Timeline for How to reply to students' emails that show anger about their mark?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26, 2021 at 18:11 | comment | added | Spark | @user111388 luckily I teach at a public university, where everyone is treated equally badly! | |
| Jan 26, 2021 at 16:21 | comment | added | Spark | I think we're on the same page. I agree that egging them on (or being generally mean) is a bad idea, and if that's implied then I'll revise my wording. I will admit that students who believe they're my boss because they're paying tuition rub me the wrong way and get worse reactions, perhaps bordering on aggressive, but - do as I say, not as I do! | |
| Jan 25, 2021 at 22:22 | comment | added | Ramon Melo | I'm not suggesting that. There's some middle ground between "discouraging" and "actively encouraging" that can be used to dial down the hostility - which should be the goal regardless of the student following through or not -, while still demonstrating your indifference. | |
| Jan 25, 2021 at 22:20 | comment | added | user111388 | "They know they have no standing." Unless their parents are politicians, friends with the dean or have a lot of money, unfortunately...(in many countries, luckily not everywhere) | |
| Jan 25, 2021 at 19:57 | comment | added | Spark | Why would you want to discourage your students from exercising their rights? I don’t have the power to stop them, and indicating that it concerns me sends the wrong message | |
| Jan 25, 2021 at 18:53 | comment | added | Ramon Melo | "I actively encourage students who threaten me with going to a higher authority to follow through on their threat" >> depending on national and local academic cultures, this might not be a good approach. There are places where students can bend the rules if they just ring the proper buzzwords. As you said, these are "unusual times", thus easier to become an "exception"... | |
| Jan 25, 2021 at 16:25 | comment | added | Spark | As another aside, perhaps it's my own personality, but I find anger much easier to handle than genuine sadness/panic. I reciprocate hostility with (icy, legalistic) hostility. A student who cries in my office about failing a class and not knowing how to break it to their parents is much likelier to get my support (perhaps not a good thing, but nobody's perfect...) | |
| Jan 25, 2021 at 16:21 | history | answered | Spark | CC BY-SA 4.0 |