A learner has sent you an email challenging your choice of activities in the learning unit. He states that he doesn't believe that the discussion questions are relevant and the assignments are a complete waste of his time.
How would you handle this learner?
I would go via email or phone and discuss and “listen†to this learner and engage with his/her concerns and ask for “how they would improve the questions?â€
After listening I would dig deeper as others have said for the underlying issue that is driving this attitude of an assignment being a waste of time. Next I would encourage this learner to finish the assignment that the syllabus is a guide/map to learning in the course and the “WHYâ€. A great general I served under, once said to take the 2 minutes and explain the “WHY†will yield greater results you desire.
Tell him or her to be patient and the assignments will make sense in the “rear view mirror†of the course completion.
If the learner and I could not agree I might consider a substitution or give him/her a choice.
I think real life experiences are critical. I agree with you 100%. I often find that real life examples are the ones that get the most reply responses from the students. These can often lead to the most discussion and interest and as such I use them often and encourage the students to also use them.
I would start by asking him to explain why the discussion question is irrelevant. I would then ask what specifically he did not feel was important with regard to the assignments. I would wait for a response. I would contact the student by phone if I did not hear back. The questions would be asked in his individual forum not in a public forum. I would be sure to keep in touch with this student regularly to gain understanding of his perspective in order to work with him to complete the necessary discussions and assignments.
Robert,
I appreciate that at least you are considering the student's concerns. There are certainly times that you might learn you need to make some adjustments in your own course. However, there are other times you might need to be more firm and clearly articulate the importance of the work in the overall learning process.
Herbert Brown III
I would ask the student 'what would make the assignment relevant?' From that point try and work the assignment in line with the student response, show how the assignments build upon each other, provide an example of how the assignment material could be useful in the future.
Elie,
Would you consider any of their comments and suggest or implement changes (long term) based on that feedback? Do you think their comments and concerns might have merit?
Herbert Brown III
I have actually encountered a student that reacted this way throughout one of my courses. The student felt that a lot of the exercises were a waist of time and went as far as not completing portions of them as well as being very aggressive and condescending with opinions within the discussion boards. I feel what is necessary and what I personally chose to do was to point out the relevance of the activities and discussions. I learned that with this student taking a firm stance regarding branching topics and activities intrigued the student's interest. This,
along with explaining that choosing not to participate fully in completing the required coursework only deters the students progress and that by doing this the student will not fully grasp the broad spectrum of knowledge that is being taught to prepare the student for real life situations they will face in their future career. Additionally, I found it helpful to associate my own personal experiences I encounter in the field with the course activities and discussion topics to expand this students single sided thoughts.
The way I would handle a student that has these types of concerns is by contacting him privately in an email and explain to them why all the exercises that he/she are working on are very relevant to the subject matter at hand. I would also explain to them that maybe the early exercises might be easy and seem irrelevant to them at the moment, but as the course builds they will all be relevant to each other so to create an well rounded course.
Matthew,
I appreciate that you see the students might have a point. Many times we ignore a student's concern about work, when in reality they have a good point and might actually help us to improve our course if we are willing to listen.
Herbert Brown III
I would challenge the student to pose discussion questions which they think are relevant, then I would ask them to answer them. If the questions are actually insightful, I might also pose them to the rest of the students.
I find that sometimes students may not find value in an activity because of how it was presented. I make it a daily practice to not only ask my students to perform, I also provide them with why they are doing the task and what the expected outcome should be.
dwight,
Do you think that the student has any point to their issues?
Herbert Brown III
First of all, we have to make the student aware that everything we are discussing is relevant and the assignment is relevant towards completion of the course he is taking. He may not agree with the information that is being given now, but he will appreciate in the future
Hmm, sounds like a "Disruptive Learner!"
I would explain why the discussion questions are relevant. I would provide specific examples or situations where the question comes into play into the "real world" of the subject.
That also goes for the assignments. "This assignment is an important concept to grasp because..." Or, since he said "the assignments" rather than one specific assignment, explain why these assignments are necessary for learning and grasping the topics. Also, they help me know if you are retaining the knowledge.
I might also say something about how the course is designed for more than one type of student. Everyone has different academic and professional achievements.
I would take the time to further explain the rational of the questions as they relate to the learning objectives of the topic. I would also cite relevant material that was covered and link the rational to future learning in the course.
Kim,
Do you believe he has a relevant point? If so, would you do anything to address his issue? What?
Herbert Brown III
I would ask him why he believe the discussion was not relevant then discussion with him the facts why this discussion is relevant.
If I were in class that discussed issued that had no relevance, I might question the instructor as well. However, a good way to handle this type of situation is to explain that the course work is difficult to complete. Therefore, as the instructor you are trying to provide an outlet to earn point in a non-stressful way.
Zakaria,
I believe I am following your ideas here. You will always have students at different levels and some might even know more about a subject than you or I. Helping even these students to stretch their own learning and knowledge is what the learning process is about. If we need to tweak a question or ask the student to take another approach to stretch their knowledge, that is a good thing!
Herbert Brown III
Let me start with making a claim that I do not believe there is such thing as wasting time when it comes to education and learning. And in fact, in many cases I have learned something new from my graduate students while teaching the same class.
I would first look at the students’ profile and make sure that the student is qualified to make such claim to start with.
Next, I would seriously evaluate the discussion questions and make sure that the student is not reading something different from what the question is asking for ( or make sure that the student does not misunderstand the question or reeds too much into the question).
My reply would be based on the students level of expertise, but will also stress on the relevancy and importance of the question to assure students’ mastering the courses material, and adding that the course was design to fit general students’ needs, and while some students may be expert on the subject.
I would append my email with the opening statement I made, to assure that student that he/she will learn something new form this class.
Zak Saleh
