Thread by @PeteOlusoga

Dearest Students,

I don't want to hear a single word of complaint from you EVER, about ANYTHING.

#AcademicTwitter
#AcademicChatter

As annoying, frustrating, and genuinely demoralising as this is for me, I think it's important to ask why this is happening.

There was a real clamour from students for face-to-face teaching after 18 months of lock-down, zoom teaching, but they just aren't showing up.

The fact that they're paying a lot of money doesn't seem to be a concern.

Let's say students get a generous 15 hours of taught content per week.
x12 weeks
x2 semesters
= 360 hours.

With fees at about £9250, that's about £25 per hour of taught content.

Now of course, fees cover a lot more than just taught sessions, but a lot of it goes on "behind the scenes" stuff like course admin, student support, lab spaces, and whatnot.

But from a student's perspective, not turning up to class is like setting fire to a £20 note.

So if £££ isn't enough of an incentive, it must be down to something else?

Maybe it's me? Maybe I'm shit at my job?

Well, that might be true, but anecdotally, this is a problem across the board, not just in my sessions. Multiple classes, courses, institutions - same issue.

I'll come back to this later. I assume I'll find you on the very edges of your seats.

I forgot to mention all of the other expenditure that just 'being at university' requires, so not bothering to show up for class is actually more like setting fire to a £50.

Anyway...

I'll assume it's not 'entirely' down to me being shit at my iob, given that this seems to be a fairly universally issue.

This is a complex issue...

Lots of students work. This isnt news and isnt new. But what is new or at least different, is the amohnt of students trying to hold down basically full time jobs whole studying.

One of my 3rd yr dissertation students a few years back was working 40 hours a week!

If you need that money to survive, you're gonna have to work, and unless you're in a job that works exclusively nights, you're gonna have to miss class.

I'd love to know the stats on students with PT jobs and average hours worked.

If a student has to not be a student just so that they can afford to be a student... something is fundamentally broken there!

Anyway, that's one thing.

We've always provided lecture/seminar materials for students who have to miss a session for whatever reason, but rather than this being s way of catching up with missed work, it's now seen as a viable alternative to attending in person.

Again, a couple of things to think about..

For accessibility reasons, providing these materials is obviously important.

But we have to find a balance between providing the means to support learning and providing an 'alternative online learning experience.'

I believe we are getting that balance wrong.

We are not an online course. Online courses are very different in their set-up and delivery, but we essentially provide enough that students don't HAVE to turn up to pass.

They might not pass well, but they can still get by. And for many it really is just about getting by.

More on that in a bit.

The online provision is, I think, in part a hangover from the pandemic where we just shoved everything online. Students like online lectures and I get that. It actually makes sense to put large lectures online for students to catch up on in their own time.

There are obvious pros and cons to this approach, but I get it, amd the student like it.

The small group stuff though, the tutorials amd seminars and workshops... that's where you really need to be there to get any real benefit.

I wonder whether students just sort of got used to not having to really engage (cameras off, no talking), realised they could still pass that way, and thought 'fuck it, I'm not doing a 3 hour round trip for a 50 minute seminar.'

Which is kind of fair enough, really!

So there's that. Again, petrol costs, transport costs, time not earning. All makes sense.

And the fact that everything is online in advance (accessibility) means students can make a decision ahead of time as to whether a session is worth their effort (in their opinion!).

So, we've got the paradox of having to work to study, which results in not being able to study, and the availability of online materials that allow a degree of success without having to turn up.

Back to just getting by. 1st of all, first year doesn't count. Students know this.

And I get the reasons why, but what used to be a year of bedding in, learning study skills, and getting to know the subject, seems to have become an exercise in learning how to take the path of least resistance.

A path that is readily offered. More on THAT later too!

But if we look at the reasons for studying in the first place, there also appears to have been a significant shift over the last maybe 10 years.

If anyone can point me to research on this, then please do, but motivations for undertaking a degree (leaving more vocational degrees aside) appear to have drifted away from a genuine desire to study a subject, and more towards, just 'the thing that you do after school'.

So it's no wonder that doing enough to get by (something that they essentially train to do in first year) really is enough for a lot of students.

Again, this is completely understandable!

Remember when I said the path of least resistance is readily offered?

Well student numbers are increasing (because £££) and staff have been asked to do more with less as long as I've been in the job.

I'm gonna have to be a bit careful with how I phrase this next bit...

Let's just say that I feel there is a clash between academic staff with integrity and a desire to maintain a particular academic standard... and a 'system' which might allow for a degree of... uh... flexibility in the consitent application of ... uh... yeah...

