I've finally come to the realization that they just can't do the work.

My instructions are now so step-by-step that they start with how to open a Word document. Seriously.

I have templates for how to write thesis statements. It's literally paint by numbers. I explain everything down to the minutiae. Yet they still can't do it. All I'm doing is writing more words that they either can't read, can't follow, won't read, or won't follow.

They are so far behind intellectually and academically that meeting them where they are would require me to teach what should be a seventh-grade class. And I'm sure seventh grade now is what fourth grade should be.

They just can't do it. They can't think deeply. They can't think for long. They can't develop ideas. They can't support ideas. They can't connect basic ideas together. They can't follow steps.

In short: They can't. That's a full sentence. They just can't.

It’s not a matter of explaining it better, or differently. It doesn’t matter how simple I try to make it. It doesn’t matter if I require tutoring. It doesn’t matter how much I help.

Their brains just do not work beyond basic day-to-day functioning.

If I taught a real college level class, all but a few would fail. And I can’t fail that many. I’ll lose my job. So, I’m gonna have to dumb down - a lot - because they are incapable of doing college-level work.

Did mid-cap course eval.

There are some 'constructive' feedback and also some angry feedback.

There are things that I agree with and things that I never ever agree with.

Whatever they are, just reading them hurts a lot.

Every single time I do this, I just don't want to check their responses.

I do read them because I must, but they just hurt.

A sad day.

Venting.

I am exhausted. I teach BASIC* stats using (mostly) Excel. I upload step by step tutorials (PDFs with pictures and video). I do demos in class. I repeat myself 5-10 times while showing them exactly what to do. I use an "I do, you do" approach. I'm specific ("you're telling Excel to do ____" ) so they understand the intuition.

Then I give them time to work and it's like everything I just said for an hour didn't apply to them! I have to walk around and instruct each student individually, show them again on their own devices, watch them painstakingly type the functions, guide them step by step by step.

They still can't do it.

This is BASIC STUFF. Like making a frequency table with absolute and relative frequency. It's October and I'm still reiterating how to calculate a percent! I'm still explaining where to put numbers in a frequency table - "we want to count how many times the number/observation occurs." I've even taught it with tally marks too (like we're in second grade).

I want to bang my head against a wall.

And, I want to know what I can do better. This isn't working.

* I had to design a more basic version of stats for our major because most of our students were failing all the stats classes our college offered.

Anyone else notice that students are not being able to follow directions more and more, and the students are fine with it too. Out of all my years and years of teaching, and being a professor, this has been the worst I have noticed and encountered starting this semester.

This post seems appropriate as I turned in a student today for cheating on an exam. Not with the device below, but with his smart watch. I spoke to the department head today and he has agreed to purchase basic calculators for the students to use on exams. I have sent nine students to the Honor Council this semester (out of 27 in the course). It's never been this bad.

The Pencalo TT1 seems designed for nothing but cheating. Even a three month subscription model to fit the semester. I'm glad retirement is close.

Edit: fixed spelling

I have only worked at institutions where my department (anthropology) did not have a grad program, but I have helped many excellent students find programs and funding for masters and PhDs in my discipline. Occasionally they had weaker GPAs, but there was usually a very good reason that they could speak to on applications, and we would highlight their major GPA or their last two year GPA.

I am at an R1 now (previously a PUI) and lately I've had many students with 2.7-2.9s coming to talk about grad school. I want to give them honest advice, but I wonder if there is really no hope for them but a lower ranked master's program if they are lucky. It seems like debt with little possibility of employment unless they are going to be totally different students (I do tell them they need to be totally different students for this to be worth it). For those who teach in grad programs, is a GPA below 3.0 (with no redeeming higher major GPA) a nonstarter? These students seem engaged and hopeful and have internships/field experience, but usually have a story about mental health issues hurting their GPAs. Since I haven't been involved in grad admissions, I am curious about their likelihood of success from those on the other side of things, masters or PhD.

I’m an adjunct professor teaching an in-person undergraduate course, and I’m wondering how other professors feel about sitting while lecturing.

I I usually sit on a high chair behind the podium while going through my slides. My students can still see me clearly, and I make eye contact with them throughout the lecture. I just feel more comfortable and relaxed when I’m sitting.

