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I graduated from college more than 30 yrs ago. But I've been taking classes off and on at the local community colleges for the last few years. I have seen students who are shy about participating in class. Being a little shy myself I understand that. But I've never seen students who thought classes should be all lecture, essays and tests. Neither in the past nor nowadays.
NONE of the classes I have taken in recent years, computer programming, database management, art classes etc., would even work that way. If even one of those teachers had thought to teach by lecturing and having us regurgitate his notes on an exam I would have protested. You learn best by DOING. Just my opinion.
My Grandson told me an interesting story about what happened in one of his classes in college:
He is a business major and is taking a class on Business Communications. (A required class for all business students.)
Anyway, this is an interactive class that involves role playing, case studies, group projects and individual presentations. This really angers the students who believe a college class should be a: lecture, read books, write papers and take tests model. They don't want to get involved in "silly" presentations, role playing exercises, group presentations, etc.
So when the Instructor tries to get volunteers for presentations and role playing the students refuse. They just don't want to do it.
Should the Instructor force them up to the front of the room by saying they will fail the class without participating, or just change the class so it is the: lecture, read books, write papers and take tests model?
It isn't called business communications for nothing.
All of you are wrong. Do you know how many people are introverts and are brilliant seriously so what if the class is about business there are a lot of people that are smarter than most TALKATIVE group friendly chicken mouthed people so please DO NOT force them to do it try making tests or similar stuff
I'm not in college yet but I'm smarter than most of my class and i rarely talk. Just as an example how many brilliant people are out there like Nikola Tesla,Abraham Lincoln etc
The reason they don't want to participate in group work is NOT because they are lazy but because they feel like they don't reach their own potential
Also i suggested having an END TEST to see if my statements are true
I'm in Anglia i rarely talk there as well but im good at English
So please try making changes to the class grading system and try including as much solo activities
P.S. How would you feel when someone forces you to do ANYTHING just think about it
Last edited by toobusytoday; 02-27-2015 at 02:56 PM..
Reason: fixed some typos for clarity. It's hard to get your message across if you don't use good grammer.
My wife has run into the "non-class-participation" phenomenon in classes she attends at 4-year private college. Young students sit there like dummies while professor practically begs class participation. Class participation is a significant part of the grade so if one doesn't mind getting a B- or C, well that is up to the individual. Wife sees them texting back and forth behind professor's back. If I were professor I would make all students hold up their electronic hand-held devices, turn them all off (and check to see they are off) and then have them put them away in backpacks/purses. The third time I catch and have to talk to you about texting in class, you are dropped. Period. And no, the scenerios are NOT silly. There is a purpose for them. Out in the "real world" you are going to find yourself in similar situations and have to interact with "real" people. Might as well make your mistakes and get used to it now while you are in a learning environment where if you screw up it is a freebee. I have certainly had my share and they didn't kill me.
I'm about as introverted as it gets, and I take most of my classes online because it is a lot less pressure than interacting face-to-face. Then, one semester one my classes was only offered on campus, but it was a math class so I figured the interaction would be minimal. Well, I was wrong. On the very first day of class, the professor made it clear that math is not a spectator sport and we should expect to be called on an any given moment. He ended up having a short list of students he would call on the most... and I was one of them (probably because I always sat in the front row and knew the material). Anyway, the first few times I practically hyperventilated and thought I would pee my pants, but it gradually got a little bit easier, and eventually I got to the point of actually volunteering answers without being called on. On the last day of class, I made it a point to thank the professor for forcing me out of my shell, which was way harder than any of the material we covered in class.
The moral of the story: being introverted is no excuse for not participating in class. If you have no interest in refining yourself and improving the skills that will only HELP you in the real world, then why would you bother with higher education in the first place?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikiboy99
All of you are wrong. Do you know how many people are introverts and are brilliant seriously so what if the class is about business there are a lot of people that are smarter than most TALKATIVE group friendly chicken mouthed people so please DO NOT force them to do it try making tests or similar stuff
I'm not in college yet but I'm smarter than most of my class and i rarely talk. Just as an example how many brilliant people are out there like Nikola Tesla,Abraham Lincoln etc
The reason they don't want to participate in group work is NOT because they are lazy but because they feel like they don't reach their own potential
Also i suggested having an END TEST to see if my statements are true
I'm in Anglia i rarely talk there as well but im good at English
So please try making changes to the class grading system and try including as much solo activities
P.S. How would you feel when someone forces you to do ANYTHING just think about it.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 02-27-2015 at 02:56 PM..
I hate classes that require participation because im shy and social situations make me anxious. I've had classes that require a lot of interaction with my peers and i would throw up the night before classes because I was so nervous. But I signed up for the class so I followed the professors rules. I'm one of the rare people who don't seem to mind presentations but conversations in small groups or one on one are challenging for me. If it were up to me, success in life would be based off of test scores and skills that don't involve communication. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. Tell him to drop the class or get over it. Disrespecting professors just isn't acceptable.
