The attendence dance
Some good points raised but not tackling the actual problem... So here is my take on it.
The fair perspective...
1. Some students don't come to class (but most do) this is.........
a) their choice, b) their right. c) their money,
We need to respect that.
2. Some classes are best with no students (or just the deeply committed ones)
We need to respect that.
3. Some courses (like studies) work/ unfold as a discussion - you need something to say and a desire to listen to engage in such a learning event
Perhaps not all students are at this point yet.
We need to respect that.
4. Some courses just aren't worth getting out of bed for.
We need to respect that.
5. Using "attendance" as an assessment tool may get people to class - but it is no gaurantee of quality or learning.
The instrumental perspective
1. Knowing who is comming to class is a "duty" of teaching
2. Some students (international) have a visa requirement to attend 80% of classes - we must keep them aware of their contract / visa agreement.
3. RMIT has a policy on not being able to use "attendence" as an assessment measure (I support this policy)
4. Assessing students in some sort of incremental manner is proscriptive - and leads to institutionalised mediocrity.
5.Using attendence (or lack of) in a punitive fashion is a power trip - a return to the dark old days.
Ok So here is the rub...
It is very likely that
a) We are bad at being teachers
b) you are bad at being students
and
c) that the common interest (design) is actually really boring - and slowly milking us of energy, ideas reasons.....
That classes are boring to attend, and that doing work and being involved is too much like hard work.
So it is not a "process / structure problem" it is a "people problem" - a community problem.
So how do we make it exciting?
How do decide to work very hard?
How do we use assessment as a reward for being creative, for being committed, for being individually responsible?
The fair perspective...
1. Some students don't come to class (but most do) this is.........
a) their choice, b) their right. c) their money,
We need to respect that.
2. Some classes are best with no students (or just the deeply committed ones)
We need to respect that.
3. Some courses (like studies) work/ unfold as a discussion - you need something to say and a desire to listen to engage in such a learning event
Perhaps not all students are at this point yet.
We need to respect that.
4. Some courses just aren't worth getting out of bed for.
We need to respect that.
5. Using "attendance" as an assessment tool may get people to class - but it is no gaurantee of quality or learning.
The instrumental perspective
1. Knowing who is comming to class is a "duty" of teaching
2. Some students (international) have a visa requirement to attend 80% of classes - we must keep them aware of their contract / visa agreement.
3. RMIT has a policy on not being able to use "attendence" as an assessment measure (I support this policy)
4. Assessing students in some sort of incremental manner is proscriptive - and leads to institutionalised mediocrity.
5.Using attendence (or lack of) in a punitive fashion is a power trip - a return to the dark old days.
Ok So here is the rub...
It is very likely that
a) We are bad at being teachers
b) you are bad at being students
and
c) that the common interest (design) is actually really boring - and slowly milking us of energy, ideas reasons.....
That classes are boring to attend, and that doing work and being involved is too much like hard work.
So it is not a "process / structure problem" it is a "people problem" - a community problem.
So how do we make it exciting?
How do decide to work very hard?
How do we use assessment as a reward for being creative, for being committed, for being individually responsible?
posted by Liam Fennessy at 7:26 CH
5 Comments:
So I started looking at blogs again, since I now have an internet connection!
Studies, ahhh studies, the subject i used to love to hate. why? because it had probelms! Now studies has another problem! Attendanec of students! interesting! This isn't the first time i have heard about students not turning up to studies class! So why don't people turn up ? who cares! Well someone must if there is disscusion about it! so what to do! Nothing I say. Sit and do nothing! let them not turn up! let them miss out!
I had a disscussion recently with one of the lecturers from the "old School" of thought on industrial design education. He raised some interesting points about studies. He feels that its not entirely releveant to design! he feels that it is totally dispicable that his second year students are not aware of most apsects of the business of design. He feels that design studies should be studying design from the perspective of actually studying design and things related to design - one example being contracts - yes by studying something along those lines we could learnt something from studies, something that has a foreseeable use in our design carrers!
Now on one hand i agreed with him, on the other is do see the value of studies as it is today, a class that no one turns up 2! Maybe a balance is needed between what is learnt in studies. Many feel what occurs in studies at the moment is a waste of time. Talk to people and you will of course get varying response as to how bad studies is - although you probably can't talk to anyone about it since the attendance of the class must be hitting an all time low. In the grand scheme of things is studies really of any value to people as designers? some would argue yes, others no. Me well i can see both sides - although i think i like studies the way it is, as when i do turn up i learnt and expand on the most valuable skill one can have as a designer, which is the art of talking, writing, debating and bullshitting to get by, admit it though, it is studies that gets pushed to the back of the pile everytime that another assignment from another subject comes along and don't forget for the last 2 fridays you have been hung over or very very tired, so have decided to be apathetic and said bugger it i'll take the day off and waste my money! Cause its my money and i'll do what i want with it!
Meh.
I agree peer assessment was one of the worse things to ever happen, really in the end no one is honest and people just lie. Really we can ignore the problem of attendance and just be thankful that people do turn up at all. If it’s our money to waste then let us waste it, if we don’t want to value studies as part of design let us sneer at it and focus our time on something better and more relevant.
We laugh at you Liam when your back is turned, we dislike what you turn designers into there is no guilt in fuelling consumption, or thinking about the worth of a product within culture and society I want to make my money, and making something that looks hot and is innovative will do that, not looking into design literature let me just spoon feed people, when they have the product why should I care about their lives and what the do with the product. Designers are not bad people, not just anybody can do Industrial Design, I won’t listen to all that crazy talk you deliver and Industrial Design is not dead!
Those weirdo’s who actually want to listen to you aren’t really designers, I’ll put them in a category of ‘different’ look at their work it’s strange it will never sell, and if it did it would be a waste of money. I know what design is and for one thing it’s sure not studies and its sure not something which looks handmade or a one off piece.
Haley you are tops. that is hilarious.
Wow!
What an interesting and disturbingly selective self defence. see my post abou this
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