Ruffling Feathers in the English Department at UCincy

[jeep45238]

Not quite a joke, but I thought some of you would get a kick out of this. I just finished up my "e-portfolio" that the department mandates our professors shove down our throats. I'm lucky enough that mine said just put some text on there and I'll call it 100%


But why be happy with just that? After all, why write a quick note when you can write a novel?


I'll skip the copy/pasting of the essays - if you really want to read essays reviewing a short story, Julius Caesar, and I, Robot, PM me and I'll copy it for you (although I do think the I,Robot is a rather interesting one that goes against the grain).

On to the meat and potatoes!





CAS Course and Assignment Reflection
English 103 - Spring 2008

*DISCLAIMER*

The views expressed by the author have been previously described as painfully honest and to the point - take them with a grain of salt and realize that some things are beyond the control of the faculty, but other things are not.

This is not an observation of the professor teaching the course, it is one of the course and it's faults and benefits as seen by Michael A. XXXXXXXXX. The author can be reached at xxxxxxxx@uc.edu. The professor has already had their performance reviewed by the students which was submitted to the department per University policies.

The comments are meant for the people who create the department guidelines and requirements for all English 103 courses. There will be spelling and gramatical errors throughout, as everything except the essays were written on the fly on LiveText.com

1. Objective

To be quite frank, this course is to attempt to get people to do something they should have been doing their entire lives - to think for themselves and to think critically of the subject matter from all sides that they can conceive. People at the age of 18 should have enough of a grasp on the English language to be able to easily write most of these assignments in a few hours, but most were having problems given a week or more to write - and even some were asking for the assignment to be verbally explained to them the day before the rough drafts were due.

I found during my 10 weeks in this chair that a majority of the students had the same exact opinions, which were always filled with "I uh...I don't know" in the middle or their sentences and at the end (even in peer to peer discussions) - quite a shame, as I know my high school education did not prepare me for college or the real world - I can only imagine what a disservice students younger than me by a mere 5 years were given.

I also believe that this e-portfolio is a complete waste of my time, as I'll be handing in a hard copy of all my written papers, and the professor wrote the syllabus. Creating resumes is discussed at length in Intro to Coop, and I have better things to do with my time than do this.



Course Reflection

*DISCLAIMER*

This course reflection was INTENTIONALLY kept in plain view (not hidden) contrary to the English Department's instructions. This was done because the author firmly believes that there is no better feedback that an instructor can get on their course or teaching methods than to sit down and ask one of their students.

Departmental/co-worker advice and constructive criticism have their place, but the people that are giving the feedback are giving the reviews to the professor second hand. That is no way for anybody to effectively improve their course or their performance. Some factors are beyond the professor's control, and those things should not be held against the professor teaching the material.

The author has also intentionally skipped thesis statement and body paragraphs for this review, and instead has answered the questions directly as they appeared. Again, this is in the name of constructive criticism.

I have been graded and judged on my literary skills for the past 10 weeks in this course, and for the previous 14 years in educational institutes of some nature. If this portion of the e-portfolio is truly a review, then this will not count against the grade for the portfolio - if it is busy work it will count against me, and so be it if that is the case.


1. What did you learn or do that specially helped you become more skilled or more knowledgeable about your major?

Continued emphasis on punctuation and efforts to convey the information to somebody with no previous background of the subject at hand. I tend to assume people have an inkling about everything for some odd reason.

2. Did you learn to apply new functions of mathematics, science, engineering or technology?

I personally did not - I graduated 5 years ago and have worked full time for a few years in applicable fields to my major, as well as my experience with Formula SAE. This course was not about applying functions, it was about critical thinking and it's related portions of writing papers.

3. Did you conduct, analyze, or interpret experiments? Did you apply your results to improve processes in your major?

No, but we did write papers with input and feedback from both peers and our professor.

4. Did you apply creativity in designing systems, components, or processes related to this course?

See #3.

5. Did you work effectively with a team?

I had trouble getting honest opinions and feedback out of classmates. There tends to be a common trend of thinking that the professor is always right, or my grade may suffer. That is not what college is about. This is something that is beyond the control or scope of the professor.

6. Did you develop your ability to identify, analyze and solve technical problems?

My punctuation has improved.


7. Did you develop your oral and written communication skills?

Yes, I did.

8. Were you encouraged to develop an appreciation for lifelong learning?

That was instilled upon me by my grandfather. He earned his masters in chemical engineering while working full time at DuPont and raising 4 children. He later held very high positions in Monsanto, and played critical roles in many of projects including the Manhattan Project. Nobody in our family knows exactly what he has worked on since much of it is still classified. I personally believe the day you stop learning at least one new thing every day is the day you die. College has not changed this opinion. Your mileage may vary.

