Timeline for Professor is upset about student comments about her lectures. What should I do?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26, 2018 at 21:03 | comment | added | Nij | There is a difference between caring about something and making it mandatory. Can you figure out what your point is and then make arguments for it, rather than the confusing switch you've done here so far? Here's mine: it doesn't matter what the question is looking for, this answer gives bad advice, and is therefore exactly what should be downvoted, whether or not it answers the question being irrelevant. | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 21:00 | comment | added | DVK | @Nij - that deciding what OP should and shouldn't care about on the basis of very limited information in the question (which makes your decision inherently impossible to be an informed one, and thus correct one) isn't part of SE approach. The question wasn't "should the person care?". It was "they care, and how can that caring be addressed". | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 20:52 | comment | added | Nij | Yes, that is part of the question. This answer recommends a bad solution to that problem, which is caring about something that shouldn't be cared about, so I have downvoted and commented as such. What exactly do you think you're showing, here? @DVK | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 20:47 | comment | added | DVK | @Nij - there's a difference between accepting XY problem answers, and insisting that X answer to what you think is an XY problem is somehow bad (because your have no idea whatsoever about details of OP's context and thus whether X is really not what they need) | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 20:45 | comment | added | DVK | @nij - quoting from the question: "If she provides webcasts of her lectures, students don't turn up to lectures". | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 20:31 | comment | added | Nij | I'm well acquainted with the purpose of Stack Exchange. Firstly, the question doesn't mention attendance at all, second it doesn't imply or suggest or require that this be mandatory, and third even if t did both, "you don't" has always been a legitimate answer to "how?", Academia in particular recognising the XY problem exists. @DVK | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 20:06 | comment | added | David Richerby | What does the question assume, exactly? That attending lectures should be mandatory? I don't see that assumption anywhere. Actually, I don't see the question assuming anything. It says that students give contradictory criticisms of somebody's lectures, gives a couple of examples and asks what to do. (cc @Nij) | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 13:02 | comment | added | DVK | @Nij - you don't seem to understand the purpose of SE. The question assumes that last part. You aren't supposed to criticize and downvote the answer for answering the question, just because you disagree with the question's premise, no matter whether that premise is right or wrong. | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 12:32 | comment | added | Nij | If you'd put all the effort into making a worthwhile online resource, there's no justification for preventing its use by any student in the class,and good reason to make it more widely available wherever possible. The idea that attendance at lectures should be mandatory, let alone enforced and assessed, is about control, not about education. | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 11:58 | comment | added | David Richerby | It doesn't matter how you phrase it. If they're a perk, you're giving the perk to some students but not others, which is unacceptable. If they're a standard, you're denying a standard from some of the students, which is unacceptable. If the videos exist, they need to be available to everyone. | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 11:47 | comment | added | DVK | @DavidRicherby - the videos are produced as a courtesy to students who aren't able to attend class for a good reason (at least that's how I understand the question). They are a perk, not a standard. | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 9:01 | comment | added | David Richerby | Your proposal is to produce the videos but then deny students access to them. The videos exist so they are "materials". They exist for the purpose of education, so they are "educational materials." You are denying students access to them, so you are "withholding educational materials". | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 5:08 | comment | added | DVK | @DavidRicherby - how is failing to provide a webcast "withholding educational materials"? Your job is to teach in class, not to offer video lectures (unless you explicitly were hired for, and the course was advertised as, online course). Mind you, I think the whole problem is not worth agonizing over (just offer the videos and don't worry if people won't attend in person) but the OP seems to care. | |
| Jan 26, 2018 at 0:42 | comment | added | David Richerby | "I'm studying the course." Oh, look -- everyone has a valid reason! I find it really hard to consider witholding educational materials from students while teaching in a university. It seems to be the exact opposite of the point. | |
| Jan 25, 2018 at 15:58 | history | answered | DVK | CC BY-SA 3.0 |