School Assignment: To do it or not to do it?

[VegetasGRL03RN]

QUESTION TO ALL STUDENTS: Your teacher offers you an assignment that is not required for the class and is not graded or counted towards your class grade in anyway. It is offered to help you with your understanding of the material.

a) Do you do it? Please explain.

b) If you already understand the material, will you still do it? Please explain.

Another nursing student and I discussed this scenario, which turned into her getting a bit agitated & frustrated at me. I wanted to see what others perceived after presenting the topic objectively.

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

Simple. Do it. Even if you think you know the topic, if the instructor thinks there may be value in doing the project whereby your understanding could be a little deeper, then just do it. If you know the subject that well, presumably it won't take you long anyway and you'll gain brownie points with the instructor, so I really don't see a down-side.

[9livesRN, BSN, RN]

i would do it because it shows that i am paying attention to her regardless of the situation!

imagine this "" you the student, is asked by the nurse, Hi, i am sure that you have done this before, but would you like to pull this IV out?

if you say yes = she will come back with plenty of skills for you later such as folleys, iv hangs, piggy's, line starts, and what not.

if you say no = you just kicked your self in the neck, and whatever opportunity for skill enhancement/practice will not be yours, and she will do whatever she can to get out of your way!

so think as your instructor as if you say yes, and you do so, some day you might have a partial yes on a final, and because you are nice, she might give you the hole point,

if you say no, she might just turn you down...

now... be humble and do whatever comes your way, it is never too much!!!

[VegetasGRL03RN]

Let me clarify something...

When I used the word "assignment", I meant in terms of lecture and cloass, not clinical. I briefly forgot that the word could be interpreted differently when it comes to nursing. If this was in clinical, that would be another story because it would depend on the task, how proficient in it I felt, and how many times have I done the task compared to others in my clinical group. I would make sure that everyone got a chance before offering or taking the task myself. Again, that would be for the clinical setting whereas the one I originally presented is in lecture (classroom).

Thanks for your opinion and rationale thus far!

[sharpeimom]

i would do it because even if i think i am already knowledgable about a topic, i can still benefit from learning more (and in this case, my patients would benefit too.)

kathy

shar pei mom:paw::paw:

[9livesRN, BSN, RN]

Let me clarify something...

When I used the word "assignment", I meant in terms of lecture and cloass, not clinical. I briefly forgot that the word could be interpreted differently when it comes to nursing. If this was in clinical, that would be another story because it would depend on the task, how proficient in it I felt, and how many times have I done the task compared to others in my clinical group. I would make sure that everyone got a chance before offering or taking the task myself. Again, that would be for the clinical setting whereas the one I originally presented is in lecture (classroom).

Thanks for your opinion and rationale thus far!

It works the same regardless...

get those brownie points,!!!

and what i said, counts for the classroom as well, and i have to say that I benefited from it!

just as an example:

I took pediatrics, and we had a case study, so i got a 90 on my case study, so i was told that i could fix whatever was wrong if i wanted and turn it back in, just for learning purposes, with it not being graded.

I finished the class and when i went to get my grades she gave me a 89.3 on the class, but then she remember that i voluntarily had corrected my paper, so she looked over it and said that it was all corrected ! Looked at me and next thing i know... it worked just like magic! and i did not even asked for it.!

if an instructor asks me any thing, even to write a stupid paper, i will do it!!! I will learn something from it!!!

[Saysfaa]

Yes, unless doing so compromised a required assignment or unethical. I would do it even if the teacher never knew I did it. Grades are not the end, they are something I have to pay attention to on the way to my goal, but the real goal is to be as prepared as I possibly can be. I assume the professor knows more than I do about what I need to learn, or even what might be helpful.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Something I like to remind all students--your instructors are going to provide you with the reference you will need to get your first job. If you don't do the assignment, how will the instructor "think" of you? If you do it what will be their opinion of you? This is important because a future employer is going to ask your instructor about your character. They want to hire people who are eager to perform their job. Personally, I would do the assignment. You may think you know this material when there are things that you probably never even considered and have overlooked. It is never a bad thing to re-examine information. Believe me, as a licensed nurse I have cracked open med/surg books on more than one occasion to double check or refresh my memory. Studying doesn't stop the day you graduate from school.

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

Something else to think about...if you do the assignment you will likely get feedback on it from the professor. What if a few days/weeks/months later a similar assignment is given that is for a grade? Those who did it will be ahead of the curve because you might have an inkling about what she is looking for.

Of course, I would do it regardless because I am a huge nerd and love school!

[caliotter3]

I agree with the statement that you want the instructor to maintain a good opinion of you. Doing the assignement as well as anything else to show your seriousness and willingness to go the extra mile can only be to your benefit when it comes time to approach this instructor for a reference.

[flygirl117]

We have an optional assignment that is given to one class in nursing I but not the other. I'm in the class that was given the optional assignment.

I'm doing it because I feel like the more practice I get the better. The more exposure I get to different scenarios, the more prepared I will be. The assignment is an ongoing case study, and sometimes I wish there was a grade associated with it just because I am spending time on it, but I know that I am benefitting in the long run because it's helping me understand the material better. I feel lucky that I'm in the class that got the optional assignment.

To me, nursing classes aren't like other classes that you could cram last minute and pull out a good grade. What we're learning now actually needs to be retained over the long term, so I feel that if I'm going to be given tools to be better prepared, I'm going to utilize them!

[VegetasGRL03RN]

Sorry it took so long to get back on here. Final semester excitement...

This is not actually happening to me as of now, but more of a hypothetical question....

Personally, it depends on what the assignment is. If it's just more reading, then I doubt I'll do it because just reading the material doesn't help me learn it; it just teaches me how to flip pages. If it's a case study, short answer, or another kind of active exercise, I am more likely to do it because I know that works best for me with materials I don't understand or want to test my compentency. I can take this approach because I know what works for me and what doesn't; I'm an analytical & logical person and this is one scenario where those qualities don't work against me. For example, I've found that Daytonite's Critical Flowsheet located in the signature area makes it all connect and click for me, but reading the textbook like a fiction novel doesn't. I also use the "study backwards" method described in Imprint last year if I do decide to check out a chapter. And although I've got three months of NS left, I've started listening to nursing review CDs since February while driving in the car or around the house.

I had this discussion with a co-worker/nursing student and she didn't think that you could learn a topic another way than what the teacher presented. I told her people don't all learn the same way just like all teachers don't teach the same. I said I wouldn't do the assignment (ex in convo: case study) if I knew the material and it doesn't count against me or fail me. I mentioned I prefer to be efficient in my studies (AKA work smarter, not harder). She then said, "So you're not open to new things?"

The logical fallacy in her conclusion kind of surprised me. I suppose I just prefer to take the approach that allows me to work in a more efficient manner rather than trying to do everything or anything to help and see what sticks. Time is a precious thing that I want to spend wisely.

Thanks for all your input on this topic!