Lines drawn in the sand, invisible

"As you know, the Premier loves surprises."

Two weeks ago, adjunct Babson College rhetoric and history instructor Kara Miller wrote a piece for the Boston Globe (My lazy American students) that suggested that American students are, well, lazy. That’s caused a stir, at least in Boston. Inside Higher Ed caught wind of it and wrote about it, and we reprinted some of that.

Today, Inside Higher Ed (Are American Students Lazy?) updates us on the controversy:

…[Kara Miller’s] comparison of American students (who continually disappoint) and foreign students (who don't) has set off quite a discussion in Boston….

"My 'C,' 'D,' and 'F' students this semester are almost exclusively American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have – despite language barriers – generally written solid papers, excelled on exams, and become valuable class participants," Miller wrote. She noted that many of her foreign students have difficulty with English, but make up for that with hard work. Her American students, meanwhile, appear challenged by work.

"Too many 18-year-old Americans, meanwhile, text one another under their desks (certain they are sly enough to go unnoticed), check e-mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged," she wrote. Given that many American students arrive at college without basic skills, she wrote, "we've got a knowledge gap, spurred by a work-ethic gap."

The response was immediate and intense. Hundreds of people posted comments.

Many ... professors appear to think Miller has a point. "I know this author will be criticized for this article, but based on my decades of college teaching experience she is exactly right," wrote one. "What she leaves out is that we are dealing with a generation of students that have been left behind by No Child Left Behind, supervised by 'Helicopter Parents.' Students now feel entitled to high grades despite little work and want their hands held on every assignment, while they are unable to think for themselves."

Another professor wrote in: "I used to be a university faculty with a joint appointment in engineering and management schools – the biggest difference I noticed with domestic and international students was the ability to handle criticism. Domestic students tended to be very defensive when pointing out what can be improved."

That professor wasn't alone in finding Miller to be correct outside of her fields. Another comment said: "I've been an adjunct teaching engineering for 10 years, and I see the same trends. Even in engineering classes, many of the U.S. students expect to be given A's for inhaling and exhaling, and look at you like you have four heads if you suggest that perhaps coming to class, doing homework, and studying might improve their grade."

Some who had experience teaching international students noted that students who cross oceans to study in the United States are highly motivated, and so are not necessarily a fair comparison for the average American.

Several comments suggested that while Miller was correct in noticing differences between American and non-American students, she might not be giving enough credit to the creativity of Americans. A graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote that when he teaches undergrad sections, he's also annoyed by the texting.

But following rules rigidly has a down side, the comment said: "My lab has a large number of foreign postdocs, who've been brought up in an environment where they've learned to be obedient and diligent. They end up lacking in leadership and creativity, and this shows up in their ability to be effective scientists. The American/Western postdocs tend to be more independent and creative in their approaches to problems, something that I attribute to the American emphasis on creativity rather than knowledge. Maybe we need a mix of cultures to truly produce the most effective students."

Plenty of less than thoughtful comments mocked either Miller's students or Miller, suggesting she must not be a good teacher. And others defended the right of American students to act as they wish. "Sounds like a typical egghead liberal professor who think there's a correlation between the classroom and the real world," wrote one. "Sorry, teach, but our American kids know that college is for boozing, drugs and hooking up. They'll start working hard when it matters – the day they get their first job."….

Many of my students seem unable to accept course rules that, in some cases, cause them to receive failing grades. I tell them at the start (and I remind them continually): to pass this course, you must receive a minimal score (it’s an abysmally low standard) on weekly writing assignments.

I explain that this requirement is a regrettable but necessary mechanism to encourage students to keep up with the course. I lay my cards out on the table for all to see: "Don't wanna do this, but here's why I do it."

“And I hope you can understand that I cannot lay down these rules and then not enforce them.” I explain. I discuss deterrence theory, show a clip of Dr. Strangelove. (See above.) All is made clear.

They smile and accept this. I remain wary. Toward the end of the semester, I notice that many students are in danger of failing the requirement. I remind them again. (Evidently, you cannot remind them enough times.) I send emails. Some respond to this. They scramble to do better. Often, they do.

But many do not. They get Fs. Then they email me: “How can this be?” I explain (yet again). They respond: “What can I do?” I suggest that, well, they can learn from their mistake. They write back: “No, you need to tell me what I can do to get a good grade!”

Eventually, I have to say, “Your have earned an F. That’s the situation. It isn’t changing. Grow up.”

I’ve always had to deal with this crap. All instructors do. But, over time, the problem has increased. When I teach, I'm always thinking about it. ("What more can I do to make students do what they need to be doing?", "If I say more, will I be hectoring them?")

Frankly, I’ve got a similar problem with my niece and nephew (ages 7 and 5), which they seem to share with their entire generation and several gens before them. They’re great kids, but dealing with their misbehavior can be frustrating. I say "no," but its force is strangely ephemeral. I keep wanting to say, “Has no one taught these kids the meaning of ‘No’?”

I draw clear lines in the sand. These kids don't see them, or they see them as something other than lines--that is, as barriers, limits, demarcations of zones they must not enter. Halt. Stop. No.

It is as though they have never encountered anything like it before: a "no" that involves actual No-ness.

How can that be?

Comments:

Anonymous‬ said...
yes, American students ARE lazy and demand special treatment.

 Then they grow up and become lazy American administrative types who don't want to follow the rules and demand special treatment.
11:48 AM, January 04, 2010

‪Anonymous‬ said...
What clip from DR. Strangelove do you show?

 My students routinely ignore the rules posted in the syllabus and reinforced in class (come to class! unplug yourself! do your work! be on time!) – then they wonder why they fail. 

I don't wonder at all.

 Right now I have a handful who have written to inform me that they won't be attending the first week of class because they are still on vacation. "I hope I don't miss anything." "Please send me all asssignments, syllabus and notes." "Please don't drop me."

These requests are for classes that are full with waiting lists.
11:53 AM

‪B. von Traven said...
I have posted the relevant section of "Dr. Strangelove," a film that seems greater to me with each decade that passes. If you're impatient, you might jump ahead to about 2 minutes into this particular clip, when [the Ruskie, and then] Dr. S begin to explain the theory of deterrence–and of deterrence via a "doomsday machine" in particular. This is the sort of thing that philosophers love to discuss: that the best outcome (for all concerned, from a "moral" point of view) might be attainable only by setting a trigger that only an insane and immoral person could pull–hence the need for the machine. (See Gregory Kavka's work on this paradoxes of deterrence.) The "joke" here, of course, is that the entire mechanism is undone by the desire to offer the Premier a "birthday surprise."
12:23 PM

Anonymous‬ said...
Many of my students, often on the first day of class, express the hope that I can make an "exception" for them. 

Their work schedules have changed and they can't stay until the class is over but must leave 30 minutes early each day. 

Their team has scheduled practices so that they miss every other class session during a two month period — will that be a problem? 

They can't buy the textbooks until next month, can they borrow mine? 

Can they print out their work on my office computer? Better yet, can they just send me their work so I can print it out and bring it to class with me? 

Their family has scheduled a week-long vacation in Hawaii in April, so....They always go to Hawaii.

 They are really terrible in the particular subject I teach and they hope that I understand that they need to pass the class in order to get into the university next semster.
12:34 PM