<p>So the reviews are out for the fall semester, and mine weren't too bad considering. One that baffles me every time I see it is "makes it harder than it has to be". I wish I could sit down with this person and ask them in exactly what way they thought I made it "harder", and how they determined that there were easier paths than those covered in the course material. Did they discover some new law(s) of physics which were easier than Newton's? </p>
<p>I make every attempt to learn and improve from the comments, but this one always leaves me clueless.</p>
<p>Did you ever think that a professor made a course "harder than it had to be" or has your child ever commented to that effect? Can you provide any further insight into this idea?</p>
<p>My son thinks Tufts makes Arabic harder than it has to be. Partly because they cover a lot more material in a semester than other schools - mostly by going beyond what is in the textbook and also making sure they have a big dose of colloquial Arabic and not just standard Arabic. If he were going back to Tufts next semester he’d be behind two chapters in the textbook even though he was in an intensive Arabic program in Jordan.</p>
<p>Do you require more homework than other profs? Or have more exams and quizzes? Do you just give out more C’s?</p>
<p>To me, "makes it harder than it has to be " suggests that you aren’t good at breaking concepts down into simple, easily grasped ideas. </p>
<p>I’ve taken some courses recently. I learned about hexadecimals in two courses at two different schools. One was a community college. One was a graduate program. The community college prof did a great job explaining them. Hey, I’m lousy at math, but I most definitely understand the concept. The grad school prof --not MATH grad school, I assure you–explained the concept in so convoluted a manner that, had I not already learned the basic concept in community college, I would have been utterly baffled. IMO, she made hexadecimals a heck of a lot harder than they have to be.</p>
<p>Sorry if this is offensive. I’m just trying to explain what the term means to me. I’ve definitely had profs who are guilty of this; they make simple ideas complicated.</p>
I’m going to assume you mean that this student perhaps thinks that I am not good at breaking concepts down into simple, easily grasped ideas, rather than that being an abstract fact. I understand what you are saying regarding explaining things in as simple to understand manner as possible. Perhaps this is what the student intends, rather than suggesting that the material itself is easier than I make it out to be.<br>
Your interpretation that it is harder because it is more work than it has to be is another possibility. I don’t really have any idea how much homework the other professors teaching the same course gave, I go solely from my experiences as a student and as a teaching assistant and from previous teaching experience. Judging from the performance on the final exam, however, one could argue that I didn’t give enough homework :).</p>
<p>I think you need to take feedback with a grain of salt. Students who have a hard time with the course will find any deviation from the main concept to be more difficult than necessary. As an example, D1 took a high level art history course. It was her first art history course. The professor asked for a comparison between 2 periods. D1 gave examples of two paintings, one from each period. The professor gave her a B because she was looking for more than 2. D1 did a fine job of comparing those two paintings, but just not sufficient. D1 could say that the professor was making it harder than necessary, or she could push herself to do a more in-depth analysis next time. D1 did the later and learned much from the course. </p>
<p>I think it is a professor’s job to push students to the next level. As long as the professor is fair with his/her expectations then there is nothing wrong with expecting more.</p>
<p>Yes, I mean that student thinks you aren’t good at explaining concepts. Obviously, I’m not there. I have no way of knowing whether that’s a valid criticism. </p>
<p>I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just trying to explain what the comment would mean to me if one of my fellow students said it to me. I’ve had profs who were brilliant but just can’t explain simple ideas to someone who isn’t smart.</p>
<p>Years ago, my ex-H was a prosecutor. There was a guy in the office who later became a tax partner at a top NYC law firm. He was AWFUL as a prosecutor. The juries literally could not understand his closing arguments. He was on the law review at Harvard. Absolute genius and genuinely nice guy. Got moved into the appellate division quickly. I think he tried about 20 cases. Didn’t win one. Conviction rate in the office was over 90%.</p>
<p>Now, I’m not saying that’s you. I’m just saying what the phrase means to me.</p>
<p>While there’s a possibility the student viewed your teaching style as Jonri suggests, there’s also the possibility this is a slacker/overentitled student’s way of saying: </p>
<p>“You’re unfair because you’re forcing me to work hard for my low/failing grade and I should get an A just for being registered in your class. Whether I put in any time to study, complete & turn in assignments, or even bother to show up for class/exams is irrelevant!”</p>
I really appreciate the insights. With as many courses as I’ve taken, I’ve also had profs who couldn’t explain things, I just wouldn’t describe it in these terms (harder than it has to be). But I could see how that might be what a student intends to convey.</p>
<p>Of course, as oldfort and cobrat point out, one does have to take these things with a grain of salt. I do like to at least grasp what they are trying to get at, however, whether I agree with their assessment or not ;)</p>
<p>Granted, a large part of my perspective comes from the idea that once a student enters college, he/she bears the majority of the responsibility for his/her learning process while the Prof/TAs are mainly to act as guides and facilitators of said process. </p>
<p>Part of the student’s responsibility also includes realizing when/if he/she doesn’t understand something and to be proactive in addressing it either by raising his/her hand in class, going to the Prof’s office hours, and/or sending such questions via electronic means. </p>
<p>Then again, it seems to be regarded as an increasingly old-fashioned and sometimes even “unreasonable” expectation by many undergrads/parents…including a few here on CC.</p>
<p>I would also assume that something wasnt clear, maybe I didnt have a detailed syllabus, perhaps the assignments had little relation to the exams, or perhaps I didn’t manage classroom discussion to be productive.
I think if those thoughts were replicated, then you might have something to worry about, but take them in context with your other responses.</p>
<p>OP - I’m older stay at home mom with a BSBA from the 80’s. Last semester I started back to school… It has been eye opening for me and the stories I’ve been able to tell my high school senior about what NOT to do in college is priceless. There are kids there to learn and kids there thinking it’s all just going to magically be ok! The “harder than it has to be” may be those kids that don’t come to class or don’t like all the homework.</p>
<p>Just for giggles I would ask the other teachers about how many tests and quizzes they have. Also perhaps you cover more material in the semester than the other teachers. When I did my evaluations I had mostly positive things to say. However I did comment on the one thing that I thought made it harder than it had to be in a MGMT class. When it came time for her to explain what was going to be on each test she would talk extremely fast and not take any questions. I had to abrev. just to get the stuff down on paper. I honestly thought about recording her just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. It seemed to me like it was almost a game for her to see if we could write it all down. That to me was making it harder than it had to be. I got a A in the class but I’m not sure I would want to take her again.:)</p>
<p>It sounds like the student grasped the concept, but perhaps there was a lot of background information that he found unnecessary. However, other students may have needed the background info. to understand the concepts. You can’t win.</p>
<p>It could have also been a much more educated way (compared to my H’s students) of saying “It’s your fault I didn’t do well.” H is dealing with a few of those now - those who never turned in assignments, slept through class, did poorly on test, never accepted his offer to come to office hours for help. Now that they have a D or an F, it’s his fault.</p>
<p>When I was in high school I had a common saying for my Dad if I asked if I had done a problem correctly in Chemistry…“Dad, I want to know what time it is, not how the clock works”. If I asked him if the answer was right or wrong, he would go into a 30 minute explanation of why the problem was right vs just saying yes or no. It got to be a family joke really :D. Perhaps the student thought you explained things too much? Hard to know but I agree, take it with a grain of salt.</p>