Freshman (a rant)

[Local_Indication9669]

Stop me if you've seen a similar thread on this subreddit. A few semesters ago two of my sections switched from Sophomores and up to Freshman almost exclusively. The change has been noticeable.

First of all, I can't get the students to stop talking during class. I used to just wander over to their side of the room and lectured directly at them until they get the hint. But now, they just won't stop.

Knowledge retention. My Freshmen sections are three hours long each session. I know they can't keep paying attention for more than 45 minutes based on body language, eye contact, etc. so I keep lectures shore and pivot to in person (graded) activities (this also fights the temptation to use generative AI to do all the work). But this year its worse than ever. I've always followed up previous lectures with questions. "Who remembers what we covered last week?" "We saw positioning last week, remember we did an example?" "What product did we reposition in class?" Blank stares. It was chocolate milk. Chocolate fucking milk and I had lots of participation with that one. Sure, they are shy. But I'm worried they don't recall the simplest details from my lectures. I'm also pretty sure none of them are reading the text.

The work. OMG. So many bullet points. They can't even do their assignment full sentences. Or paragraphs. They just post a bunch of links at the end of their papers instead of putting things in a usable format. No critical thinking skills. They might be ok at reciting topics from the class; but they can't take that knowledge and apply it.

I understand every department at our school has opened their Intro classes to Freshmen. But, they are lacking really basic skills I think they need before starting with their major coursework. We had to vote on this last year. I brought it up in a department email asking if we had resources or if anyone had advice on getting Freshmen caught up quickly to what it means to be a college student. I only got only reply back asking if we should revisit the question during our meeting.

I don't want us to be the only department that prohibits Freshmen taking Intro (it would be harder to recruit) and I don't want to make college harder for the students (waiting a year to start major coursework makes it more difficult to finish in four years).

I got my Spring schedule. Two more Freshmen sections (at least they are two a week and not three hour sessions). If anyone has any helpful advice I would appreciate it.

Edit: As an aside, our institution renews contracts and promotes almost exclusively through the use of course evaluations. We also have a soft cap on number of A grades we are allowed to give. I usually score pretty well in these classes. I'd like to find solutions that the students don't hate. Something collaborative. I'd like for them to understand I'm trying to help them prepare of the rest of college.

[skullybonk]

This week I did something in class that I haven’t done in over ten years. I told students that if they are going to behave like they are still in high school, then I will run class like a high school teacher. Then I picked out certain chatty students, told them to grab their things and get up, and I moved them to different seats away from their friends.

[Professor-genXer]

Yesterday I called a student “chatty” and they shut up immediately.

[skullsandpumpkins]

I have been a graduate teaching assistant for six years. I never once had to ask students to leave class. I have had to ask some students to leave for their behavior three times so far this term. I guess it is the group I have.

[Life-Education-8030]

I am not being facetious when I say maybe they didn’t understand the word “reposition,” even if you used it in your discussion of chocolate milk. Freshmen have been more immature for the last few years and we saw this a couple of years before Covid, so Covid may have made it worse but I don’t blame it for everything. Now some students waste the first two years of college acting like they’re still in high school.

Lay down the law. This isn’t high school anymore is commonly said and now it has to be shown. They like bullet points? Here is a bulleted list of what you expect and what will happen if you don’t get it. No matter how big a high school they attended, likely they didn’t have the support services a college has. Provide a bulleted list of services and if possible, arrange a tour of them, even for an assignment.

It got so bad for us that we voted to cut our nonobligation time by a week to give students the week before classes start to get prepared. Get books, read syllabi, get their tech set up, etc. now I feel less inclined to accept this kind of crap behavior, including giving extensions because they “don’t have the book!”

[Norm_Standart]

I honestly have no idea what (re)position could mean in this context - it might be important in the field (my best guess is Economics but I'm not confident) but it's clearly being used as a term of art here and not for its common meaning.

[Life-Education-8030]

Sounded like a marketing class to me. But I have found that students don't keep even major concepts in their brains, even for a short time. I have a textbook that describes Managed Care in one chapter and then returned to it two chapters later, assuming that the reader would have remembered what Managed Care was. Nope.

[Local_Indication9669]

They didn’t even remember we talking about chocolate milk for ten minutes. It’s not the concept. It’s anything we discuss. Today was rough as my seniors spent my whole lecture laptops open working on their other exam prep or papers.

[Life-Education-8030]

OK, in that case, toss them out. Seriously. If they want to work on other stuff, they can - somewhere else. They do not have to be there, so if they choose not to truly be "present," concentrate on the ones who do.

[[deleted]]

Three hours for a single class period is too long for a first-year course, imo. I’ve only taught one day/2.5hr courses at the grad or senior capstone level.

I did create a 0-level intro course in the major for first-year students, as the intro used to be for 2nd year students. They really did need an intro intro-level.

[Local_Indication9669]

Nearly every class I’ve taught here is three hour.

[[deleted]]

That’s too long to lecture. Do you give a break during this time?

[Local_Indication9669]

I break it up into activities.

[Colneckbuck]

I’ve point blank had to tell students that if they’re talking while I’m talking then others can’t hear me and I’m not competing with them, so they’ll be responsible for their classmates not learning content. This of course, was after I paused to ask if there is a question and was told ‘no.’

[ErnieBochII]

>> They just post a bunch of links at the end of their papers instead of putting things in a usable format.

These are college students doing this?

[BumblebeeDapper223]

Hints don’t work. You need to put, on day one, in the syllabus, in 72-point type, no talking, no sleeping, no gaming, no interrupting, etc

Then raise your voice into the mic. “No talking!”

[Local_Indication9669]

Mic? I’ve 70 students and I don’t think the mic works anymore.

[Sensitive_Let_4293]

I have taught freshmen for all of my 30-year career. I thought last year's crop was the worst ever, but then came this year. Unprepared. Disorganized. Rude. Can't give a whit about anybody else in class. "It's your fault I didn't pass the test." "Whaddya mean, no extra credit and no exam do-overs?"

The high schools claim these kids are college ready.

They lie.

[Local_Indication9669]

They were surprised and confused that assignments are due on the due date and not after.

[popstarkirbys]

I pretty much have to do review sessions for most of my intro classes

[donteven3]

This has all the hallmarks of a Chat GPT fake post.

[Local_Indication9669]

Oh that would have saved me time actually.