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Personally, I'm really amazed that some people, both below and in comments to that article, are finding themselves siding with the student. IMO the prof's emai

by yumraj 17y ago

Personally, I'm really amazed that some people, both below and in comments to that article, are finding themselves siding with the student. IMO the prof's email was excellent. He conveyed his point across very nicely without showing even a small hint of irritation or annoyance. The part copied below, for me, really sums it up. This student is an immature jackass and s/he really needs growing up. S/he first made a mistake and then had the audacity of justifying his/her action. Personally I would hate to have a person like that in my team. Quoted part: Just so I’ve got this straight…you started in one class, left 15-20 minutes into it (stood up, walked out mid-lecture), went to another class (walked in 20 minutes late), left that class (again, presumably, in the middle of the lecture), and then came to my class. At that point (walking in an hour late) I asked you to come to the next class which “bothered” you. To the folks who are siding with the student: Find out who s/he was, hire him/her and then lets see what your reaction is when the moron walks in late to meetings, customer calls, doesn't deliver on time etc. and then when you fire him/her, sues you..

johnrob 17y ago
Don't ignore some of the good traits this student is showing, namely the interest to try 3 different lectures and the guts to email the prof. This person could easily turn out to be a star. We can't only focus on one part of the data.
icco 17y ago
I totally agree. I currently am a student at a public university, although on the other side of the country, and this behavior in any of my classes would result in the teacher refusing to enroll a student in the class. You are older than 18, grow a pair and learn to respect others time and energy. The quote that I'm hoping the kid really gets is of course "having manners, demonstrating a level of humility…these are all (relatively) easy. Get the easy stuff right". Hope this kid grows up before he joins the workforce, or hell, attends another day of class, because this behavior is just not OK for an adult.
lallysingh 17y ago
For the anti-establishment types automatically siding with students: Remember that this is a total of 4 class interruptions for every other student in the course.
- yummyfajitas 17y ago
  It's actually only 1 class interruption: the interruption occurred when Galloway decided to stop teaching and instead focus on a student who he felt disrespected him (but probably went unnoticed by other students).
  - joezydeco 17y ago
    So the two other lectures that this student interrupted (one of them twice) do not count?
    - yummyfajitas 17y ago
      Assuming he was reasonably quiet, the student did not interrupt two other lectures. I often have a late student or two. No one notices or cares because I don't waste time on it. "So this means that this set of functions is an orthogonal basis for the space of polynomials. Timmy, close the door behind you. This means that we can translate our problem with signals into a matrix problem, and then just gaussian eliminate it like every other problem this semester." Would you similarly criticize the student if he showed up on time, but used the bathroom after an hour?
Confusion 17y ago
S/he first made a mistake You can't assert that as truth, because that is the question being debated. I find all the speculation on how this student would behave in corporate life rather amazing: it suggests knowledge of correlations that you can't possibly have evidence for. It's just putting this guy down for the sake of feeling better about yourself.
anatoly 17y ago
I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. The student's behavior was completely justified, and the professor comes off as a self-important prick. Whenever there are several courses competing for the same time slot, it's reasonable to visit all of them in the first 1-2 weeks of the semester, to understand which one you want to choose. Going just by the course description isn't sufficient, because the quality of the lecturer matters, and varies greatly. For example, you may want to know in advance that the professor is a self-important prick, and take that into account when deciding whether to take their course. The professors and the students all know that, and late entry during weeks 1-2 of the semester is a normal, expected occurrence. Good manners dictate that the student who walks out in the middle or walks in late sit close to the entrance, to minimize the disruption to others. That's all, really. Even beyond the first few weeks of the semester, walking in late to a lecture shouldn't be a big deal. The one who's hurt by this is the student who misses the material. The lecturer with a penchant to interrupt their lecture, deliver a brief sermon to the student and expel them are advised to grow the hell up and focus on their teaching. The comparison with walking late into meetings doesn't have any legs to stand on. The professor is not harmed by the student's initial absence and can proceed with the lecture as planned. Each particular student's participation and feedback aren't essential to the lecture. And meetings that overlap or coincide can be rescheduled, unlike university courses.

by yumraj 17y ago

johnrob 17y ago

Don't ignore some of the good traits this student is showing, namely the interest to try 3 different lectures and the guts to email the prof. This person could easily turn out to be a star. We can't only focus on one part of the data.

icco 17y ago

I totally agree. I currently am a student at a public university, although on the other side of the country, and this behavior in any of my classes would result in the teacher refusing to enroll a student in the class. You are older than 18, grow a pair and learn to respect others time and energy. The quote that I'm hoping the kid really gets is of course "having manners, demonstrating a level of humility…these are all (relatively) easy. Get the easy stuff right". Hope this kid grows up before he joins the workforce, or hell, attends another day of class, because this behavior is just not OK for an adult.

lallysingh 17y ago

For the anti-establishment types automatically siding with students: Remember that this is a total of 4 class interruptions for every other student in the course.

yummyfajitas 17y ago
It's actually only 1 class interruption: the interruption occurred when Galloway decided to stop teaching and instead focus on a student who he felt disrespected him (but probably went unnoticed by other students).
- joezydeco 17y ago
  So the two other lectures that this student interrupted (one of them twice) do not count?
  - yummyfajitas 17y ago
    Assuming he was reasonably quiet, the student did not interrupt two other lectures. I often have a late student or two. No one notices or cares because I don't waste time on it. "So this means that this set of functions is an orthogonal basis for the space of polynomials. Timmy, close the door behind you. This means that we can translate our problem with signals into a matrix problem, and then just gaussian eliminate it like every other problem this semester." Would you similarly criticize the student if he showed up on time, but used the bathroom after an hour?

Confusion 17y ago

S/he first made a mistake You can't assert that as truth, because that is the question being debated. I find all the speculation on how this student would behave in corporate life rather amazing: it suggests knowledge of correlations that you can't possibly have evidence for. It's just putting this guy down for the sake of feeling better about yourself.

anatoly 17y ago

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. The student's behavior was completely justified, and the professor comes off as a self-important prick. Whenever there are several courses competing for the same time slot, it's reasonable to visit all of them in the first 1-2 weeks of the semester, to understand which one you want to choose. Going just by the course description isn't sufficient, because the quality of the lecturer matters, and varies greatly. For example, you may want to know in advance that the professor is a self-important prick, and take that into account when deciding whether to take their course. The professors and the students all know that, and late entry during weeks 1-2 of the semester is a normal, expected occurrence. Good manners dictate that the student who walks out in the middle or walks in late sit close to the entrance, to minimize the disruption to others. That's all, really. Even beyond the first few weeks of the semester, walking in late to a lecture shouldn't be a big deal. The one who's hurt by this is the student who misses the material. The lecturer with a penchant to interrupt their lecture, deliver a brief sermon to the student and expel them are advised to grow the hell up and focus on their teaching. The comparison with walking late into meetings doesn't have any legs to stand on. The professor is not harmed by the student's initial absence and can proceed with the lecture as planned. Each particular student's participation and feedback aren't essential to the lecture. And meetings that overlap or coincide can be rescheduled, unlike university courses.