9. Do you understand professional, social, and/or ethical responsibilities as a result of this course?

I can thank my parents and grandparents for my social and ethical responsibilities, and working since I was 16 for my professional responsibilities. It is not a university's job to instill social or ethical responsibilities - that is the job of the student and their life experiences. The last thing this country needs is a larger group of people who all have the same exact set of morals and ethics, and thus the same exact mindset on almost everything. That is when you loose critical thinking and different ways of looking at the same problem.

I repeat - no university should attempt to instill ANY professional, social, or ethical responsibilities on any students. It is not your job to raise people, it is your job to instill education and theories.

10. Did the course help you develop respect for diversity and knowledge of professional, societal, and global issues?

I hope that others gained some respect for that. I have been immersed in that for a long time, but very few students had a single independent viewpoint that I could detect, and very few of them knew anything about global issues or historical facts unless they were spoon fed it by the media - and we all know how dangerous it is to go to one source for all your information.

11. Did the course encourage you to develop a commitment to quality, continuous improvement, and timeliness in your professional life?

That is the only way to succeed in life. Again, it is not your responsibility to even attempt to instill any of these factors in anybody. You are not parents, you are hired to provide a service - in this case to teach the finer points of the English language.

[afmo]

Fantastic.

bravo to the author...

[IamCPTSpalding]

That was BRILLIANT! Thank you for the breath of fresh air.

[jeep45238]

Originally Posted by afmo

Fantastic.

bravo to the author...

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by IamCPTSpalding

That was BRILLIANT! Thank you for the breath of fresh air.

You're quite welcome. Now we'll wait for a little bit after I turn it in today and see what happens.

[mongoose33]

I'm a professor at a 4-yr university in Wisconsin. While there is a lot of...jumping through hoops we require students to do, please understand one thing--most of the time this is in response to "concerns" of the legislature and administration.

In some circles, it's in vogue to talk about "value added" from a college education. Questions like you've answered are sometimes in response to that. We need to show (somehow) that what students receive is worth the time and money. (You may notice I left out effort).

Of course, how we can show that value-added is a question we wrestle with. One way it's dealt with is in responses to questions like you addressed.

Being able to demonstrate students have been exposed to or experienced diversity, teamwork, quality, analysis, interpretation, creativity, etc. etc. etc. is part of what we can measure.

I'm not saying this is a terrific way to assess these kinds of things, just that in some ways it's the least painful for everyone.

Further, while I agree in principle with the idea of where you should have learned various things, you'd be amazed to find out how many students lack your background and understanding. I'm not being patronizing here--I'm serious.

What do we do with students who lack experiences and understanding your background instilled in you? We try our best to expose them to those new ideas, to teamwork, to diversity, to global issues.

[One example: Part of the increased price of oil is due to increased demand in places like China and India, and part is due to a very weak dollar, which is related to deficit spending, trade deficits, and low interest rates. Part of what I do is to help students understand oil prices are not simply due to "those damned Arabs" but are a consequence of multiple global pressures, some domestic, some international.]

How many students understand this kind of thing? Not many. My off-the-cuff guess is that maybe 2% understand it, 20% would like to understand it, and 78% are more interested in beer, internet porn, or the Wii.

So, we're left with trying to show that we've at least tried to expose students to these ideas. We cannot force students to believe anything, but we can expose them to ideas and have them make up their own minds.

That's all we can do. In my classes, I tell students they don't have to believe anything. It's not part of my grading scheme. What they must do is show understanding of concepts and theories, even those with which they disagree. And why not? I don't believe them all, and part of the process of being educated is to understand the arguments including their pros and cons.

So, let me offer you this: You're ahead of most students, have a broader understanding of issues than many, and were blessed to have a background better than that of many (most?) students.

Take some solace in that. The students I enjoy the most are those who will argue, disagree, and demand more. You sound like one of those. I think we would have had fun in one of my courses.

M.

PS: I'm a sociologist. I teach, among other things, Crime and Delinquency, Reseach Methods, and a course in Energy.

[jeep45238]

mongoose33,

I understand the need to have feedback - I have to work with these 18 year old people (that's a joy to drive to every weekend....I'm far from serious) in addition to attempt to do group projects and get peer reviews/criticism, so I do feel your pain in more than just the university setting. I also understand that there has to be some measure of your effectiveness on the job and to justify the expenditures to the bean counters.