I'm just gonna let that last tweet trail off into oblivion.

But let's add in staff that are completely burned out. Still trying their best (to the detriment of their own health) to provide a great experience, but too exhausted to really pick apart some of these issues.

I have neither the time nor the resource to get in touch with non-attenders, let them know that I've noticed they aren't around, and to ask if they're okay.

Once upon a time, I'd have done that. Honestly.

But I just can't do it any more. I can't make that my problem as well.

And I think our students are burned out to. All of these issues are enough on their own.

But add a cost of living crisis, rising nationalism, the threat of war in europe, and an existential crisis... honestly, its no wonder everyone hasn't gone completely insane!

The problems are really complicated and the problems are many. I don't know how to tackle it. I've no idea where to start.

But empty classrooms on campus are a thing now. I'm almost expecting it for some sessions.

So honestly, answers on a frikkin postcard please!

Amd to you students... I get it. Honestly, I do. I've only half unpacked a few of the issues in this thread. I know there are loads more.

Maybe just tell me if you're not gonna show up to class though, eh?

Epilogue.

I genuinely cannot believe the number of typos in this thread.

I blame big thumbs and my brain working faster than my hamds cam cope with.

Still don't want an edit button though.

HANDS!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HANDS!

OK. I'm gonna add a couple of things here based on some of the comments.

A lot of people saying make attendance compulsory or make it worth a certain percentage of the module grade.

There are a few reasons why this might be a good idea and MANY reasons why it is not.

Let's start with logistics.

I shit you not, we had a system a few years ago where staff had to print paper registers for EVERY session

That took about 30 mins each week. Not a lot, but it adds up

Imagine EVERY staff member doing this. How many hours (and trees) did that cost?

Then, thise paper registers (when we remembered to do it) were handed to admin staff who input the data into their systems.

On average I'd hand our admin team 15-18 registers a week. Again, multiply that by every member of staff in the department....

All you've done is swamp your admin team with busy work, taking them away from their actual jobs.

Oh and you simultaneously cut your admin staff in half because new vanity projects don't pay for themselves!

Anyway, why don't you just have a swipe card system so students can 'tap in' to sessions?

Good point, but this requires investment in an infrastructure that allows for that system to be workable.

And 250 students all trying to tap in to a lecture theatre? No thanks.

So effectively monitoring attendance in the first place presents certain challenges and adds to the workload of... well everyone.

Then you've got accessibility issues again. Students with chronic illnesses, mental health issues.

Do you fail them because they weren't physically there 80% of the time? Seems harsh.

Moreover, just being there because you've been forced to by threat of failure isn't great.

So logistics, online registers, QR codes, and other cute suggestions aside, making attendance a compulsory part of the course/module will not help with actual engagement.

Just being there isn't enough, especially if just being there is driven by fear/punishment.

And it unfairly punishes those with genuine reasons for non-attendance.

So let's just rule out compusory attendance as a solution, shall we?

*and if it was that simple, do you not think we might have done it?

Couple of other thoughts and then I'll stop... probably.

I've had a not insignificant amount of DMs and replies in the last 24 hours from students and staff who are basically just going...

I had the luxury of being able to study for my degree and enjoy it. I'm not going to sit here and say that I went to 100% of my classes, but I was chosing between class and a particularly good episode of Columbo, not between class and being able to pay for food.

Students are making business decisions, which makes total sense since we decided to treat them like customers.

Here's a thread which articulates that pretty well, in case you didn't see it in the replies...

https://twitter.com/kaleejones_/status/1597867400850198528?s=20&t=bjo1DYi6JIiTRoF2rV1Pig

I could honestly go on:

⭐️Prepping students more effectively for uni.

⭐️Social and communication skills (speaking up in class isn't for everyone, but goddammit, that's gotten worse!)

⭐️Pastoral care falling on burned out academics, unqualified to offer it.

⭐️Acknowledging a cultural/generational shift in the way information is digested and actually responding to that in a meaningful way

I'll stop here.

It's nice that people are saying "it's' not you."

I know it's not me. I'm bloody good at my job.

I still care. I care about my students, I want them to do well, to learn about things and life, to enjoy their experience, not suffer through it.

Just not quite sure how I'm supposed to make that happen.

Turns out, I hadn't finished after all.

https://twitter.com/PeteOlusoga/status/1598671320480419840?s=20&t=iJVDlsyrXVZsmzlrSIxdPw