Typical of CC classes/college classes in general?

[Jennifer in MI]

My oldest is in his second CC class. We've both been amazed at what we've seen. First of all, on any given day, only about 10 out of the 25 students even show up for class. They do all come for the lab portion. Many of these students spend the class time reading other material or texting. Then, they spend a good amount of time after class complaining about the professor!

 

Anyway, my ds has been to every class and listens to the lectures, etc. He's been doing very well! On this last test, the average score was 50!! 50! Ds said that those who did well were the ones who actually showed up to class. (Ds had the highest score - 101!!)

 

Is this typical of a CC? Or is this typical in college classes in general? When I went to college, we'd skip the occasional class, but not this many!

 

I guess I'm happy to see that my ds is seeing WHY he needs to show up to class and pay attention. But, I don't get this attitude and I hope it isn't there at his choice of a 4 year college!

[2cents]

Unfortunately that is the same thing my son found. :(

We've always been strict about obligations so this was a shock to him. He used to come home with stories about how some of the other students blew off tests and projects and the instructors would dock their grades and it still seemed to have no effect. My son has only missed 1 class in all his time in college and that was when a hurricane was expected and he had already turned in his assignment. :)

[Miss Marple]

Ds#2 is finding something similar at the CC also. There is a particular group that sits in the cafeteria and play a card game that he says looks similar to Pokemon. Some of the group is in his trig class. He will see them playing the game and then they don't show up for class.

[Halftime Hope]

if the prof ties the grade to attendance, then there are more attendees, but his best classes scheduled for adult attendees. They seem to care more, as they are there trying to move up in life.

 

In one of his classes, the prof announced that if they came to class well prepared for discussion of the reading, great, if not, he would begin giving frequent pop quizzes. Sounds llike high school...

[Gwen in VA]

My kids have found high absenteeism in their CC classes.

 

They have NOT found it in their 4-year college classes. In fact, they have noticed that any student absence is unusual. Of course, their classes are small enough that sometimes a prof will even inquire where a given student is!

[Nan in Mass]

My CC son says that when the students are there, they are participating, but if they haven't done the homework, they tend to skip. It seems to be typical to have half the class missing. My older ones (4-year college) say skipping is not frequent there. I think attendence is required in many of their classes.

-Nan

[brendafromtenn]

DS, Bear, has found the same to be true in his CC College Algebra class. Actually though, the kids DO show up for class, because their grade is tied to attendance. However, they don't do their homework and make 50's and 60's on their tests.

 

Dear son is upset at the lack of math skills for most students. So, upset his is considering going into teaching. He says, "Somewhere along the way, Mom, they didn't get it. I want to fix that. They should know their math."

 

It has been eye opening for him.

 

Blessings,

 

Brenda

[creekland]

None of the 3 classes my boys have taken at CC have been this way. There are plenty of kids that get low grades though, and a few that skip, but not in the numbers you relate.

 

No one is online, reading other materials, or texting either. Classes they've experienced have been English 101, Microbio 201, and Effective Speaking.

[Jennifer in MI]

I guess this sounds like it's typical for most. Sad, isn't it? I'll let my ds know that it might improve as he gets into the higher level classes. Next year he'll be in calculus and chemII, so maybe by then?

 

My mom teaches at a CC. She said that it is not typical that the kids don't show up. But, she ties attendance to their grade too. But, she said that these kids have such a BAD attitude. They get upset if she assigns homework! She said that a good student should be able to finish what she gives in about an hour/week. (She teaches all levels of math.) Two people actually went in and complained about her. Their complaint? They had to STUDY for their test - for 30 minutes!!! And one of them is her top student. She attributes it to all the grade inflation in high school and a sense of entitlement.

 

Sad.

[distancia]

About the lackadaisical attitude among the students: I really believe this is due to the CC rule that a steady grade of 'C's will eventually earn the student an AA degree. And here in Florida, if a student gets an AA at a community college, he/she is guaranteed a spot in a state 4 year-university. So really, what is the motivation to do any better than just mediocrity?

 

OTOH, there are some instances--math classes, especially--where attendance is optional, especially if the student is already advanced in the material and/or doing much of the work online. Our local CC uses MyComputerLab and for some of the students a visit to the classroom is unnecessary if they have already mastered the material. My D's ex-boyfriend, a math whiz, had a Pre-Calc class like that, and he chose to do all his work at home and online as opposed to make the 90 minute roundtrip drive 2x weekly.

