Student-Faculty Peeves

Psy 301

"Pet Peeves" Aired at Fall Majors' Meeting

(From the Fall, 1994 Psychology Department Newsletter at Georgia Southern University)

The Fall term Psychology Majors' Meeting featured a good-natured discussion of pet peeves from both students and teachers. A few weeks before the meeting, faculty members were asked to make contributions reflecting their pet peeves about students, while students were asked to generate a similar list for faculty members to consider. The results were tabulated and discussed at the meeting. Here are some of the "highlights":

"Peeves" listed by students:

--When professors wait until one or two days before an exam or project due date to inform students of that due date
--Professors giving tests that take more than a 50 minute class period for the majority of the class
--Professors talking during a test
--During a test, other students are shuffling, coughing, or making noises and moving around
--Tests with answers that are very subjective, with too much room for argument
--When instructors make tests really hard to make themselves look good ...as if the instructor gets high off student failure!
--Having a final exam worth 25% of the grade
--Attendance policies
--When professors do not inform students in advance that a class will be cancelled
--Having to sign up for experiments for extra credit
--Professors who ramble on about something unrelated to the topic
--Lectures that cannot be applied outside the classroom
--Professors lecturing on topics that are not on the test
--Professors lecturing from behind podiums
--Professors who just read out of the text
--When instructors refuse to admit they are wrong
--When professors get behind schedule in a course and try to make up for it by going fast the last few weeks
--Professors who talk too fast to take notes
--Lack of enthusiasm in lectures
--When teachers hold the class over
--Starting a new topic with only a few minutes left in the class
--Professors not learning students' names in small classes
--Professors bringing personal values into the classroom
--Professors unprepared for class lectures
--Marking points off on an essay question but not saying what for
--Instructors taking too long giving tests and papers back
--Seating so crowded it is hard to see the prof and the board

"Peeves" listed by professors:

--Unpreparedness (not reading material before class)
--Excessively hot or cold room temperatures
--Late assignments, especially when accompanied by lame excuses
--Students with no sense of humor
--Students sharing private jokes in class and laughing aloud
--Students shuffling papers five minutes before class is over
--Students who make it clear they are only interesting in learning material that will be on the test, asking, "Do we have to know this?"
--Students who repeatedly ask for class material to be repeated
--Students who ask unnecessary (as opposed to "dumb") questions
--Missing class, then asking the instructor to go over the material
--Studying for another class during lecture
--Students who "roll their eyes" when another student asks insightful or penetrating questions
--When a student asks me what page I'm on when I'm lecturing
--Students who are given an opportunity for extra credit and argue about how it should be done or graded
--Rooms that are long and narrow, so you can't communicate with students in the back
--Students who want to take an exam early or late
--Students who do poorly on an exam and don't come to see the professor until it's too late
--Students who have questions in mind but won't ask them
--Frequent lateness or early departures
--Chronic complaining about course requirements
--Students sleeping in class
--Students asking "Did I miss anything?" after missing a class
--Students talking to each other while I'm lecturing
--Coming to my office outside office hours, being miffed if I am unavailable

Of course, not all these peeves are likely to be eliminated. However, those involving easily-modified behavior should provide some food for thought!

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