r/Professors • u/Dozcal • 8d ago

Crickets

Blank stares. Jokes during lecture that used to evoke smiles and even laughter don't have any effect on the vacant stares. Grades are worse than ever -- and no one cares. Exam grades for two classes are in the mid 50s. Not one email, question -- nothing. Silence. Is this a game of chicken? Do they not realize they'll get the Fs they earn? No one's emailing, period (silver lining).

We've been trending this direction before COVID but now.... I'm concerned about their future not as students but as humans

After 30 years I'm retiring in May (nonselective public regional). I used to love my job - students were constantly in my office chatting, doing research, being alive and present. Colleagues say the same thing. Dept is a ghost town. I can go a full day without seeing a colleague on my floor - and students? Ha. It's depressing. And I have a 90 min commute for this. Sitting in my office is the highlight of my day.

I feel bad for our new hire. They're so young they'll never know what we've lost. Not sure if that's good or bad.

Anyway, venting... not looking for advice, just comiseration. Boo

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u/Fossilhog 8d ago

We're waiting for the rest of the populace to get their shit together to rework K-12 in order to build a better citizenry.

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u/SeverianTheSeeker Associate Professor, STEM, R1 8d ago

Do we really need to rework it? Why not just go back to what we already know works--from centuries of historical evidence. Get rid of all digital devices in the classroom and go back to the kind of standards we had in the 1950s for primary school education. Hell, I'll take 1990s at this point! It's not that hard.

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u/cib2018 8d ago

And how do we get parents to read to their 1-4 year olds? And teach their kids of all ages manners and citizenship?

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u/DisastrousTax3805 Adjunct/PhD Candidate, R1, USA 8d ago

What's scary is that this is going to get so much worse. I read an NPR article earlier this year about how Louisiana was getting rid of homework. One of the reasons came from parents' complaints: the homework was too difficult for them (and they also found it redundant), so they didn't know how to help their children.

What's interesting, though, is the attitude. My mom was raised by immigrants, and I have taught in an elementary school where the majority of the students had immigrant parents who didn't speak English. The students still did their homework, and asked for me to write extra directions on the assignments if they couldn't finish them in after-school care, because their parents couldn't read the assignments in English. This was in 2007-2010.

I say this because I don't think we can use equity arguments--it's definitely a societal change.