Course evaluations will be available in several weeks, but that won’t help improve students’ current situations.
Students need to be able to work with professors if they want to maximize their learning experience.
Though professors are paid to disseminate knowledge, student input can only help achieve effective learning.
University senior Samuel Hauser said that professors who are more hands-on with course evaluations and offer them earlier in the term are more effective.
“I had a photography professor that did course evaluations beforehand. We had discussions and he asked questions about the class structure. It showed he actually cared,” said Hauser.
Hauser said the evaluation for the photography class was more specific than the official ones. This helped students figure out how the class should run to fit their needs.
The sooner students interact with their professors, the better chance they have of creating a more effective learning environment.
Michael Hames-Garcia, an ethnic studies professor, once gave his students the opportunity to choose the reading for one of his winter term classes. They met in fall and he created the syllabus based on the suggestions of his students. He said it was one of his most successful classes because the students were genuinely interested in the material.
“I rely a lot on what the students think,” said Hames-Garcia. “If students don’t read or participate then it doesn’t go well. The task is to be flexible in both learning and teaching.”
One area in which students universally seek more flexibility is in the reading load. Students often are forced to make a choice on what classes they are going to read for because they don’t have enough time to focus on them all.
“A lot of professors don’t set it up like kids have three other classes,” said senior Jonathan Sternfeld. “We need to be able to learn as much as we need to, but timely and efficiently.”
Generally success in college has a strong correlation with how much reading a student does. Texts fill in the information professors can’t cover in a lecture and help cement themes through statistics and research. Students and professors need to be flexible in finding ways to best engage with the reading. Some students suggest lightening the load so they have a better opportunity to internalize the material.
“If you assign less reading it can open up the doors to more analysis. For example, if we read four books instead of eight we could delve really deep and produce more quality over quantity,” said sophomore Jacob O’Gara.
If more students engage in the reading it would lead to more fruitful discussions. Although students can gain knowledge from their reading, discussions with professors and other students can help enrich the material and make it relatable. There are many ways to go about discussions, but students ultimately want to know that their input is valued.
One pet peeve for students is “soap box” professors, or instructors that use their platform to rant instead of engaging students in the discussion.
Sternfeld said he had a professor for sociology who hijacked classes with rants. Even though he agreed with the professor and found many of his points enlightening, he said that the way he went about it was off-putting.
“What he was saying about how certain economic situations are made to be unequal was genuine, but it seemed like those rants were made to make him feel real good about where he’s at,” Sternfeld said.
Without a discussion that goes both ways, professors with the best intentions can inadvertently alienate students.
Hames-Garcia said it’s important to make students feel comfortable sharing their opinions.
“It’s good for a professor to share his opinion, but he needs to make room for other views,” he said.
Students say tying current events to the material and using technology are effective methods in stimulating participation and preventing professors from ranting.
“Good professors relate the subject to current events naturally,” says Hauser. “Even if I don’t understand the subject but I hear ‘Blah, blah, blah Mad Cow Disease,’ then my ears will perk up.”
Utilizing technology like YouTube clips and online blogs also helps to engage students. It breaks up the monotony of standard discussions and gives students other avenues to connect with their professors.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle facing students and professors is cynicism.
Hames-Garcia said many teachers don’t think students are serious about learning and this hurts both parties. The highest dropout rates in college occur during freshman and sophomore year, which also coincides with students being placed in large lecture classes where the professors don’t make an effort to connect.
Enthusiasm can be an effective tool in winning over students.
“I saw my professor rocking out to Apache, and I knew he loved what he was doing,” Hauser said.
Dancing may not be a viable option for all professors, but when students’ education is at stake, it’s not a bad idea to mix it up a bit.
[email protected]