GUIDANCE - PART TWO

A few days ago, I posted some advice that I had given to my students about the amount of true study time they needed to invest to succeed in my class.  In that essay, I made the point that students need someone to give them some direction now and then.   That is one of the reasons many of them come to college.   I doubt that anyone disagrees with the idea that a college teacher can provide guidance to students about their study habits.  You might not do it but I do not suspect that anyone thinks it is a problem.

Today, I want to talk more about sharing advice with students.  This might be a bit more controversial.   I never take class time to give advice outside of subject matter.  Never.  However, I do use email to do so.   If I see or read something that I think students should consider, I put it in an email and send it to them.  Most of the time it is about a book or a movie that I think is worthwhile.  Is that part of my job as an accounting professor?   I personally think so but I do understand that some might disagree.  

As an example, here is an email that I sent to my students yesterday morning.   I hate to sound so much like a baby boomer but I think it is hard for anyone to understand the animosity in the U.S. today without some idea of how the country went from the solid backing for World War II to the country splitting controversy of the Vietnam War just 20 years later.  

Of course, as always, this is my style of being a college professor.  Teachers must figure out what works for them.  In many ways, I think that is the key to being an effective teacher.  Find out the style that works for you.   But, in most cases, some experimentation can help you in that quest. 

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To my students:

I occasionally make recommendations to students because I want them to get a well-rounded educational experience.   Usually, it is something I have seen or heard that I thought was well done.  Here is one recommendation that is a bit different.

I believe three events over the past 100 years have had more impact on the United States than any others.   What we are today as a country has been greatly influenced by these events:   the Great Depression, World War II, and the Vietnam War.   (I will add 9/11 to that list and make the total four.)  I might argue that the Vietnam War had the greatest influence because it threatened to tear the country apart.   A lot of the hostility that we see in the country today was born at that time.   I still remember watching the television news when they announced that the Ohio national guard had started shooting and killing college students at Kent State.   Even in the odd times we live in, can you possibly imagine that announcement today?

Starting on Sunday night, the PBS (public broadcast stations) will have Ken Burns’ ten episode series on the Vietnam War.   Most college students really don’t understand the influence that the war has had on the people of this country.   I know you are busy.  But, if you have the time, it might be worth watching a few of the episodes.   It is truly a living history lesson.

If you watch and want to chat about it, come see me.   I always like to talk.   But, remember, when I was exactly your age, I knew that there was a decent chance that I would be drafted into the military and sent 12,000 miles away where I had a reasonably good chance of getting killed in a war that I did not understand.   Again, times are odd today but put yourself in that picture.   My guess is that it is not a picture that you can even create in your head.

GUIDANCE - PART ONE

I suspect none of us who teach probably appreciates fully how much guidance students need.   Every class is unique and has its own keys to success.  To us, who have been doing this forever, the way forward looks as clear as the yellow brick road that Dorothy was told to follow by the munchkins.  To the students, the path looks like an overgrown mile of swampland with no visible markers.   I realize that they look like adults but most students probably need guidance almost every step of the way.

I think one of the biggest challenges in college education (and I have said this often on this blog) is that students are under-prepared when they walk into class.   They are just are not ready for the depth of conversation that I want.  So, we teachers wind up guiding them using a long, boring lecture.   If they are not prepared, what else are we going to do?

I often accuse them of being prepared for a high school class.  The response is always, “I thought I was prepared so I stopped working.”   Of course, they really stopped just as soon as they possibly could justify it.   On a college campus, there are always more interesting things they can be doing as soon as preparation stops.  Quit preparing and go have fun.

Since I view that as real problem, I want to provide concrete guidance.  And, I want to do it early before they get into bad habits.   Here is an email (slightly edited) that I sent to my juniors this morning.   I won’t convert them all to better preparation with one email, but I’ll be surprised if I don’t get several of them more ready on Friday.  My advice sets a time goal for them.  No student can shortcut a time goal.  

There’s nothing magical here.  It is just a very ordinary email to my students.   But it addresses a specific problem by providing a solid goal.  I think it will help.

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To:  My Students

We have now been together in Intermediate Accounting II for nearly three weeks.  The question I always get from students about this time is "how am I doing?"  We have not had a test so you do not really know.

The answer I give to this question is always the same -- if you put in 40 minutes after every class to review that previous class AND 80 minutes to get ready for the next class, you should be doing fine.   It is not 120 minutes -- it is 40 and 80.   You need to fill in the holes from the previous class AND make sure you are very ready to be part of the discussion in the coming class.

I always get a couple of questions in response to that advice.

Q -- What if I do all the studying and just get finished before I hit 40 and 80?

A -- 40 and 80 is a great habit to get into for my class.   Never let yourself off early.   That is too easy.   You've been a student for 90 percent of your life.   Look around and find more to do.   I gave you several pages of advice before the semester began.  Read it all again and see what I have suggested.  If you cannot find more to do, you need to become more aware.

Q -- What if I just spend 360 minutes every Saturday?   Does that work?

A -- Absolutely not.   If you went to a football coach and said, "I'm going to really practice hard for one game out of every 3," he would have a nervous breakdown (or chew your head off).   Every day is an individual component of this course.   I expect good stuff every day.

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Students need guidance.  Figure out what they are doing that you don’t like and give them some good advice.   Don't just fuss about them.   Tell them what you want.