The issue I had with this thing from the get go is pretty simple, and only 2 items.
1) I'm turning in a hard copy at 10:00AM today. Why do an "e portfolio" of my works written as well? Why does it start off with asking me to summarize the syllabus since it's going to be read by the professor and his peers? Something's fishy from the get go on that.
2) A university is there to do it's best at providing different perspectives on subjects, facts on various subjects, encourage critical thinking, and do it's best to educate somebody enough to be proficient in the skills required to complete most tasks within their chosen field (a.k.a. major). They are not there to be baby sitters and parents.

While I have my own opinion about what to do with those that don't have any desire to be there (let them fail and drop out), I know that isn't acceptable to many boards. Exposure to new concepts, teamwork, etc. are all important factors of a college education if one hasn't had it before, but a university isn't there to raise them and feed them it's morals and social/professional standards. If their parent's haven't done that, the blame is on the family, not the university.

I'm also a firm believer in Darwinism and think it applies very well to the college environment I also think we'd still be better off if we used silver in our quarters instead of paper and zinc currency that is backed only by goods/services of this country (Merle Haggard's "Are the good times really over for good" tends to share many of my thoughts, ironically).


P.S. - thank you for your insight. It's rare to have a faculty member of ANY university give their honest critical analysis. I took two sociology classes at Ohio State in 2003 right out of high school (which are still to date the classes I enjoyed the most), as well as having done my local police's citizen's police academy. You're involved in a very interesting, and always changing, field (and that's what makes it so great in my opinion).

[jmichna]

Originally Posted by jeep45238

Not quite a joke, but I thought some of you would get a kick out of this. I just finished up my "e-portfolio" that the department mandates our professors shove down our throats. I'm lucky enough that mine said just put some text on there and I'll call it 100%...

8. Were you encouraged to develop an appreciation for lifelong learning?

That was instilled upon me by my grandfather. He earned his masters in chemical engineering while working full time at DuPont and raising 4 children. He later held very high positions in Monsanto, and played critical roles in many of projects including the Manhattan Project. Nobody in our family knows exactly what he has worked on since much of it is still classified. I personally believe the day you stop learning at least one new thing every day is the day you die. College has not changed this opinion. Your mileage may vary.

9. Do you understand professional, social, and/or ethical responsibilities as a result of this course?

I can thank my parents and grandparents for my social and ethical responsibilities, and working since I was 16 for my professional responsibilities. It is not a university's job to instill social or ethical responsibilities - that is the job of the student and their life experiences. The last thing this country needs is a larger group of people who all have the same exact set of morals and ethics, and thus the same exact mindset on almost everything. That is when you loose critical thinking and different ways of looking at the same problem.

I repeat - no university should attempt to instill ANY professional, social, or ethical responsibilities on any students. It is not your job to raise people, it is your job to instill education and theories.

10. Did the course help you develop respect for diversity and knowledge of professional, societal, and global issues?

I hope that others gained some respect for that. I have been immersed in that for a long time, but very few students had a single independent viewpoint that I could detect, and very few of them knew anything about global issues or historical facts unless they were spoon fed it by the media - and we all know how dangerous it is to go to one source for all your information.

11. Did the course encourage you to develop a commitment to quality, continuous improvement, and timeliness in your professional life?

That is the only way to succeed in life. Again, it is not your responsibility to even attempt to instill any of these factors in anybody. You are not parents, you are hired to provide a service - in this case to teach the finer points of the English language.

Well done.

Please post back any response you may get... I would be very interested to see if anything at all comes of this.

[LUVMYSIGP225]

Good writing. You stirred the pot more than I did.

I just finished the semester with an Argumentative Thesis on Concealed Carry. Liberal school(Kent State). Liberal Prof.

I am surprised that I pulled a 'B' grade on the paper. Even made Dean's List this semester.

[IamCPTSpalding]

I have to admit that although your retort was great, there are too many profesionals that take the thought of raising John Q. Public's son and daughter too seriously.
They (the overly critical and self important) believe that their own salary depends on Jonny actually being there or caring about the geopolitical world view (Johnny wants a grade in whatever you are selling so he doesn't have to dig a ditch for a living).

That said, I know it is not the case because each preacher/teacher negotiates pay before taking tenure (the job to you and me).

Also, the University (school) has already made a buck and could honestly care less, as any student knows when late from one class to the next. It is not the students right to interrupt, but to actually be locked out of a class for one minute tardy is intollerable.

I feel the questions are pandering for advertising which will be used in the spring/summer recruitment brochures.

Ok... anybody see the line for the Keg.