-----------------

In my daughter's CC class it is the INSTRUCTOR who is either absent or tardy! The students show up for the class and typically wait for 20 minutes, then leave if the instructor hasn't arrived. The first time she was going to miss class she e-mailed the students in advance, but after that...nada. So the students drive 45 minutes one way just to learn there is no class. Also, this instructor goes off on huge tangents (one of my dd's pet peeves) and talks about her bypass surgery, her divorce, her thesis she is still working on, ad nauseum. Drives my dd nuts!

 

Also, this instructor is extremely flexible about deadlines and says, "just pass it in when you are done with it."

 

So where is the motivation? For my DD who is conscientious and likes firm guidelines, this class is a thumbs down.

Edited November 20, 2010 by distancia

[JFSinIL]

I suspect if the class cost more at a private school there might be higher attendance from students who wanted to be there! It may also depend on how serious the student is - some kids may be reluctant scholars in the first place at a cc.

[AngieW in Texas]

This hasn't been the case with my dd's cc classes. So far she has taken Japanese I/II/III, Drawing I/II, Digital Imaging I, Physics I, Statistics I, and English I. In Japanese, your final grade was affected by both absences and tardies. Her English teacher offers a workshop period the class before every major project and only wants those students who need help to come that day. Aside from that, everybody comes to every class.

 

When I taught at the cc (but that was 20 years ago), I preferred my night classes because everybody in the class wanted to be there. The students who took my class during the day just wanted to get at least a C. These were students who were taking the class at the cc so it wouldn't affect their GPA at their 4-yr school.

[FaithManor]

In dd's paramedic and pre-med classes at a local univeristy hospital, she began in July with 25 others. 11 have dropped out after finding out they were failing the classes for several reasons. A. deduction of points for not showing up to class - these eleven routinely just skipped b. failure to turn in homework c. failure to meet the requirements necessary to begin their internship.

 

Most of these people paid $4300.00 for just the paramedic program. They must have a minimum grade of 80% to pass. Many of them were shocked to discover that they wouldn't automatically pass for doing virtually nothing...diplomas being handed out at our local high schools just for showing up some!

 

Our local community college is a joke. Most of the kids skip more than they attend. Most will receive a C because the administration forces the professors to hand out the grades so that their graduation rates are high and they can keep hauling in federal funding.

 

Very said....I would not want to employee any of these students.

 

Faith

[Jennifer in MI]

Wow.

 

At the cc dd#1 attends, the clearly articulated expectation is that the *minimum* amount of work required is 2-3 hours of homework/studying *per hour of class*... and that is to *pass* the class.

 

Community colleges vary in quality as much as any other college, or high school, or any other educational framework... they also vary greatly in the populations they might be serving. And a school, of any kind, with a good department in one area, might not be as strong in another. Some cc's have very strong vo/tech programs, or ESL programs, and weak transfer programs, or vice versa. Some have great humanities courses and a weak math/sci department, etc.

 

Are there other cc's in your area which you could explore? (There are 3, very loosely affiliated ones in our immediate area - one is more of a high school completion/replacement with a strong vo/tech program, one with a really good computer science program, and some niche opportunities in the sciences & more foreign language options, and one with a really strong math/science department, minimal humanities in many areas, and some very specific tech programs with great reputations.)

 

Good luck...

 

I'm really happy with the education my ds is receiving at this CC. He is doing the work and really likes his teachers. So, we'll stick with it. He has about 2 hours of homework for each hour of class. This was true in both of his classes thus far. It's the students we were surprised about. I was reading my ds's syllabus for this class and it's kind of sad the things he had to put on there. He mentions three different times that he WILL NOT grade on a curve. Don't even ask. My ds said that these students are all BEGGING for a curve - in class. Luckily, this teacher is awesome and tells them to refer to their syllabus and he moves along with the class.

 

There are a couple other CCs. We opted not to have him attend our most local CC because it's in an awful area in Detroit. This is in the next county and it's a 30 minute drive.

 

My mom (and dad) teach at a different CC across the state. They were just talking to me last night about how the students have changed over the years. Oh - and both my mom and dad WILL give 0s. But, when they have, they've always been challenged by the student. This is why my mom now keeps VERY good attendance records.

Edited November 19, 2010 by Jennifer in MI

[Jennifer in MI]

A

 

So where is the motivation? For my DD who is conscientious and likes firm guidelines, this class is a thumbs down.

 

Interesting. I didn't realize that the teachers were required to give a C just for showing up!!! You're right - where's the motivation? Is there no pride in a job well done?

 

In dd's paramedic and pre-med classes at a local univeristy hospital, she began in July with 25 others. 11 have dropped out after finding out they were failing the classes for several reasons. A. deduction of points for not showing up to class - these eleven routinely just skipped b. failure to turn in homework c. failure to meet the requirements necessary to begin their internship.

