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What if your professor gives an assignment, its on the syllabus, you have spoken to the professor but you still are not sure. How would you handle? My professor gave me an assignment and I kind of have an idea as to the expectation but its a bit of a creative piece and I am not creative. This project is not coming together and I am not sure what to do. Its due Tuesday, I have been working on it for weeks and it still does not look like I would like it to.
I would follow the assignment as best as I understood it and when I turned it in I would inform the prof, Hey, you asked for creative, so here it is!
Ya know, based on my experience, whenever a prof says to 'be creative' with an assignment, I get a sneaking suspicion that what they are really saying is that they do not want to spend much time grading it.
I'm not a professor, but I've had multiple discussions with current professors who have complained that their current students are more likely than in years past to want to be told exactly what to do. They do not see this is a good thing, and blame it on a culture that has focused on test scores and the idea of black and white right and wrong answers. It sounds like you generally understand the expectations; just give it your best shot and see how it goes. You might find that you're more creative than you think. And if it doesn't work out, well, pushing yourself to think in new ways and to tackle problems will have taught you something, too. You can't be perfect at everything. (and if it does fall flat -- and don't expect that it will, even if it's not up to your vision yet -- you could always try asking if you could do some revisions and resubmit at a later date. Sometimes professors are open to that.)
Do you have study labs at school where you can go for some peer tutoring/help? Do you know anyone else that has taken that class in the past that can help?
What was the assignment? I am a college instructor, and although I do feel many students want to be told exactly what to do, I also understand that sometimes teachers are not clear when giving instructions. What is it that is not coming together? Could it be that you are expecting too much? Maybe it is better than you think. Give some more details and maybe we can be of more help.
I'm one of those professors who give an exact, detailed grading rubric, so there is no misunderstanding of what I'm looking for. It also keeps students from feeling lost. But if it's supposed to be creative, as long as it meets whatever guidelines were given, you should be ok. I know it's short notice now, but will your professor look at a rough draft to see if you're going in the right direction?
Personally, if I ask for students to be creative, it means don't do the same exact boring topic that you know I see every semester.
High school was a time when your assignments should have been spelled out for you. College is when you have to learn to think for yourself, and decide on your own what the expectations are, and meet them.
If everyone in the class is not understanding the assignment, then I think its fair that the professor needs to provide more information. Ask around and see if anyone else is struggling. If you must, go to the professor to ask for input or clarification, but keep in mind the professor may use this information in grading what you eventually turn in.
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