Explain the importance of each of the topics being discussed or assigned to over learning outcomes of the course and re-enforce this with your experiences from business and/or personal life. If the student persists in their position of irrelevent assignments, suggest they review the courses offered at the school for a course that more closely aligns with their expectations of learning outcomes. Always be polite, and assume with the corrct feedback the student will understand the intent of each assignment in achieving the stated learning outcomes.
I would email the student back and ask his rational for his opinion. We could then discuss and use each others ideas.
Mary,
I do the same thing. My students get tired of my saying it, but I refer to it as making the content "real and relevant." I teach business education courses and I tell my future teachers that I expect them to make the course content (whatever it is) real and relevant for the students. Use real examples, real projects, real scenarios, anything that will help the students connect in a real way with their course content.
Herbert Brown III
First, I think it is important for the instructor to acknolwedge the student's concerns. Then have the instructor state how the discussion boards are not only relevant to the class but how they are relevant in everyday life. I teach psychology and I often find students do not see initially how the class pertains to them, but the more expamples and/or questions I raise, they see how the class relations to every area of their life. The more we can help students see this, the more they are able to buy into what they are learning.
Lisa,
Can you elaborate a little more on this? If you ask the student for a resolution and they give you one you don't like or don't agree with, what do you do then?
Herbert Brown III
Lisa,
Can you elaborate a little more on this? If you ask the student for a resolution and they give you one you don't like or don't agree with, what do you do then?
Herbert Brown III
Ask the student to provide more information on what the concerns are and why. Ask the student for what a resolution would be.
I would contact the student by phone, and ask for their input. I guess it the student does not know everything, since they are a student. I am always open to suggestions, but if the discussion is posted for a reason.
Hello Herbert,
This has actually happened to me before. What I do is discuss with the student how the questions relate to the current curriculum subject matter. I will also share a personal story, and ask the student to share there thoughts or what they feel would be appropriate to the subject matter.Once they have provided their feedback I then will tie it back into the discussion.
Genieve
Helena,
Good strategies. There are times that the students might have a valid point. We as instructors need to be at least open to hearing concerns that students have and address them as appropriate.
Herbert Brown III
If a student were to send me an email challenging the activities of the assignment details, I would reply to the email privately and try to ask some additional questions about specific problems they have with the assignment. Perhaps there is some validity to the complaint and the assignment can be re-written for more clarity. Otherwise, I would be sure to reiterate of the goals and objectives of the unit and present them with details how the assignment can be applied in real-world application.
I feel as instructors we need to use our real life work experience/activities to students relate to the industry. In my opinion, I feel it keeps my classroom engaged as well.
Matthew Schwartz
Andrea,
Students are certainly expected to complete the required work in the course. Would you attempt to determine if there are other underlying issues in the objection or if there is merit to the objection?
Herbert Brown III
Andrea,
Students are certainly expected to complete the required work in the course. Would you attempt to determine if there are other underlying issues in the objection or if there is merit to the objection?
Herbert Brown III
Andrea,
Do you think there could be any merit in their arguments or would you just reiterate the objectives and expectations for the course and tell them that is the requirements of the course if they are going to stay in the course?
Herbert Brown III
Professor Brown:
Communicating with the student offline on an individual basis is a good idea. Sometimes students need that one on one to really discuss issues. Sometimes you find deeper issues that need to be addressed through these discussions.
Andrea: This is a good point, Professor Brown. Many times, a student have things going on in their personal life and just need to hear the professor is a real person on the other end of the phone. I have encouraged many students to complete assignments in this fashion and not withdraw from class.
David: First I would explain why the activities are important to the course.
Andrea: Good comment, David. In addition, the student should know it is a requirement of the university, students complete the assignments the institution specifies for the degree program.
Andrea Millazzo
Discussion 4
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?
In communicating with the student in question, identification of the unit concepts directly related to the assignment would be acknowledged. In addition, the student would be counseled regarding the requirements of the course as one of the many expectations in successfully completing the course.
I would remind the student to share where he or she thinks the questions are not relevant. Then I would refer the student to the readings relevant to the questions.
As to the assignments being a waste of time, I would encourage the student to share some of his own personal experiences that would be relevant to the assignments.
I would try to get the student to understand the relevance of the course material by relating the material to my current experiences within the industry or real life experiences of others. This will allow the student to see the importance of the information as well as see what situations the learning objectives could be applied to.
