I liked your answer. It appears that the question was an opinion question, not a factual one, and the prof got what they deserved. If they want to assign BS work, then they need to work through the BS…
Heh. “What do you think are the most important finding or concepts in this chapter?” I hadn’t thought of that.
It’s worth keeping in mind that a lot of classes are also meant to teach thinking, so asking what a student thinks about a topic is valid. Good reasoning is a learnable skill.
And some day, I hope to learn it.
There is a reasonable expectation that a query requiring a submitted response requires a serious response, not a joke. I’d expect an adult in a collegiate environment to understand that.
It isn’t about lording it over students, it’s about not wasting someone else’s time and energy. It’s about being a serious student.
As someone who has been grading an awful lot of assignments this semester, some of which were contributed by students who are older than I am–
I’d rather grade a smartasss comment or two than a quiz which says “I don’t know” for most of the questions. Too many "I don’t know"s are just depressing. Am I reaching the students? Did I use my big words again? Did this student understand the latest assignment? Will the student understand the rest of the assignments in the course? Jokes give me a chance to smile, relax, and not stress so much over the grades I’m assigning. And I’m perfectly capable of writing such things as “true, but no” next to the joke, letting the student know that I got the humor, but was not rewarding them for the answer.
Different instructors, different students, different subjects, not everyone has the same reaction to the same situation.
I also agree with whomever it was upthread who said that the response from the instructor may have been inspired by wondering whether this was a cry for help, or an admission of indifference to the course. I have several students that I’m worried about, gradewise, and several others that I’m not worried about, who have hissy fits everytime I take points off for any reason. And then I’ve got one or two who have so much potential, but it’s going to waste, because the student is barely putting forth enough effort to pass the course.
And notably, the question & response don’t reflect purely smartass comments:
While the first two sentences reflect findings rather than concepts, they are in fact findings that the OP apparently found to be the most important in the chapter.
Well, obviously, you should tailor your whimsy to the occasion. If the teacher has a tendency to enliven his or her lectures with humor, then a reasonably erudite quip such as the OP would probably be appreciated. And if the teacher is a humorless prig, then you pretty much have to restrain yourself.
Thanks Finagle. As both an ex-student and a current university manager, I am aware that both types of academic exist. It is little wonder that the more human among them elicit a much more positive response from both students and staff alike.