My Grandson told me an interesting story about what happened in one of his classes in college:
He is a business major and is taking a class on Business Communications. (A required class for all business students.)
Anyway, this is an interactive class that involves role playing, case studies, group projects and individual presentations. This really angers the students who believe a college class should be a: lecture, read books, write papers and take tests model. They don't want to get involved in "silly" presentations, role playing exercises, group presentations, etc.
So when the Instructor tries to get volunteers for presentations and role playing the students refuse. They just don't want to do it.
Should the Instructor force them up to the front of the room by saying they will fail the class without participating, or just change the class so it is the: lecture, read books, write papers and take tests model?
I'm retired, too. When I was a junior in a university, I took the best Art History class with a super grading system that was made clear from day one. If we wrote a paper or took a test and regurgitated what the book said, we'd get a D, I think. But THIS I know because it was the best way to show we learned something. If we answered questions based on the book and the professor and integrated our own conclusions and thoughts, we'd get an A - assuming the paper was written at the level of at least a junior in college.
I don't know what rules and regs. are these days but the simple answer would be if they don't participate, they get a minimum grade of whatever. It's business communications. If they can't communicate in the format laid out in class, why are they even in the class? Man, what's going on with kids these days.
All of you are wrong. Do you know how many people are introverts and are brilliant seriously so what if the class is about business there are a lot of people that are smarter than most TALKATIVE group friendly chicken mouthed people so please DO NOT force them to do it try making tests or similar stuff
I'm not in college yet but I'm smarter than most of my class and i rarely talk. Just as an example how many brilliant people are out there like Nikola Tesla,Abraham Lincoln etc
The reason they don't want to participate in group work is NOT because they are lazy but because they feel like they don't reach their own potential
Also i suggested having an END TEST to see if my statements are true
I'm in Anglia i rarely talk there as well but im good at English
So please try making changes to the class grading system and try including as much solo activities
P.S. How would you feel when someone forces you to do ANYTHING just think about it
Quote:
Originally Posted by Channing20
I hate classes that require participation because im shy and social situations make me anxious. I've had classes that require a lot of interaction with my peers and i would throw up the night before classes because I was so nervous. But I signed up for the class so I followed the professors rules. I'm one of the rare people who don't seem to mind presentations but conversations in small groups or one on one are challenging for me. If it were up to me, success in life would be based off of test scores and skills that don't involve communication. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. Tell him to drop the class or get over it. Disrespecting professors just isn't acceptable.
When you get into the real world, you will find there is no more important skill to have than the ability to communicate, both verbal and written. The majority of students graduating from college are weak in both of these areas. You just don't get enough practice. It needs to start in elementary school abnd continue through college so that students are comfortable presenting in front of a group and getting their point across.
If you don't get this practice in school, you will wish you had when you need to do business presentations and proposals, and your job depends on it.
I think (as an instructor), students should choose online classes if they don't want to participate and attend class (especially in business or speech classes). If they don't like online learning, they need to set a time to be prepared for participation involved classes. THERE'S NO WAY AROUND MISSING PARTICIPATION FOR THESE CLASSES! Our department has a 5 day max absent rate in the speech/business department for all students taking these classes. These discussions really can't be made up. If a student knows that he or she can't make it to these classes enough during a particular semester, don't sign up or talk to the instructor first to see if arrangements can be made. If business and speech are not someone's major, the students need to set time aside during the semester to fulfill the requirements of being in class. It's usually just one semester and everyone with every degree will have to take some type of class that is not in the norm of his/her likes. If someone is majoring in speech or business and doesn't like to communicate/participate? Don't know the answer there.
All of you are wrong. Do you know how many people are introverts and are brilliant seriously so what if the class is about business there are a lot of people that are smarter than most TALKATIVE group friendly chicken mouthed people so please DO NOT force them to do it try making tests or similar stuff
I'm not in college yet but I'm smarter than most of my class and i rarely talk. Just as an example how many brilliant people are out there like Nikola Tesla,Abraham Lincoln etc
The reason they don't want to participate in group work is NOT because they are lazy but because they feel like they don't reach their own potential
Also i suggested having an END TEST to see if my statements are true
I'm in Anglia i rarely talk there as well but im good at English
So please try making changes to the class grading system and try including as much solo activities
P.S. How would you feel when someone forces you to do ANYTHING just think about it
A lot of people are brilliant and shy but that doesn't mean they should get a passing grade in business communications.
I am very bad at running, passing, and tackling but I deserve an A in football. Not.
I mean, c'mon, use your head.
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