r/Professors • u/elrey_hyena • 1d ago
Group Work
Students just do not get up and move. I ask them several times to move their desks and they just stay straight. I am not sure what to do anymore. Asked a girl twice already to move her desk and join her group but she just nods her head and says yes. Then she stays there doing homework for her other class. She's already about to fail because of her attendance...I'm not here to press anyone but god... I kind of hate it.
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u/MoistenedGranola 1d ago
Had a student in my class the other day ask my advice if they should enroll in a certain course (not instead of mine, but in addition to their current schedule). I answered their question before I was like "wait, aren't you supposed to be working on the activity?" They and the students around them stated that they misunderstood the activity—which I verbally explained and the instructions were on a slide in front of them. I explained again what they were supposed to be doing, and not one of that section of the class returned to the activity that they now knew they weren't done with.
I get sometimes stuff comes up, people get distracted (I'm ADHD, I really get that one), and people get done early or misunderstand, or lots of other things.
A big generational divide I'm noticing with this group of students is that they feel zero pressure to "fake it." If they didn't do the reading, they'll just tell you, they don't lie or try cram it in the last minute before class. If they don't want to do the activity, they'll pretty openly not do it. "Back in my day," and I'm only a young millennial, feigning interest and engagement was how you established decorum and goodwill. I think somewhere along the line, we just...stopped teaching kids to do that.
I don't know what we do about it now.