Today was a typical day in lecture. It's second week and with the midterm a while away, not everyone showed up for our 9:30 class. Those of us who did come were probably doing one or two of the following: trying to stay awake (because let's face it, 9:30 is early for a college student, especially when you don't go to bed until 3), sleeping (I mean we did go to bed at 3, right?), texting (because it must be more important than what we're learning in class), daydreaming, or actually trying to pay attention and learn something. I can honestly say that today I was making the effort to pay attention, take notes, and understand the lecture (also, trying to stay awake and the occasional text here and there).
With about 15 minutes left in class, this student raised his hand to ask a question. No big deal, right? Wrong- this guy proceeded to explain his own personal hypothesis that he came up with based on the data of a graph that was in the powerpoint presentation. He then proceeded to interrupt the professor as she was trying to respond to his comment, causing her to stop mid-sentence. She had to wait for him to finish talking before she could finally reply, leading her to go on a bit of a tangent.
IT'S CALLED OFFICE HOURS
Did you ever notice that whenever a professor teaches with powerpoint slides, they are fairly consistent about concluding their presentation just as class ends? I think it's pretty impressive and can imagine that it's something that would take a lot of practice. I must say, though, that it can suck if their timing is off- like if they don't finish in time, they keep going and we all have to stay later, or they just don't cover certain slides and move on to new ones for the next lecture, making us learn it on our own.
Well it doesn't help the flow of the class when a student wastes everyone's time by asking irrelevant or obscure questions. If you need something to be clarified, please make it quick so we can move on. Otherwise, wait until after class so you don't piss off everyone else. If you have a relevant question or comment that could potentially help the class then it's fine, but really make sure you're adding value to the lecture and it's not just so you can hear your own voice.
As a side note, if you want to eat food during lecture, don't bring corn nuts. That's just messed up. Also, isn't it awkward when the professor asks the class a question and expects someone to answer, but nobody does, so we're all just chillin there in complete silence?
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People would definitely pay attention more and get more out of the lecture if the professor presented new material as opposed to just repeating what's in the textbook or reading off the power point slides.
ReplyDeleteIf the professor presented basic material, how can he expect anything other than basic (possibly dumb) questions? If he presented challenging material, then he can expect some thoughtful questions.
You make an interesting point. I may have overlooked the fact that the professor could be partially at fault. However, as students, we still have a responsibility to be respectful to each other and show some common sense as we ask questions and make comments in class.
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