Worth Sharing: Turn Your Classroom Irritation Into Compassion

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minute

It’s all too easy to be annoyed by students’ questions, until you realize their confusion might be your fault.

Source: Turn Your Classroom Irritation Into Compassion

There is a course at my former school that all computer science majors are required to pass for their degree. The course was created about 20 years ago as a way to give students a more robust foundation in math. Problem is, the course has been known as an insanely difficult course pretty much since its inception. A large number of students fail this course. Math majors have failed this course. The department has tried a variety of “solutions”, but mostly their approach has been to blame the students for not being “good enough”.
You’d think – after nearly 20 years and blaming literally THOUSANDS of students for failing this course – that SOMEONE would have come to the realization that IT’S NOT THE STUDENT’S FAULT.
You’d think that at some point, otherwise smart PhD’s would realize that if so many people are unable to make it through a course, then THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE COURSE.
You’d think that SOMEONE would have tried something beyond switching textbooks, or adding yet MORE tutorial hours. But, you know, it’s easier to sigh, and, shrug, and keep on blaming the students.

This is a lovely example of the Club Theory.

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