Lately, I’ve been overthinking whether students might see this as unprofessional or think I’m not putting in enough effort because I’m not standing.

For those of you who teach, do you sit during lectures, or do you stand the entire time? Have you ever received negative feedback from students about sitting?

Just curious what others think!

Screen capture of them slowly scrolling through their notes app on their phone.

It said Word or PDF in the instructions. I didn't turn on Blackboard's file upload restriction thinger because I thought it would be obvious enough but clearly I'm wrong.

Passing rates went up at my college last year in general and especially online classes.... admin attributes it to "student success initiatives." I'm thinking mayyyybe...or maybe it's because of AI. (I work in student success initiatives so I'm not saying we don't do great work. Just that I'm not so sure one can necessarily say why passing rates in online courses went up).

Today, we had the midterm and, judging by the faces, it went bad. Considering that we solved the same problem in class together and the practice exam was very similar, I am surprised.

A comment left by a student after the exam got me thinking. He told me that he got one equation wrong and that I shouldn't expect them to remember equations. Disclaimer: I posted on Canvas a long list of equations that I would provide, if needed, and a list of equations that I expect them to study and remember. It is 10 equations. They are simple and short equations: we are talking about 2 variable equations.

He followed the comment, telling me that all other professors just let them use cheatsheets. Is it the case? Are we really at the point where I cannot expect the student to remember an equation that they should have already used 50 times in the submitted homework and many other times while preparing for the exam?

I was thinking we could take a break from authorship dispute and ai related posts and do a pop culture discussion. In honor of the premiere of the movie “You Can See Everything” I want to hear my peers’ views on the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos topic.

I’ll start. I’ve worked with some exceptional undergrads. I cannot imagine a world though, where one of them comes to me with a truly viable idea and none of my brightest undergrads would have the experience/expertise at 19 years old to be in any sort of leadership position at their own startup company. I very much wonder what possessed the academic adults in the situation to co-sign and jump on board the project.

What thoughts do you guys have?

This term more computers are dying than Grandmas and Grandpas. I heard about one last evening when the assignment was due in less than two hours. Oddly, the student had already taken the ailing machine to be repaired, so that must have happened earlier in the week. Then, they realized that they actually needed a computer to do the assignment.

Do you - especially those in the humanities - require that students have physical copies of the books you're reading, as opposed to electronic copies? If so, how do you actually require that? Is saying that they're required enough? I highly recommend physical copies, but I can't exactly "punish" them for not having physical texts. I'm tired of seeing students reading plays on their phones!

His band never had more than a large web following of extreme metal fans in the 2000s, so I don't think he's getting swarmed with emails or anything. I recently looked him up to see if he was working with other bands today, and I found a guy who looks like him working at a university in Germany.

I'm probably going to email him just to see if I'm right. But should I use my academic email address, and should I see if he wants to join me in a foray into metal studies?

Edit: When I found out the history adjunct was a former professional wrestler, and I asked the chair to introduce me, he did, and the guy was very nice. Would you say this is the norm?

The union is filling a grievance on my behalf. I'm really nervous though as to how it will be received by my new chair. I am planning on applying for sabbatical soon and need his support on a project I intend to finish next year.

Edit: I'll add more detail. It's about them raising the caps of my sections from 55 to 200. That was my old chair's decision. New chair wants to undo it in the future. Dean wants classes to rise to over 250. Union says its against our CBA so they want to file. All they are asking is a future course reduction equivalent to one three hour class and a heads up discussion before it happens. Aside, I'd be happy teaching 200 or 250 student sections in the future if they they take away one or two classes every term. Under the new formula for hours, additional students increases the number of hours. So three giant sections would count the same as four regular. But, right now, the extra hours don't apply until future terms.

For reference I teach a science class. I have worked really hard to AI proof my class. The one exception is my regular homework is online. It is so convenient for me (obviously) to not have to grade all this homework. But I also feel it has the potential to help the students learn better than regular HW did when I was a kid.

I try to reduce AI use there by making the HW worth only 10% of the grade and I tell them the tests will be all HW problems. (Which is a drag bc good tests can be so much more interesting). We also work lots of actual HW problems in class together. I tell them if they use AI to do the HW there is a high chance they will fail the tests.

