Students, professors spill their pet peeves

While taking core classes, students have an opportunity to choose which professors to take, but professors never get a choice.

“The kids I appreciate are the ones who are very alert in class. They answer questions,” Associate Professor of Economics Ben Scafidi said. “Back row kids, on the other hand, are sleeping back there, on their phones doing Internet gambling, and just hoping for a D.”

Some of the same pet peeves annoy students and professors alike.

Students and professors both share some disdain toward miscommunication and disorganization. No teacher wants the responsibility of managing an unstapled, seven-page paper, and all students stress out when an unexpected assignment appears in their inbox the day before it is due.

“As far as teaching goes, my professors do a good job,” senior Chantal Robertson said. “But it would make it easier for the students and the staff if communication on class times and homework assignments were better established.”

Knowing when class starts and when to leave the house is a different story.

“When class is going on and students come in late, instead of coming in the door and making a B-line for the nearest seat, they find the need to walk in front of me to their preferred seat,” Scafidi said.

Leaving class early disrupts professors as well.

“I do not like when students leave class before it is over without a warning or without having told me first,” Professor of Modern Foreign Languages Tony Alcarria said.

Every now and then, the role reverses. Students study for a test and want feedback, but the professor does not return their papers.

“Last semester, I had a teacher that didn’t give anything back and that bothered me,” junior Callie Gay, a middle grades education major, said. “I like to know my grades and where I stand in the class.”

GCSU students and professors generally praise each other. Often, they realize the good usually outweighs the bad and, when it does not, the bad prepares them for the worst.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 11 2009. Filed under Perspectives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry