Inconsistencies Poll
Just a quick poll to everyone out there attending a traditional school or distance school:
How many inconsistencies do you find on average in your course (material, syllabus, calendar, rubric, etc.)? (please indicate whether you are a traditional student or distance learner)
Does this annoy the living daylights out of you?
The reason I ask is I am a "planner" and list maker (see previous post about list making if you need clarification of my weird organization skills). Unfortunately, this term I have found a lot of inconsistencies in my courses related to due dates, assignment requirements, grading rubrics, and even course reading material. It really frustrates me because when I find these errors, I have to "plan" based on multiple things until they are clarified by the instructor. I know, many of you are thinking this girl is wound up rather tightly, but honestly, do I just notice the inconsistencies more because they are in writing or am I really that crazy?
posted by Erin @ 6:47 PM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
I agree. If you taught a class and it was correct the previous term, you would expect it to be correct the next. Face-to-face instructor's have a little better handle on what they are teaching or changing. Online course information is set up by an instructional designer-not the instructor.
As a teacher, I know that sometimes my assignments or my syllabus have inconsistencies, but like "Tripp" says, on-ground, we are able to quickly clear up any problems of that sort. And like you mention Erin, some coursework in some colleges is outlined by the college, not the instructor, and it can be easy for an instructor to overlook a detail.
Also, bear in mind that teachers are human and they make errors. Hopefully, if they make a mistake that affects a student, a good teacher is able to admit he or she has erred and is able to correct the problem. What you can learn as a student learning how to be a teacher is how those instructors handle the mistakes and the inconsistencies. Sometimes education is found outside the coursework.
Actually, since I'm attending a low-residency(which is like distance learning, except basically without the distance) the inconsistencies are rather low.
The only ones that we've run across in the program are ill-named classes in the catalog. Pacifica goes through different classes rather often, and if one teacher can't make it they just have another step in for that quarter.
the issue with that is, of course, that the class that THEY teach is completely different than the one described in the syllabus.
We've just gotten out of a class called "Orphic Traditions", now for any mythology people out there, you'd think it'd be on Orpheus, right? Nope, it was a pseudo religious class on a bunch of old people feeling sorry for themselves.
Those are the inconsistencies we run across, not so much for the day to day paper requirements and such. Those are pretty steadily enforced.
btw, I was a "teacher" for a year at BSU, and contrary to what Jess thinks...teachers aren't human.
they're of a different genome altogether.
Hello, I come here via Froyd's blog and am currently a semi-elderly (29 year old) full time student.
I attend a predominantly communter university (Purdue Calumet). Although the bulk of the classes I take are traditional classroom settings, many classes I need are online only, so I have taken both styles.
I see inconsistancies in many classes I take. I've even had classes from the same professor but one classroom, and one online only.
It is far less annoying when an inconsistancy happens via classroom instead of online. If it wasn't for the rapport built between myself and one of my professors in the brick and morter class setting, I'm sure my grade would have been a letter grade lower in the online class due to the numerous problems and inconsistancies I faced.
A large portion of this is the limited interaction between instructor and student, and one slight slip in an instruction online is catastrophic in comparison to traditional learning.
In a traditional setting, you or one of the other people in your class will notice something is a little off, and will ask for clarification.
If a student notices something online, it is often handled discreetly via private email, rather than openly to the whole class.
I graduated from a traditional university, and there were normally one or two SNAFUs per syllabus received (99% of which were calendar errors). Luckily, it is pretty easy to figure out that Monday will not be the 37th of January.
I, too, write every due date and test time in my diary, along with a reminder a week in advance so that I remember it's coming up. It makes life very simple if you always have things written down and remember to start early. Plus, you can easily figure out that a date doesn't match the corresponding day on the syllabus, and bring that to a prof's attention.
I am not a planner. I am not really organized, but I will tell you that when I didn't have a very detailed, consistant and clear syllabus it drove me CRAZY.
The syllabus was a bible in most classes. If it was divated from too much it pissed me off. If it was incorrect it annoyed and frustrated me.
I am one of the most laid back people on the earth, but I think it is that it really helped me stay organized in class. So...when it was wrong, it threw me off.
The worst? When a prof updates a syllabus once every 5 years and has you pencil in changes.
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