What's your take on this?

Nursing Students General Students

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So yesterday, I'm sitting in class (foundations) along with my other 80 or so classmates and the professor walks in and asked us if we had read the chapter. After her urging us to be honest, only about 5 people raised their hands. She asked those 5 people to come to the front of the classroom and then told the rest of us we were dismissed from class and would not be getting to hear the lecture for that chapter, and took the 5 people in another classroom and gave them the lecture!! I'm unsure what to think about this really because I paid for those hours to get a lecture and I didn't get one yesterday. This is how I prepare for class/tests: I skim the chapter we're going to be going over, go to lecture, then go back in the chapter and re-read the stuff we talked about in class and I've made A's on my tests so far! I typically learn a lot in lecture too and I guess I'm just upset I didnt get that yesterday. OK, thanks for letting me vent! By the way, the rest of the class was pretty peeved yesterday too, I think they were about ready to start a riot, lol.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Had I been the instructor, that is not the way I would have handled the situation -- unless I had given the class fair warning that something like that would happen. I would have discussed the problem with the class first and made sure they understood that they were expected to read the assignment prior to class -- and warned them that would be consequences for those who did not. Then, I probably would have very brief, surprise quizzes at the beginning of class occassionally to provide the negative consequences to those who did not.

However ... in your position ... if I had skimmed the reading ahead of time, I would have raised my hand, and explained that I read it lightly if given a chance.

As a student myself ... I would have done the assigned reading before class.

While students may feel they "have a right" to get the lecture they paid for, they really didn't pay for a lecture. They pay to take a class and to be taugh. Teaching/learning is a shared responsibility, with each party (teacher and student) having both rights and obligations. Assuming that the students knew they were expected to do the reading before class, the students did not fulfill their obligations. They need to accept responsibility for their failure and realize that failure to perform their role in the process can lead to a breakdown in the basic "contract."

It sounds like your instructor is sick and tired of the majority of the group coming to class unprepared. While I don't agree with her "tactic" in this case, I certainly sympathize with her feelings about this (I've taught nursing in both ADN and BSN programs).

Specializes in med/surg.

Alright I'm ready for the daggers... but I NEVER read the assigned text before a lecture & rarely following a lecture... I did however learn alot from the lecture & I always went back & created study notes where I took info from the chapter, etc... so I learned that way. I'm sorry but I had a job & a family & I just could not on top of everything else I had to do for school find time to read hundreds of pages... but that's me... so to the OP I feel for you... I would never ever get a lecture if that was the case... & besides who has the right to determine how & when & the best way for me to study as long as I learn the material???

Thanks for the replys! I see everyone's point here. I think I should also point out that when we started the semester we were told to find a way to study that works best for us and more than one of the instructors has said if skimming before class and reading in depth works for us then do it and vice versa. Idk, I just feel like I should have been given the opportunity for lecture. Oh, and as far as coming unprepared to class, the majority of my peers are very attentive and ask questions during class time. Maybe I'm just being silly, I guess I'll teach this chapter to myself. Thanks again for the feedback!

While I do not agree with the instructor's tactics, I certainly believe she got everyone's attention.

Okay devils advocate here, is your teacher having to rush to get all the material lectured? If so she may feel that there wouldn't be so many questions if people at least skimmed the chapter as you do. One of my teachers has a hard time fitting all her material in a 2 1/2 hr lecture time because of all the questions and "stories" from the students. I know it frustrate her because she wants to make sure we all understand what we have hopefully already read. I am with one of the previous posters though, you should have raised your hand, because I skim before lecture too, and if someone asked me if I read the chapter I would have said yes! She doesn't need to know how well you read it either because that is not what she asked!:D BTW, about the stories, I have learned more about some of my classmates than I ever cared to know!:eek::imbar

Specializes in SRNA.

I understand that this strategy couldn't be used or forewarned if it was listing in the syllabus during the start of the term (e.g. most students would tell a white lie and say the read the material), but I think its nuts that the instructor would use this approach. Some students prefer to have a lecture and then read to reinforce the material and others prefer the other way around.

I would probably discuss it with another faculty member or the dean, potentially, just to make them aware that the instructor is actively doing this, and also see what their take on this is and if they feel it may be a bit severe.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

While students may feel they "have a right" to get the lecture they paid for, they really didn't pay for a lecture. They pay to take a class and to be taugh. Teaching/learning is a shared responsibility, with each party (teacher and student) having both rights and obligations. Assuming that the students knew they were expected to do the reading before class, the students did not fulfill their obligations. They need to accept responsibility for their failure and realize that failure to perform their role in the process can lead to a breakdown in the basic "contract."

I couldn't agree with this logic more. More and more, the "I'm paying for this" attitude comes out, and the responsibility of the student is overlooked. I am making a broad generalization of course, but it doesn't take a lifetime of teaching to see this trend.

Personally, I would not have done that. I have worked with colleagues who have asked students to leave b/c they have not completed written assignments. My belief is that you are all adults, and you get out of it what you put in to it. And when it's time to take the test, do not get all huffy and puffy because i may have asked a question that came out of the book, when you are well aware that the test cannot come from the lectures alone. It is virtually impossible to teach students everything they need to know in the alloted timeframe. Just don't blame me when you fail, and you have the resources right in front of you. My other pet peeve is when students will flat out tell me 'i don't understand what you're saying", or 'can you spell that'. It shows me that more than likely you have not prepared for class.

I know it's a lot of work, and I know you all have a lot on your plate. Reading the book is not punishment, it's there to help you.

Alright I'm ready for the daggers... but I NEVER read the assigned text before a lecture & rarely following a lecture... I did however learn alot from the lecture & I always went back & created study notes where I took info from the chapter, etc... so I learned that way. I'm sorry but I had a job & a family & I just could not on top of everything else I had to do for school find time to read hundreds of pages... but that's me... so to the OP I feel for you... I would never ever get a lecture if that was the case... & besides who has the right to determine how & when & the best way for me to study as long as I learn the material???

Exactly. And I happen to think that I paid to be TAUGHT, not to attempt to learn in a way that didn't work for me. If I had tried to read everything I needed to read before class, I wouldn't have been able to leave my house to go class in the first place! In fact, I'd still be reading - and I graduated in December! I used to read the chapter headings and read the objectives covered at the end of the chapter. If we had a study guide book (I always bought them) I'd review the outlines in there and do any practice exercises on any material I found confusing. The one class I did read almost everything for was Patho - and that was mainly because it was an MSN level class! (Oh - I did read a lot of Pharm as well.)

I think what that instructor did was awful - and I'm sorry the OP had to suffer because of it. Additionally, had I skimmed the chapter(s), I would have raised my hand!

Specializes in ER, Pre-Hospital.

The best way to determine if the reading has been done is to simply give a quiz prior to the lecture.

I don't think dismissing everyone but the 5 who read is "therapeutic". If you want to motivate someone to read the text, offer an incentive. A quiz is perfect.

Unless there is a class participation type of assignment that is going to happen during the class, or people are asking too many questions about topics that they don't understand because they haven't read the material, why do the instructors care who read before class and who didn't? Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't (my last class is tomorrow YAY!), it really made no difference to my grade either way and simply reflected outside influences on my time that week. I'm all for student responsibility, but I also don't like control freak tactics. Some may not like to hear it, but the students ARE paying for a service and they shouldn't be dismissed from a lecture which is part of a package that they are paying for without a truly good reason. If you want to motivate the students to read, have case studies or things that require at least a basic understanding of the material during class that will motivate them to read, or add a quiz etc... I'd be more than a little ticked if I drove my gas out going up to school to learn and was told to leave because I didn't have time to read before class that week.

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