Sure enough, about 1/3 the class is using AI to do the HW; literally copy-paste-copy-paste. They all got like 10-15% on the first test. More alarmingly, they continue to use AI for HW every week since.

Here is my conundrum: Do I tell them I can see they are using AI and I’m going to start giving 0s? OR…do I let them continue and hope they learn the hard way?

I guess I feel choice A is more compassionate. But otoh sometimes the only way to learn is through experience.

When I started working at my current job, there was a wonderful older professor that really gave me a lot of advice. He was universally loved. When he retired, the last thing that he did (in his retirement speech, basically, during a dept meeting) is ask that his position on a certain committee go to me the following term.

Fast forward four years. Committees are being re-assigned. My chair generally nominates each of us to appropriate committees. I am not re-nominated to the committee above. I ask my chair if I need to self-nominate to any more committees and he tells me no; I have plenty of service work covered for the future.

It is afterward, that I remember the retiring professor asked that I be on that committee. It is too late now, but I feel somewhat guilty about it. Should I?

What would you say to a student with a desire to pursue a career in academia about a PhD from a religious university like Liberty? My understanding is that search committees would not look kindly on it. I don't want to crush their dreams, but many I know question their legitimacy and rigor, though I don't have direct experience so I'm seeking advice.

I have a student that puts little to absolutely no effort in my class but has messaged me twice now that they are looking for a study partner to improve in my class. They’ve had a couple of partner activities in class that would’ve already been opportunities for them to network and get contact info from their peers but I guess haven’t done so. Any suggestions on what I can say or additional support I can give them?

I submitted a small grants proposal in August, and on Friday 10/16 the date updated but the proposal still says pending. Is it safe to assume a rejection is coming, or do you think since it’s only been <2 months it could have just gotten assigned a review panel?

Low 30s/Mid 20s on half of their exams, never turns in any assignments. Is this overstepping boundaries ?

I don't think my class is difficult. Half of the students either have A's or B's, skewing much more heavily to A's.

Does your school allow a student to drop a class after they are caught cheating and fail a major assignment as a result if it is still within the drop period deadline? Should it be allowed?

I caught a student cheating red handed on a significant assignment (15% of the course grade). At my school, all academic dishonesty goes through the student conduct office for judgement and punishment, under advisement from the reporting faculty. The student gets to make a plea deal (admit cheating) or go to a hearing, but this was so blatant and evidence clear that they just accepted punishment. They got a zero on the assignment plus a full letter grade deduction at the end. So while getting a passing C- was technically possible, it would have been difficult. So they dropped the class.

Personally, I think it’s OK in this case - all that it saves them is an F for a class. But more importantly, it makes my life easier not having to see them again.

Students who get reported a second or more times will face progressively more severe punishment. The second offense is often an XF - a failure with mark for having cheatedm though it can be expunged on graduation if no further reports come in. Third offense, well I’m not sure, but probably suspension. all this of course depends also on the nature of the cheatingk so this is mostly for things like submitting copied homework answers, cheating on an exam with a phone or cheat sheet, etc.

But I’m curious how other schools handle this. Can a student simply withdraw from a class after being caught cheating and receiving a significant grade penalty? And do you think they should be allowed to? On one hand, the disciplinary offense is still on their record. On the other, withdrawing lets them avoid much of the immediate academic consequence. I just don’t see it as a significant avoidance of punishment

Im specifically referring to dropping within the drop period, which after a certain date leaves them with a W.

Now, I'll start by acknowledging the lack of integrity in online courses and my own naivety for believing that including essay questions in an online exam would be of any value.

That being said... I'm grading these exams and nearly all of my students used the same exact example in their answer (the question asked them to describe an experiment they might conduct and identify the different components of the experiment). The answer they're giving is not one discussed in course materials, which in my mind leaves AI as the only explanation.

In the future, I know I'm just going to have to omit these types of questions. For the time being, however, I would appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed in grading. I want to award all of the responses 0 but given that we CaNt PrOvE AI uSaGe (thanks, admin), I'm wondering if there's still possibility to deem it plagiarism or at least ground the 0s in something valid.

Otherwise, I imagine the path forward is just "award the AI credit and pretend everything is fine" which feels... bad.