# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/81 "2005-09-14T14:00:49Z")
> [@Kiminy](#): > > 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. And, of the seven definitions on [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) and three on [m-w.com](http://m-w.com), that’s not one of them so you shouldn’t be too surprised when your students don’t know what you mean. The closest is “an authoritative rule of conduct or procedure,” which is how I’ve mostly heard it used in an educational context. If you MEAN “grading scale” you should SAY “grading scale.” > [@](#): > > 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. Sorry, but college students are paying way too much for a professor to call it a “book report.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/82 "2005-09-14T15:47:58Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > 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. I think you just pegged _my_ irony meter. There are no entries in [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) nor [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) for _to verb_. Verb is strictly a noun. Are your ears hurting? Mine are. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/83 "2005-09-14T15:51:02Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I think you just pegged _my_ irony meter. First, using your irony meter while on the Internet voids the warranty. Second, that shoulda pegged your whooshed meter, not your irony meter. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/84 "2005-09-14T15:59:54Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > First, using your irony meter while on the Internet voids the warranty. > > Second, that shoulda pegged your whooshed meter, not your irony meter. > > Daniel What do you need a warranty for? I bought the extended service plan. Doesn’t everyone? Nothing I have read by **brownie** has led me to believe that he/she is clever enough to have made this joke intentionally. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/85 "2005-09-14T16:21:21Z")
Since it’s in the OP, I’d like to add that I hate hate hate Art History. Maybe about a quarter of what’s taught (IME) is enlightening or illuminating and enhances one’s understanding or provides a useful context. The rest is self-serving malarkey and ridiculousness. Oh, architecture in the Southwest U.S. is based on clay, while the Northwest relied on wood - gee, ya don’t say? How meaningful of people TO USE WHAT THEY HAD!!! Art historians reduce paintings to illustrations and narratives, when in fact they are VISUAL; their primary communication is COLOR, LINE and FORM, not St. Whoever and the Royal Whatsis. Art historians are also the reason why there’s so much crappy art in museums, particularly smaller ones. So often you’ll see a really lousy drawing or painting by a DFA (Dead Famous Artist) that they surely meant to throw away. At the very least, there ought to be a disclaimer posted nearby “Important representation of the DFA’s attempts at an XYZ period, which they probably meant to throw out b/c it’s a really awful piece.” ---
**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, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/86 "2005-09-14T16:33:56Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > What do you need a warranty for? I bought the extended service plan. Doesn’t everyone? > > Nothing I have read by **brownie** has led me to believe that he/she is clever enough to have made this joke intentionally. Ouch, but indeed, it was intended a whoosh. ---
**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, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/87 "2005-09-14T16:36:39Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > Ouch, but indeed, it was intended a whoosh. as, as a whoosh (preview is my friend) ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/88 "2005-09-14T17:03:48Z")
That whoosh was so loud, it reverberated. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/89 "2005-09-14T17:20:33Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > There are no entries in [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) nor [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) for _to verb_. Verb is strictly a noun. “Verbing weirds language.” is a Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) quote. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/90 "2005-09-14T17:53:30Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > “Verbing weirds language.” is a Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) quote. The best part of that quote is that “verbing” is a noun–specifically, a gerund, the noun form of a verb, although verb really should be a noun which therefore can’t be gerundificated. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/91 "2005-09-14T21:03:29Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > What do you need a warranty for? I bought the extended service plan. Doesn’t everyone? [No](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=334542). ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/92 "2005-09-14T21:15:53Z")
> [@Feydeau](#): > > [No](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=334542). Whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/93 "2005-09-15T00:12:27Z")
> [@beergeek279](#): > > This one is easily the worst. A syllabus handed out at the beginning of the semester is a binding contract for that entire semester, and a professor cannot change their mind midway through and edit it in any way. I would speak to the chair of the department the professor teaches in about something like this. Bwahahahaa!!! Are you guys first semester freshmen or something? That’s about the most ignorant and naive thing I think I’ve ever read about college. Syllabi are NOT binding contracts. They’re a basic statement of what the class is going to cover, and how it will be covered. If it was an actual legal document, it would have all sorts of fine print and disclaimers. Haven’t you ever had a prof who: [list=a] [li]Changed the grading scheme based on class performance?[/li][li]Changed the method for grading due to crappy test scores?[/li][li]Changed the order in which you cover topics?[/li][li]Changed the content and/or number of tests?[/li][li]Changed the number and/or content of assignments?[/li][/list] I’ve had all the above, and more. Syllabi are more like guidelines/templates than anything else. They’re not binding, and rarely very specific. ---
