Wondering what you are doing that your professors don’t like?
Curious how you can avoid ticking them off?
Today I will go through the top 12 student behaviors that professors hate.
Hello lawlings, this is Professor Beau Baez.
Let me start with a shout out to Dan, for suggesting today’s topic.
A couple of weeks ago I asked my colleagues what student behaviors really bothered them.
Though most of us will never say anything to you, that doesn’t mean we didn’t notice
you breaking some of these expectations.
In no particular order, here is the list.
1. Walking into class late.
Most professors and other students don’t like it when you enter the classroom late,
even when you have a legitimate reason.
It causes disruption, even when you are as quiet as possible.
And in large classes, this might happen almost every day given the number of students in
the classroom.
Unless your professor has a policy for not entering a class late, you should go into
the classroom because you need to get as much as you can from that day’s instruction.
Just try to get there on time.
2. Missing class and emailing the professor for the assignment.
We understand that you want to get any missed assignments, but keep in mind with multiple
classes and several students a day that miss our classes, these requests
keep us from doing our job.
Our expectation is that you will get the assignment from another classmate.
My recommendation is that you develop relationships with some of your colleagues so that you can get their
notes and other administrative information.
And then share that information amongst each other.
Don't be a lone wolf.
Ideally, when you miss class, you'll get notes from two classmates.
3. Missing class and asking if you missed anything important.
This question is particularly annoying because it implicitly suggests that most of the class
was irrelevant.
A few years ago one of my students was going to be dismissed for missing too many classes.
I met with the student and went through the entire class privately with him a second time.
I spent that much time with him because all class time is important.
As I mentioned above, get the notes from two of your classmates.
4. Not reading the syllabus.
The syllabus is where you will find much of the information you need about the course,
including grading, attendance, exams, reading, and a host of other policies.
So when a student asks a question, like “is the final exam open or closed book,” and
that answer is in the syllabus, we get annoyed.
Really?
Faculty responses may range from something like “that’s in the syllabus,” “did
you read the syllabus,” or “what part of the syllabus was unclear.”
But many of us will answer the question keeping our frustration to ourselves, wondering when
our students are going to take ownership of their own education.
5. Not asking questions.
Faculty know you will have questions, but you don’t ask them because either you don’t
want to take time to ask or you are afraid of looking foolish.
Either to your colleagues or to your professors.
Do you know what the best students do?
They ask questions.
That’s why they are top students.
6. Unprofessional communication.
Your professors might be friendly but that doesn’t mean we're your buddies.
Treat your professors with respect.
This means using appropriate titles and only first names when
they have given you permission to do so.
Don’t ever start an email with “hey,”
or use chat language like LOL, or all lower case.
I recall one student that sent me an inappropriate website link, believing they were being funny.
That student was almost expelled.
7. Leaving the class to go to the bathroom, especially within the first five minutes of class.
First and foremost, if you have a medical condition, you need to communicate that with
your professor at the beginning of the semester.
A few years ago I noticed that one student kept leaving class all the time.
After the seventh or eighth day of the student doing this
I decided to call her out in class.
Later that day she emails me
explaining her medical condition.
I felt horrible because she had a valid excuse for getting up.
The key here is to let the professor know, at the beginning of the semester, why you
need to leave class all the time.
Okay, now for the rest of you without a medical excuse.
Don’t drink that large coffee right before class.
You know your bladder, so only drink what you know you need to keep from getting up during class.
It’s a distraction to everyone in the room.
Again, imagine a class with 75 students, and a couple of students getting up for every class.
If you have a temporary crisis and you believe you will have to leave class, here’s a tip for you.
One, let the professor know what's going on.
Two, sit by the door so you minimize disruption.
This goes a long way in helping your professor understand why you are getting up and
it minimizes the disruption.
8. Asking a question the day before an assignment is due.
This is especially frustrating when you have been given weeks or months to complete the
assignment.
The question generally demonstrates that you just started working on the assignment that day
rather than working on it over time.
Now, if you find yourself in this situation, go ahead and ask the question.
Better to get the answer that to go in the wrong direction.
9. Ignoring instructions.
I often see this on an exam, where the first paragraph provides instructions on how answers
should be submitted.
But there are always a few who do not follow the instructions.
This is both annoying and places your professor in an awkward position, as we must decide
whether to lower your grade or not.
Some faculty will automatically grade you down because following the instructions is
part of their grade.
10. Pretending that you are ready for class when you aren’t.
When a professor calls on you in class, admit when you can’t answer the question.
When you pretend the professor can usually tell you don’t know the answer.
What I do in this situation is begin asking basic questions from the reading that anyone
who did the reading should be able to answer.
I don’t do this to be mean, I'm just trying to hold students accountable for the reading
by trying to separate the confused students from the unprepared students.
11. Going to see the professor for a grade change.
The main reason that you should go to see your professor is to learn from your mistakes.
If you believe the professor made a mistake, ask them to help you understand the question
that you got wrong.
If there is an error, your question will reveal that.
And if not, you will learn from your professor as you go through that question.
But no professor wants to meet with a student who comes into their room demanding a grade change.
This is especially the case when the student knows that they're wrong, but only wants
a higher grade to keep a scholarship or avoid academic probation.
One year I had a student who told me they would be deported if I did not change their
grade.
That was really sad, but that's not a basis for changing a grade.
12. Putting things away before class is over.
Boy, this is one of my pet peeves, and it is classic passive aggressive
behavior by those who want to tell me class is almost over.
It’s disrespectful and annoying.
I have never commented on this to a class because that’s not my style.
My recommendation is to wait for the professor to end class before packing up, even when
the professor is running late.
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