Via a friend’s recommendation (thanks, Rob!), Wisconsin-Green Bay geologist Steve Dutch’s Top 10 No-Sympathy Lines that students shouldn’t try. To balance out the professor snark, let me add a few concerns of students that faculty should always be willing to address and should, ideally, be described in the syllabus or other documents available early in the term.
- What is important to you in this course and in your field?
- When do you want us to complete readings and assignments (by individual assignment)?
- Can you either tell me how you’re going to grade assignment X or point to some examples of well-done student work (or model professional work) for this or a similar assignment?
- What citation system do you prefer?
- What are we responsible for completing entirely by ourselves as individual students?
- If we are working in groups, how will you address the free-loader problem?
- How will you decide final grades for the semester?
- What’s the best way to contact you when I have questions?
- What’s the reason for you trying to teach us concept X with method Y?
- I haven’t learned concept X with method Y: Can you suggest another approach?