How to engage with sullen students

Another large but largely useless article from THE: most of these (selected) contributors seem to think that teacher "enthusiasm" will solve everything; that might work in the performing arts or experiential education but is complacent advice for formal instructors. Some of these comments about finding "the light" or playing inspirational music or playing "ice-breaker" exercises would patronise students of substance, and would not carry students through a 3-hour class. How about teaching useful content that students value, such as practical skills and useful knowledge, so that students develop enthusiasm for the content? How about evaluating student participation as part of course performance? How about setting early expectations about individual responsibilities to the group? How about student in-class exercises? Presumably these solutions are too obvious or old-fashioned for these contributors. This is an important topic. THE selected nine contributors who seem to think that teaching is social work; THE should be more discriminating if it is going to be useful to the rest of us.

Students will talk to each other, especially if they subsequently are evaluated by each other. Posting even ridiculous scenarios (selling farmers wives!) for them to solve during lecture time, provided they have had the opportunity to learn the background knowledge outside of lecture and then are able to use that information in discussing or solving the scenario, gives them the opportunity to display their "fitness" to one another; don't forget that many of the kids are still seeking their potential mates (and you, dear lecturer, are not among them, so impressing you is low on most of their horizons).

There is nothing new under the sun. The Cambridge Review was pretty cynical about lack of academic engagement by students in 1966, for example: "The individual attention, the stimulation and encouragement, the gentle rebuke, the subtle widening of the issue and the abrupt demand for evidence, all this and much more has come to represent, to some at any rate, the ultimate in higher education. The reality, as most of us know, is very different. The inadequacy of the lectures has to be supplemented, indeed often replaced, by a less formal exposition; the student’s difficulty in working out the technical points on his own must be eased; he must be spared the need to extract from the books the information he needs; we must see in effect that he has learnt his piece for the week". The essential problem is that undergraduate students are themselves, not us. They are young adults with concerns different from our professional ones. Since time immemorial it has been this way, and when some of them become lecturers they too will be writing articles in the THE about the difficulties of teaching another generation. Such is life.

Any question is a good one. I try to instill this simple, but powerful though to all students that I teach. All questions are welcomed, no matter how 'silly' that they may seem. Besides, one question asked is often one question shared by other students.