391 "2005-09-13T03:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/61 "2005-09-13T22:24:00Z")
Heh, high level stuff? Try two undergrad language classes (with accordingly rigid syllabi as to marking, thank goodness, although with the usual vagueness about translation assignments) and one independent study, whose criteria I don’t even have a clue about. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/62 "2005-09-13T22:30:04Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > Heh, high level stuff? Try two undergrad language classes (with accordingly rigid syllabi as to marking, thank goodness, although with the usual vagueness about translation assignments) and one independent study, whose criteria I don’t even have a clue about. Don’t contradict me when I try to talk you up, **Laur**. 🙂 I am clearly coming off a lot stronger than I mean to be. I did not think this would be so intense of an issue, and I let myself get backed into a corner. I really try not to be an utter jackass or an arbitrary bastard. I just play one on a message board. There are good things and limitations to any teaching approach. I do not apologize for using “privilege” as a verb. Incentivize, on the other hand, is quite shameful, even though its existence is undeniable. Good night, folks, and happy reading. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/63 "2005-09-14T01:12:32Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Here’s another example, from my favorite teacher as an undergrad. It was a senior seminar, 20-25 people. There were supposed to be three short papers over the course of the semester, maybe 4-6 pages each. After grading the first one, she decided (quite rightly) that none of us could write for shit. She didn’t put it quite in so many words. You still can’t write for shit when you have to make up words. But a senior seminar where all 20 - 25 can’t write for shit? I smell, um, bullshit. I am betting 30 percent at most could not write, and rather than dump that group, she carried you. If it had been me, I would have expected you to me the prerequisites, which I bet included some experience with the English language. No wonder she was your favorite, she let you slide. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/64 "2005-09-14T01:33:03Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > > [@threemae](#): > > > > Also, here’s another thing that applies to _all_ professors. No, I am not required to be interested in your class, in your arcane and incredibly specific topics of study, what you wrote your thesis on, your music, how you spent your summer, what you ate for dinner last night, nor photos from you taking your dog to Water-World last Sunday (\<-true strory for molec. bio class!), and how you grade shouldn’t be a direct attempt to measure my interest level. Your grading should be based upon the information or skills presented in class, the readings, or whatever else people could reasonably expect me to learn in your class, and my ability to retain it or use it. > > If you’re not interested in the class, don’t take it. If you decide to take the class anyway, perform as if it were the most interested fucking class in the world. If your papers scream that you don’t give a shit, chances are, they actually do suck. If your work is well-considered and polished, your level of interest would make no difference to me. I do not think this is particularly controversial. I would not care what music _you_ listen to or how you spent your summer, so I would expect the same in return. Quoi? **threemae** is griping about how she doesn’t want to listen to her prof’s doggie stories, and you tell her that if she’s not interested, she shouldn’t take the class? Well, unless the class is four credits of “ANTH 237: Mr. Muffles Goes To The Beach”, I highly doubt that’s what she signed up for. You even say that you wouldn’t care about her music or her summer – why should she have to fake interest in her professor’s? (Dear **threemae** : please be female!) ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/65 "2005-09-14T02:06:42Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > You still can’t write for shit when you have to make up words. Which words do you mean, Shakespeare? ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/66 "2005-09-14T02:19:29Z")
> [@E. Thorp](#): > > Which words do you mean, Shakespeare? Way to not pay attention, Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/67 "2005-09-14T03:29:05Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > > [@E. Thorp](#): > > > > Which words do you mean, Shakespeare? > > Way to not pay attention, Einstein. If you mean “privilege” or “incentivize,” **Maeglin** did not make up those words. Way to bark up the wrong tree, Rin Tin Tin. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/68 "2005-09-14T03:37:58Z")
Are you trying to tell me “priveleging” and “incentivize” are accepted words of the English language? And if **Maeglin** didn’t make them up, where the fuck did they come from? ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/69 "2005-09-14T03:48:46Z")
(art history prof just popping in to stick up for art history, you mongrels! Arr! Erwin Panofsky has a posse.) ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/70 "2005-09-14T03:50:28Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Are you trying to tell me “priveleging” and “incentivize” are accepted words of the English language? Well, obviously they’re not accepted by everyone. 🙂 I’m not saying I _like_ them. But a good dictionary, though not infallible, is a useful guide. [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/) includes both words. > [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > And if Maeglin didn’t make them up, where the fuck did they come from? Presumably from the nouns “privilege” and “incentive.” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/71 "2005-09-14T03:54:05Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Are you trying to tell me “priveleging” and “incentivize” are accepted words of the English language? And if **Maeglin** didn’t make them up, where the fuck did they come from? Well, first of all, **maeglin** spelled it correctly as “privileging,” not “priveleging.” Second, i guess it depends what you mean by “accepted.” If you mean that it appears in [Merriam Webster](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=privilege) and [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=privilege) and the [American Heritage Dictionary](http://www.bartleby.com/61/4/P0570400.html), then i guess the answer has to be that, yes, it is accepted. And just for kicks, i checked the _Oxford English Dictionary_, which also has an entry for “privilege” as a verb. Not only that, but the _OED_ provides quotations illustrating such usage that stretch all the way back the the 12th century, and include Chaucer, Bunyan, Blackstone, and Southey. While i’m not a big fan of “incentivize,” the _OED_ also lists that as a word, with the first sample quotation coming from 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/72 "2005-09-14T04:01:24Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > There are still people who teach about Postmodernism with a straight face? And two people who can agree on its meaning? That is, except for those of us who see it as a way of making, writing, or saying any old shit while pretending it has meaning? Here’s how I sum it up: Modernism–Style over Substance Postmodernism–Attitude over Style and Substance 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/73 "2005-09-14T04:10:08Z")
