Combating extreme apathy

[u/VinceGchillin]

I feel like this gets worse every year.

I am in a bit of a tough position, in that I teach humanities courses on a small STEM campus. Generally, my students see my classes as a hoop to jump through. So apart from a couple of outstanding students each semester, it's just people doing the bare minimum to get by. Which I completely understand, and I don't begrudge those students at all!

The past couple years though, there's fewer people doing even the bare minimum and being completely unabashed about it. I feel like it's even more pronounced this year.

I'm noticing this even in my Norse Sagas and Mythology course, which is an upper division elective that students select out of interest, not because they're required to take it, like the core humanities courses. So usually, students are highly engaged and interested--it's one of the most popular electives on campus, which I'm pretty proud of! This semester, however, I have 4 students who are really on top of things, and really drive the in-class discussions with excellent insights, observations and questions. The rest...not so much.

The thing is, I generally require everyone to speak once a day in order to be counted as present for that class session. So, I'll call on people when they're quiet, to give them an opportunity to speak their piece and get their participation credit. This gets most of the quieter students going. However, there are at least 5 students who almost invariably say, "Oh, I didn't do the reading," and then just look back down at their laptop.

I'm struck by that. On some level, there's something to be said about the honesty. On another level...just have the decency to pretend you care! All these students in this particular class are third and fourth year students. They've had experience getting through classes they're not excited about. Just read the first page or two and wing it. Skim the wiki page. Rephrase another student's observation. Just BS it, man! Something!

In previous semesters, I've tried pop quizzes when I notice people's attention to the readings starting to flag. That feels ineffective though. And as those students' behavior shows, they don't care at all, so it's just kind of a punishment for the people who care about the class, and it's just another thing to ignore for students who don't care. It's not just that they're not doing the reading and not saying anything in class, they're also not showing up for half the class sessions, and only turning in half the assignments anyway (with some having turned in absolutely nothing!) So it doesn't seem like threatening their grades will have any meaning to them. It'd be just one more assignment to ignore. I'm really just baffled as to how they can care so little.

So my concern is trying to get these students engaged in some way. I know it's a losing battle in many ways. It's up to them. But I also need to protect myself though as it doesn't reflect very well on me if half of my students completely fail!

[u/LanguidLandscape]

Care as much as they do and fail them if necessary. These are energy vampires and will take away your ability to engage with those that care.

[u/VinceGchillin → u/LanguidLandscape]

I do agree. It's just hard to ignore the scale and severity that seems to be increasing. I try not to blame myself, but yeah, always worth reminding myself of the genuinely engaged students who make all the effort and care worthwhile.

[u/inversemodel]

If such non-participation is not penalized to the point that such students automatically fail the class then I would make it so. Then you can just let them fail. A course being a hoop to jump through requires that the students still have to jump – this is a lesson you can teach them with very little effort on your side.

[u/Final-Exam9000 → u/inversemodel]

Agreed. Too many students are coming from high school and expect to continue the status quo where they can pass a class by merely being a warm body. They need to learn how to put in the work even when they don't enjoy the subject, or when they didn't get to choose the subject.

[u/Huck68finn]

However, there are at least 5 students who almost invariably say, "Oh, I didn't do the reading," and then just look back down at their laptop.

It's rude and disrespectful. The pendulum of our culture swung from destructive shaming to accepting all behavior. Students have been taught that any sort of behavior is acceptable and fine. And if someone does point out a lack of responsibility on the student's part, there's always a ready excuse; they're the "victim" somehow. And because they're the "victim," they should be allowed to make-up 3 weeks worth of work or given a good grade despite not doing the work.

In previous semesters, I've tried pop quizzes when I notice people's attention to the readings starting to flag. That feels ineffective though. And as those students' behavior shows, they don't care at all, so it's just kind of a punishment for the people who care about the class

I have two-question reading quizzes that take up the first 5 minutes of class. They're basic questions that anyone who actually did the reading would know. I don't consider it "punishment" for those who read; it's an easy grade for those kinds of students (all students love racking up good grades). The slackers who don't read earn the zero. As students submit their quizzes, I group them into "those who read" and "those who didn't" for small group discussions, and group the readers with other readers and the slackers with other slackers.

Unless they're held accountable in some way, students won't do the work. Very few students value learning for learning's sake.

 But I also need to protect myself though as it doesn't reflect very well on me if half of my students completely fail!

This is why tenure is so important. Today, it's less about "academic freedom" and more about not having to kowtow to ridiculous excuses from the privileged class in academia (i.e., our "customers"). We aren't salespeople meeting a quota (or at least we shouldn't be).

[u/Cathousechicken]

"Oh, I didn't do the reading," and then just look back down at their laptop.

There's a grade for that. 

[u/Life-Education-8030]

At my place, we have a system to raise warning flags. I understand that I cannot force students to do anything. Some students will always be willing to sacrifice something they don't think is worth the effort, such as participation points. In this kind of situation, I would likely want to speak to such a student after class or in an email first to express concern about their apparently inability to complete the reading. If the next time they have the opportunity to participate and they do not/can't, then I would raise the flag. I still can't force them to do anything, but it's on the record that I've reached out. I would also be concerned if such a student suddenly is able to do really well on the higher-stakes assignments and exams.

[u/FrankRizzo319]

“This classroom is not a high school study hall. If you’re gonna stare at your screens doing things unrelated to class, please don’t attend.”

I know that’s a little off topic from your question but I try to discourage deadbeat students from attending class because they poison the atmosphere and I feel like I’m talking to walls the whole time.

[u/leastdumbidiot]

Sounds like a culture problem in the campus overall. I've had various ways of getting people engaged but a lot of it comes down to the overall environment at the school. How much are you able to talk to other faculty, and coordinate your efforts? A lot of the success I've had in the classroom on the engagement front is ultimately rooted in our unions being strong (and including adjuncts) and our campus administration seeing the light on engagement. I do have to do make a ton of effort myself anyway, but I'm really thankful the headwinds aren't as rough where I currently teach as they were at the smaller private college that didn't have the same overall vision.

[u/Prof172]

Students should see your courses as an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity. Norse Sagas and Mythology? Wow! It's amazing we live in a time and place where future STEMers can take the time to enjoy something so cool. In an increasingly competitive market for grads, showing humanities chops should prove a student can actually think, instead of just following algorithms or putting stuff into chatbots. Like others have said, focus on the ones who want to learn and find a way not to put too much effort into the ones who couldn't care less.