Posts After two semesters of being a unit coordinator at university, I am sharing secret insider knowledge about how to pass the units I teach.
- Read the unit outline
- Clarify what you do not understand
- Do what the unit outline says, when it says to do it
And here is the secret how to do very well in the units I teach:
- Read the unit outline
- Clarify what you do not understand – and support classmates
- Do what the unit outline says to a high standard, when it says to do it
I am seeing three kinds of students:
- Clever, organised students. They do very well.
- Not so clever, organised students. They pass.
- Clever, disorganised students. Some pass, barely. Most do not.
Students in the last category are hard to watch as they make their way through semester. I am learning to be much, much clearer with expectations – even to the extent of pedantic silliness, spelling out requirements in a way that must make students in the first two categories want to say “duh! – please don’t patronise us”.
It is so hard to balance fairness to all students. There are students who without making any fuss spend their time ensuring that they are within word limits, learn how to reference correctly, write in a scholarly manner, answer what a question asks in the way it asks for, ask if they need an extension before an assignment is due, demonstrate that they have read the required readings and offer support to their fellow students. I want to honour their efforts and take their efforts as seriously as they do. I also want to be kind to everyone.
Some of the hardest students to watch are those who are disorganised because they have too much else going on in their lives. I know that divorces, health issues, having to work to eat and supporting family members in crisis can affect studies. I also know that there are students who withdraw or do not take up studies when these things are going on in their lives because they accept that they could not study well.
I think it takes more than two semesters to get the right balance of fairness and kindness. I wonder, also, if it is possible at all…
But, the three steps to pass at the start of this post? I know that they do work…
Post number 6 for #blogjune 2011
Agreed! But I would add another couple student type -
4) Disengaged, apathetic students
Sigh.
Sadly I think I fit category 3 or maybe 2, definitely not 1. Actually I think it varies from assignment to assignment. I just got one back (not from you) with lovely comments, except I didn’t actually answer the question, whoops. Still I will pass, no distinctions here though.
Hi Penny and Jenny
At least you do not fit in Penny’s Category 4, Jenny. I am constantly amazed how I discover that the question that I thought I had written in English was actually written in a rare dialect of Swahili. It is usually 50% my fault for presuming that I wrote what I meant, not what I said – and 50% the students’ fault for (usually) starting to answer the question before they have read through and digested it completely…
About unit outlines… aren’t they what you study only after you have failed and you are looking for a loophole to support your appeal…?!
Hi Kathryn,
I wanted to share this with you.
I was out on a wet Tuesday night last night at a workshop and chatted to a lot of new people.
One of these people was a student of Curtin LIS and is she is completeing 2 units this semester.
I asked her how she was enjoying the course and how she felt about the content and her comments were that she was enjoying the study.
She then added that as an off campus/online student she felt very connected to Kathryn Greenhill and was enjoying your classes and the manner in which you communicated with everyone. She is completing two units and while respecting her other lecturer felt that her connection to her was far less. She really enjoyed your videos.
Teresa