Ranting about Students: Part 1

As a university lecturer, I experience peeves very frequently, perhaps more frequently than I ought to. In the next few posts, I’ll explore a few of the ones related to my students.

A big annoyance is students not turning work in on time. In two of my classes, the students had a weekly assignment. It was always due on the same day of the week, at the same time, and in the same location. And yet, over and over again, I was getting assignments late (sometimes even an entire day late) and in the wrong place (by email, for example, or slipped under my door versus put into my pigeon hole). How many times did I have to remind them about the due date?

And what about essays and other larger assignments that they have been informed about weeks, even months, in advance? Students might complain they didn’t know about the assignments (even if they were listed on the syllabus) or that they couldn’t find a printer or that they couldn’t get access to the materials they needed. All of these excuses are, frankly, unacceptable. Maybe I sound overly strict, but I do think that if the students have been informed about due dates in advance, they should find a way of managing to get the work in on time.

--Curly