Feeling Prickly

The proposal that I managed to work my way toward writing in my last post was accepted for the panel. Now, the panel awaits acceptance (or rejection) by the conference. Score one for the week!

The Gentleman Caller called last weekend, but I won't elaborate on that other than to say "wow!" He's fantastic!

Meanwhile, I've reached the prickly point of the semester in teaching, and this is one of my posts in which I am writing my way through my frustration.

The week of meetings left me in a nasty mood, wondering what I am doing in this profession in which the attainment of a doctoral degree, publications, experience, and genuine professional status automatically makes you suspect in the eyes of the rest of the world. I try to remind myself that every profession has its own indignities and frustrations, and plow through to the end of the week. Once the semester starts, I remember why I do this teaching thing; and the majority of my students, at least in the African American history classes, are genuinely enthusiastic about learning the subject.

Then, odd things began to crop up that have very little to do with the subject itself. These are the odd things that force me to define my boundaries, but also make me wonder at what exactly is going on with students amid some of the details of acquiring their education. I also wonder if there is actually any solution to these problems, or if this falls under the "you can lead a horse to water" heading.

Some of these quirks are new. For instance, in past years, the fall semester began after Labor Day. Not so this year, when we began the week before Labor Day. Nonetheless, hoards of students showed up the Tuesday after Labor Day wanting to sign up for a full schedule of classes. "But I didn't know!" they all said. I felt so badly for those poor people working in advising and registration!

Since students are still allowed to adjust their schedules and therefore sign up for classes through the second week, new students began cropping up in the classes that late, each requiring an orientation to the class requirements and each expecting to make up the work from the missed classes.

This year, we have another added issue. We have far exceeded enrollments of past semesters, which is, in the long run, a good thing; and, many classes are already overloaded. This means that many instructors -- myself included -- get to hear what I loosely refer to as "life stories." We have received many an e-mail that goes something to the effect of, "I absolutely HAVE to have your class to graduate this semester! I KNOW the semester has already started. I know that your class is already full, but I need your signature to get into it. I promise that I will work very hard..." and so on and so forth. Some even throw in references to work and children and various other responsibilities, which is the reason that I call them "life stories."

I do feel badly for them, and have let many in because we all need a break now and then; but, 40 students in an online class is ten short of two full classes. That's a lot of work! I'm hoping that the administration approves more sections next semester, if this is the trend. Things being as they are, however, I think they will just raise the cap on classes. Forty-student classes, especially if they are online, are cheaper than employing even adjuncts.

In addition to these new students, I begin to hear the stories that I really don't quite know what to do with. The majority of these have to do with acquiring the textbook. To be more accurate, these have to do with failure to acquire the textbook because of the cost.

Our state has asked that we assign inexpensive textbooks. Yes, the legislature actually sat down, debated, and passed a resolution of some sort. Our tax dollars at work, right there! Anyone who has had to deal with textbooks in any way knows that "inexpensive" is a relative term, since even used textbooks can go for nearly $100.

I tend to allow students to use any edition in order to purchase used editions, since most are only in the 2nd or 3rd and not too out of date; but that also means that, even used, the books are still quite pricey. For this same reason, we are discouraged from assigning anything extra. I try to scan or download articles, book chapters, and documents to give them something more on particular subjects. Meanwhile, we have a Social Sciences computer center that keeps copies of the textbooks there for students to use. Yet, students are still not getting the books for several weeks because of the price of the book, or the price of faster shipping from internet purchases, and because they don't have the time to go to the computer center because of their work/school/family schedules.

I hear about all of this because I have them take online quizzes to ensure that they, in fact, do read the textbook. (Seriously, I have learned that there must be a tangible reward for these students to do anything. It's more a question of time-management rather than laziness. If they are going to spend their time on something, it better have a clear-cut, immediately observable result.) The quizzes are all due on the day that we cover that material in class. I don't allow make-up quizzes because they have over a week to do the quiz on their own time and with their open book before the software shuts them out. Still, here we are, headed into the fourth week of classes,, and I have requests right and left that I allow make-up quizzes because the students are still in the process of getting books. Some don't even have computers at home.

Here is the dilemma that makes me so prickly every year: at what point should this stop being my problem? Setting up make up quizzes for those who can't get the book until later -- when they get paid, or when the book arrives after the free shipping period -- takes a lot of extra, potentially open-ended, time. It also isn't fair to those who are able -- for whatever reason -- to get the text and quizzes done on time. I don't want to privilege those with the resources; but, at the same time, what else can I do to ensure that the class goes as it should and that they learn what they should in the necessary order to comprehend the material?

Which brings me once again to the different ways that I and my students see education. They see the requirements of the course as a series of hoops through which to jump, at the end of which they receive a grade. The accumulation of these grades, of jumping through the hoops of each class, leads to the degree.

I'm reminded of that every time I see an ad or spam in my inbox inviting me to apply to a for-profit college. They don't say "get the best education that you can." They say, "get the most convenient education that you can," or, "We make our hoops more convenient for your busy life." I understand that convenience is a valid concern, especially in the absolute need for a college education; but actual education (which is not necessarily as quantifiable as many would like) must take place for that degree to mean anything. Actual education is a process that requires full engagement from the beginning of the class. I'm not sure that many of my students understand that -- at least at this point in the semester.

To them, not having the textbook in the first month of classes should not be a problem as long as I am "compassionate" or "understanding" and let them take the quizzes when they can before the end of the semester. The students see the quizzes as serving the goal of fulfilling requirements for the numerical grade. As long as all tasks are done before that numerical grade must be reported, then what's the problem? Just as with the Outcomes Assessment borg at our school, the end number is all that matters. Actually learning new information and ways of looking at the world is just a cherry on the top of the sundae, not the sundae itself.

I, on the other hand, see the quizzes as serving the goal of being prepared for class. You must read chapter 1 before chapter 2 in order to understand the progression of events between chapters 1 and 2. You must read the chapter on English colonization in order to understand and ask smart questions in the class covering English colonization. You should understand English colonization in order to understand the issues that led to the American Revolution, and so on and so forth. History does require some accumulation of knowledge for comprehension, not just gathering information to sort out for an answer on the mid-term. I try to explain this to them, regularly. They look at me as if to say, "how is that my problem? I just need to pass this class."

The main problem here, then, is their utilitarian approach to getting a grade in the class as it bumps up against my understanding that the grade should reflect an understanding of material, not a task completed. Both encompass the issue of acquiring a textbook in a timely manner. In the process, I am trying to weigh their economic issues with my desire not to have to teach 150 individual classes to 150 individual students with 150 individual situations. I become prickly because, at some point, I have to say, "the fact that you cannot get the book, cannot get to the computer center, and cannot get your work in on time is not my problem." I don't want to be put in that position because it makes me feel like such a bitchy failure as a teacher for even thinking it.

In other words, I am struggling to find an appropriate way to respond to this issue. I understand the drive to improve oneself in the face of limited resources. I want to show some empathy for that. Yet, part of the responsibility of attending college includes acquiring the required books and supplies -- or at least access to them in order to meet the requirements of the course in the manner prescribed by the teacher.

I think that last sentence is my answer.