I have one final gripe about students before I stop being grumpy about this sort of stuff.
I have been a student since kindergarten, so for about 17 years I’ve spent a good deal of time watching teachers and the students they teach. High school was bad, with a bunch of prissy kids who didn’t care about learning.I thought that college would be different.
I thought that college would be different.
For the most part, it is. Students are smarter, more driven, and definitely have a greater capacity for knowledge than that of high school on average. But, I’ve seen my share of students rip on their professors. Hell, even I have shared in this activity.
“She doesn’t teach!”; “That professor doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”; “How rude!”; I’ve heard a lot. Well here’s a newsflash for you — you are a student. I don’t care how smart and entitled you think you are, but you are very unwise to criticize your professors in that manner (except when it comes to rudeness, some professors have that coming). They’ve been knowledgeable in the material they are teaching for decades. In some cases, they have been teaching the material since before you were born. Do you get that? So yeah, they know what they’re doing. Maybe you don’t agree with their teaching methods, but who is to blame for that? Them? Don’t make me laugh.
I get it, not everyone has an innate ability to garner knowledge from professors. For some people, they really, really have to try to study up on the material and really focus on the subjects in class — and others can coast by without an added effort. But a professor can only do so much to teach you a subject.
Teaching is the responsibility of the professor. And, overall, the professors are damn good at what they do. They know the material, they teach the material, they drill the material, and they quiz you on it to keep you on your toes.
Learning, however, is the pure and sole responsibility of the student. If you go through the motions and you still don’t get it, it is your responsibility to talk to your professor and understand the topics. This is what “offices hours” are for — you know, the thing you probably never use because you’re afraid to meet with your professor?
“Learning” is something recent generations seem to have a problem with.
I have been in both the front of the class and the back of the class, for varying subjects and courses. I’ve seen what goes on with more than 60% of the students. Texting in class, using Facebook, doodling in the notebook, playing League of Legends?! Okay, listen: If you are the same people that complain that your professor isn’t doing enough to teach you, then what the hell are you doing?
I am a senior. I know how to slack off. I’ve done it. But, I won’t do it unless I know the material — and I never complain about my professor not knowing what he or she is talking about. I get As and Bs (except that one C, damn History of American Film!) and really don’t struggle too much while learning, so I don’t need to worry. I can be a bum in class and get by, and, again, I don’t complain about the classes.
Yet, the prototypical Stevens student whines and complains about how little the professor is doing for them, when they are doing so little for themselves.
This generation is horrifically entitled to think that you can skimp by and have the world bend to your whims. I worked very hard when I was younger to develop the ability to learn things quickly and effectively, and it really helps when I am working at a job. But if you think you can get by with little to no effort, not get it, and then complain that information isn’t being fed to you in a way that you like it, especially when you’re lazing around playing video games while your professor is teaching, I have so little to say to you.
Quit screwing around. You can goof off in your senior year. But until then, quit complaining about your professors and actually learn.