 

Most of these people paid $4300.00 for just the paramedic program. They must have a minimum grade of 80% to pass. Many of them were shocked to discover that they wouldn't automatically pass for doing virtually nothing...diplomas being handed out at our local high schools just for showing up some!

 

Our local community college is a joke. Most of the kids skip more than they attend. Most will receive a C because the administration forces the professors to hand out the grades so that their graduation rates are high and they can keep hauling in federal funding.

 

Very said....I would not want to employee any of these students.

 

Faith

 

It is VERY sad. Did the students actually pay for the class? My mom said that so many of her students are on scholarship or are given grants. Many of these students (not all!) just don't care. They aren't paying. They think they should just be passed along, like they were in high school.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I teach at our local cc and:

1) I am not required to pass anybody for any reason. A student can have perfect attendance but if the performance grades are low I can and will fail the student .

2) Attendance is 10% of the grade for my classes. I take attendance every day.

3) My courses have 30 reigstered students each. Most days I run about 20 students. My attendance is higher when there is an inclass activity or a quiz because I do not allow those to be made up.

4) Students do not like homework or working above minimum effort. I am constantly asked for study guides (preferably one that will resemble the test), open book or open note tests, working with partners and extra credit (which had better not require any effort).

5) The majority of students do not even open let alone read the textbook.

6) We have a test next week and due to time constraints I will not finish lecturing over one of the chapters. I told the students they are responsible for reading the chapter and learning the material because it will be on the test. Their reaction was disheartening. They argued with me saying it was unfair, they had better things to do than read about Developmental Psych...one student said the Dev Psych chapter should be extra credit that way the students who didn't want to do the work didn't have to but those that did do it could still be tested and receive credit.

7) Texting and Ipods are a big problem. The cc had a faculty round table discussion about it yesterday.

 

On the flip side I have had a least two strong, dedicated students in every class and those are the ones I prepare for. They want to learn and come to class prepared.

[Dana]

I teach at our local cc and:

1) I am not required to pass anybody for any reason. A student can have perfect attendance but if the performance grades are low I can and will fail the student .

2) Attendance is 10% of the grade for my classes. I take attendance every day.

 

5) The majority of students do not even open let alone read the textbook.

 

7) Texting and Ipods are a big problem. The cc had a faculty round table discussion about it yesterday.

 

On the flip side I have had a least two strong, dedicated students in every class and those are the ones I prepare for. They want to learn and come to class prepared.

 

I have been teaching at the cc for (eep) over 14 years now. I don't know if it's the economy or what's been going on in high school, but this semester seems to be my worst group - mainly in terms of general preparedness and willingness to work (I've had as bad attitudes before). Our school district doesn't assign grades lower than a 50 (sigh) so students are used to being passed.

 

I'm lucky that administration doesn't give me a hard time in any way about pass rate. Students drop my class and fail my class. We do have departmental attendance policies, so that if a student misses 2 weeks of a 14 week class, they're dropped. Of course, that varies according to instructor enforcement, so my students are often surprised that I'm going to teach the whole class time and I won't be absent. :glare:

 

I have some students who don't have the textbook - semester ends in 3 weeks. The college has a policy on no phones in the classroom, but students have them anyway. It's generally not a big deal in my class since I make a big deal about it at the start of the semester, but I chose not to address texting with a few students this week because it just wasn't worth the effort at this point in the semester.

 

I do try to focus on the students who are there to learn, but I've been getting more and more worn down recently. I think I'll be taking a break from teaching outside the home for a while. I'll miss the money but I'll enjoy the time off!

 

I don't know if I'll have my son take courses at the cc in high school or not. I think I probably will for lab science.

[TravelingChris]

My d attended one cc class in person (honors psychology) and it was a small class and most attended every period. Once there, you couldn't text or whatever since it was such a small class. Currently she is in an online CC class. There is no online discussion at all but you can't pass the class without doing lots and lots of work.

[G5052]

I've been a CC professor for 12 years, and like the others who do that -- yes, I've seen it all. I routinely have students (and a few parents) file grievances against me for sticking to my syllabus on late work, attendance, etc. but my boss is 100% behind me, expects that some will fail, and I've always won out.

 

For some reason, last academic year the students were more serious about it. About 3/4 of my classes got A's and B's and worked really hard. Then I had the same in the summer.

 

Then this fall. UGH! I have some really good, focused students, but I may fail 1/3 or more of this section. Those who are failing have been very sporadic on attendance, and one poor soul has come about 1/2 the time but has yet to turn in a single assignment.

 

Frankly it wasn't that different when I went to college. They didn't take attendance then, and it was common for some students in the first few years to give up at a certain point and party away until they were kicked out. That drastically dropped off at a certain point though, and most of my higher-level classes were taken very seriously.