**Author:** ![Exploding\_Kitchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Exploding\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exploding_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/94 "2005-09-15T00:26:31Z")
> [@Bump](#): > > Bwahahahaa!!! > > Are you guys first semester freshmen or something? That’s about the most ignorant and naive thing I think I’ve ever read about college. **Bump** , in CA public community colleges and universities, syllabi are required and must meet certain guidelines…such as an overview of the course material, grading policy, etc. Should a prof change one of those major things, they are in violation of their contract, because any public college who’s instructors do not issue a syllabus or adhere to what the state considers to be a “core function” of the syllabus can lose their public funds. Might not be the same nationwide, but in CA, it may as well be a binding contract. – Anyways, I had the exam with the English prof I was ranting about. Fortunately, the topic she chose was one that I agreed with her on, so I’m confident in my grade not being a spiteful F. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/95 "2005-09-15T00:30:41Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Syllabi are NOT binding contracts. They’re a basic statement of what the class is going to cover, and how it will be covered. Tell that to my government professor who said, “The syllabus is a contract,” and is actually making us sign a copy and turn it in before he will give us a grade. ---
**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 15, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/96 "2005-09-15T01:03:23Z")
At my undergrad school, having and following a complete syllabus was listed in the Student Rights handbook as published by the administration as a right. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/97 "2005-09-15T10:15:08Z")
Several of my professors put the word “tentative” in their syllabubos\* at various points; they may do this as a way of getting around contract-style impressions. Daniel - I don’t know if this is the proper plural, but it should be. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/98 "2005-09-16T01:43:45Z")
Ways to piss off students #47: Spend time spamming a pyramid scheme. ---
**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 16, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/99 "2005-09-16T04:53:20Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Art historians reduce paintings to illustrations and narratives, when in fact they are VISUAL; their primary communication is COLOR, LINE and FORM, not St. Whoever and the Royal Whatsis. This is not only a dramatic misrepresentation of what good art historians do, but by suggesting that the question of “illustration and narrative,” the historical context, are not important, you yourself are, in my opinion, taking the “history” out of “art history” and making it simply more art criticism. Can you, for example, look at Chapman’s [_Baptism of Pocahontas_](http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/rotunda/baptism_pocahontas.cfm), which hangs in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and tell me that it has no illustrative or narrative value, that it cannot be analysed from a perspective that takes into account notions of the story that it purports to tell, the historical importance of the figures it represents, and historical context of the period in which it was painted? Sure, there are good art historians and bad art historians out there. But a recognition of the importance of narrative and historical context does not, by itself, make a bad art historian. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391/100 "2005-09-16T13:08:34Z")
> [@](#): > > If you’ve taught more than one previous version of the class, frankly, you should have this stuff figured out by now. From the other side of the red pencil, I’ll disasgree strongly with this and side with **Kiminy.** My syllabi always say “tentative,” I’ve been teaching the same course twice a year for about five years, and each class reacts differently. Some take more time on one topic, some take less. The syllabus needs to be adjustable to match what the class actually does. Plus, I always want to announce at the beginning that there will be a final exam. Some quarters, if the class has done well on the papers, I tell them that the final is optional: anyone who wants to take it, I will drop their lowest grade when I do the averaging. Those who are happy with their grade to date, needn’t take the final. Alternately, if the class has not done well on the first paper, I sometimes allow that option as well, the final can replace the low grade on the first paper. However, I don’t want to announce that in the first week – the students pay attention to the readings and work harder if they think there’s going to be a final. On the question of professors asking a question to which they have a specific answer in mind: sure, most professors do that. The good ones use it as a means of discussion and debate; the others use it to pretend they’re stirring up discussion. BTW, there was a study a few years back that said that when a professor asks a question, and then waits for the class to respond, they typically wait about 8 seconds before they answer themselves. They, of course, have the answer (or direction) in their heads; students need time to think; but the professors dislike a “long” interval of silence, and so start talking again without allowing students to respond. You might tackle your professor privately after class, provide them with that 8-second statistic, and let it sink in. Most schools have students complete teacher evaluations the last week of the term, which is useless. At one school where I teach, those results aren’t made available until about six weeks into the next term: so, not only are the evaluations useless for the class that filled them out, they’re useless for most of the next term, too. By the time they come around, I’ve forgot what they were talking about. But I believe that most professors are happy to respond thoughtfully to well-meaning, helpful comments offered privately.during the course. Most professors would like to get high student evaluations, and are willing to consider complaints/suggestions that are offered politely and kindly. (“Why did you change the syllabus, you asshole” is not likely to produce constructive results. OTOH, you might find some empatheic and even positive results with “it’s difficult for me and several others, I think, when you change the syllabus, since we’re trying to jiggle papers and exams for other classes, too, and it’s difficult to try to plan our work weeks when there’s constant change.”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professors-guide-for-how-to-piss-off-students/321391.md?page=6)