best to approach your instructors. Here are some tips for professor to student interaction:
1. Address them using their title. Whether they will admit it or not, professors love to hear their institutional title before their name. Think of it as a way to boost their egos and your GPA.
2. Don't be afraid to ask questions, just not stupid ones. Many questions can be avoided by just checking the class web site or reading the syllabus. If not, professors are usually happy to answer questions, especially during their office hours. (Hint: you visiting their office + good questions = happy instructor = good grade for you.)
3. Be present and on time for class.
even if all of your pillowside excuses sound really really valid to you. They probably won't fly when you are trying to explain why you missed that pop quiz.
4. Your are not a beautiful and unique enough snowflake for professors to make special favors and exceptions for. Teachers hate having to break their routine or jeopardize fairness just so they can give you enough extra credit to make up for the quiz you slept through.
5. When you do screw up, take responsibility for it. Even if you don't get to make-up an assignment, it will go a long way in letting the professor know that you care about the class.
-Luke Daley, Jayplay staff writer can be reached at ldaley@kansan.com
Grouping it all together
Consider your role with working with peers
By Megan Hickerson mhickerson@kansan.com Jayplay staff writer
Group work. Students either hate it or love it.
We've all scooted our desks into a circle and stared blankly at the other members of our collegiate groups. It seems that all the social skills that we've perfected over the years go right out of the window as soon as we are asked to form a group.
There are three distinct types of members: the initiators, the followers and the slugs. Every student can identify with at least one of these.
Danielle Wood, Greely, Colo. senior considers herself to be the group initiator.
"I'm the one who always does all the work," she says. "I like to have things done right and done my way."
The followers and slugs often irritate the initiators. The followers are the students who reluctantly participate and do work if the initiator assigns it to them. They never go beyond the minimum and never offer to do anything of their own free will. Jordan Redding, Lawrence sophomore, may fall into the followers group.
"I'm not the one who volunteers to be the group spokesman or the one who writes everything down" Redding says, "but I do participate and add to the
group."
The slugs are at the bottom of the list. They are the ones who avoid eye contact because they failed to read the assigned readings. They are the ones who make you wonder why they bothered to get out of bed and come to class. Slugs can cause tension and frustration in group work, but professors can help to ease the pain.
Andrew Whitford, assistant professor of political science, allows his students to organize themselves for grading purposes. He allows students to pick from three types of groups: an autonomous group, where all members are allowed to make decisions, a democratic group, where members make decisions based on majority rule, and lastly, a group who elects a leader to represent them. Whitford says most groups favor the autonomous group.
If your professors insist on giving the whole group the same grade, there are a few things, which you can do to ensure fair grading. Do all of your work. You don't end up a slug, and you won't have to pretend like you know what's going on. If you are shy and clam up in front of classmates, make a list of ideas and bring it to class so you have an agenda. Lastly, don't be afraid to inform your professor if there are any members who aren't putting forth the effort. Your grades shouldn't suffer because of someone else's sluggishness.
thursday, September 11, 2003
jayplay
7