BTW, I’m now in my fourth year at a Major American Public University and I’ve never heard or read the words “precis” or “rubric” until now. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/74 "2005-09-14T04:27:07Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > BTW, I’m now in my fourth year at a Major American Public University and I’ve never heard or read the words “precis” or “rubric” until now. Not especially surprising. A few years ago i was TAing a history course, and we had the students write a precis of a book. Almost none of them had heard the term before. It’s not a particularly commonly used word anymore, i don’t think. Neither is rubric, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/75 "2005-09-14T04:54:45Z")
I taught for ten years at a major public university, and I am currently teaching at a private university. My syllabi include a statement to the effect: “This schedule may change at the instructor’s discretion.” While the course content and objectives do NOT change, I may very well decide to change exactly what is covered in a given week–depending in large part on how well the students understand the material prior to beginning the class, and on how well they learn the material as the quarter progresses. My experience to date has been that students only learn/review/read the barest minimum of what they are expected to learn/review/read. As a result, I have had to slow down my syllabi in some semesters because the students simply are not ready to move onto the next topic. For the most part, this seems to be due to the fact that my own students–for whatever reason–feel that they are paying me to read the textbook to them. Even when I point out the fact that they have paid between $75 and $100 merely for the privilege of owning a book that they can carry into the classroom with them (and which I patently tell them to leave at home after they have read it), they seem to think that they cannot understand ANY of it until I have actually taken class time to explain the material to them. Even then, I have the distinct impression that more than half of the students simply write down what I tell them is in the textbook, and don’t bother to check it out for themselves–much less read any of the material that we don’t actually talk about in class. If I have the audacity to give a quiz that tests whether or not they have read the assigned material before I actually explain it to them, woe be unto me. As for reserved reading–all I can say is Ha!!! I assign web pages for them to read, with complete URLs. (I also check the validity of the URL immediately before assigning it to the class, so outdated URLs are not an issue here.) They don’t even bother to open the URL, much less read the material. The Library wants me to put articles on Reserve–if students won’t even open a simple URL in between surfing porn and/or game sites, what HOPES do I have that they will actually set foot in the library to photocopy an article on reserve??? From my own point of view, as an instructor/professor, if a student were to point out the (lack of) quality of an article that I had put on reserve for the class (especially if this were done outside of class, like via e-mail), I would probably give the student credit just for noticing that there was a problem. However, given that there are a lot of useful course content references available either directly on the WWW, or through the online databases that most universities now have available, if I were a student, I would either try to find an online source for the reference myself (based on whatever references the instructor and/or library gave me for the source) or tell the professor that there are better ways to distribute this kind of information. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/76 "2005-09-14T05:01:30Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Not especially surprising. A few years ago i was TAing a history course, and we had the students write a precis of a book. Almost none of them had heard the term before. It’s not a particularly commonly used word anymore, i don’t think. Neither is rubric, for that matter. As a university instructor, I use rubrics quite a bit. However, I would be surprised if my students knew what it meant, since it doesn’t appear in syllabi, and I usually use the term “grading scale” when I am talking to a student about the rubric for a given assignment. Even with being a French major, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a _précis_ of a book, though. I assume that it’s either a summary of a book, or a detailed analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/77 "2005-09-14T05:30:45Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Way to not pay attention, Einstein. Did I hear a faint whooshing sound? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/78 "2005-09-14T05:36:15Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > Even with being a French major, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a _précis_ of a book, though. I assume that it’s either a summary of a book, or a detailed analysis. It’s the former. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/79 "2005-09-14T09:38:49Z")
I’m at the best uni in my state and at one of the faculties I am in it is a student right that we receive written notice as to the nature and extent of assessment “early in the semester”. I’m quite pleased the assessment doesn’t change. I’m proud of the reputation my uni has and I wouldn’t like for classes to be dumbed down so that more people can cope. It would lessen the value of the degree, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/80 "2005-09-14T12:46:31Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Well, first of all, **maeglin** spelled it correctly as “privileging,” not “priveleging.” > > Second, i guess it depends what you mean by “accepted.” > > If you mean that it appears in [Merriam Webster](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=privilege) and [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=privilege) and the [American Heritage Dictionary](http://www.bartleby.com/61/4/P0570400.html), then i guess the answer has to be that, yes, it is accepted. > > And just for kicks, i checked the _Oxford English Dictionary_, which also has an entry for “privilege” as a verb. Not only that, but the _OED_ provides quotations illustrating such usage that stretch all the way back the the 12th century, and include Chaucer, Bunyan, Blackstone, and Southey. > > While i’m not a big fan of “incentivize,” the _OED_ also lists that as a word, with the first sample quotation coming from 1968. Well, then I was wrong about making up the words, and I am sorry. They still hurt my ears, and I don’t think that you need to verb every noun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391.md?page=5)