OnlineProfessor

When it comes to major projects and writing assignments in your online classes, instructors often give page count or word count requirements. They can phrase this is a number of ways:

Some examples of length requirement instructions (and what they usually mean):

What’s included in the word count or page count?

Why word count requirements exist:

• The business world often contains word count restrictions.

It’s really annoying to a client when they ask you for something and you ignore them.

• Sometimes, when you go long, you magnify your errors.

There’s nothing like making a mistake and then enhancing it by doing it a dozen more times.

• Time is short. The instructor wants you to learn, but there are 30 other people in the class. When you go so long that it’s the equivalent of three student projects, it works against the system.
• It’s a way to gauge your strength of focus. Word counts are hints about expectations. An instructor or client is telling you that a good, focused project should not take more than a certain amount of space to convey. If you find you cannot achieve that, it typically means your project focus is too broad or general. You might have to reconsider the topic and approach itself.

Instructors like to say that there is no such thing as a stupid question, but honestly, there is. Students sometimes get lazy when it comes to reading instructions, and before they try to figure it out themselves and read through all the materials, they often write a note to the instructor.

A Little Common Sense Please
Consider the following question actually submitted to me by a student: “Your directions were real confusing. didn’t know where to submit my journal entry. in the journal or in the dropbox.”

Forget the fact that this contains some obvious and unprofessional grammar errors, but did the student really consider his question before sending it? Why would he think the journal entry would go anywhere other than the journal submission box? Furthermore, why would a student feel that it was appropriate to start out the message with an accusation about the clarity of the instructor’s directions?

A Little More Careful Reading Please
Here’s another classic, real-life example of a student inquiry. The instructions for a particular assignment contained this note: “The course textbook cannot be one of your three, required sources for this assignment.” I later received a message from a student asking: “Do you want one or three sources for this assignment?”

As you can see, so many of these errors stem from some careless reading. Instructors welcome questions, but be kind and avoid bothering them with things you could easily figure out on your own. They just make you look bad.

Too often, online college students suddenly disappear from their classes for several weeks and suddenly reappear. Keep in mind that if you do this you might not get a warm welcome back.

Why disappearing acts are unwelcome:

• It’s unprofessional. Would you disappear from your job without giving any notice or explanation for weeks without telling your boss? Probably not. So don’t do that discourtesy to your instructor.
• Illness is seldom a good excuse. Unless you’re in a coma, you should find a way to get an e-mail or voicemail message to your instructor. In emergencies, even a friend or family member can write a note to your instructor or advisor.
• It’s impossible to make up the work. Students who disappear for one third of the term will find that it’s impossible to make up that amount of work. So don’t try it. If you’re unlucky enough to get seriously sick, drop the class and re-take it.
• It disrupts the class momentum. Many classes have group assignments and workshops. Students who come and go without notice are hard to integrate into those assignments.
• Learning is a process. If you miss a significant portion of the class, you often miss the building blocks to things that come later in the term. Coming into the class in the middle of things completely undermines the system that’s been carefully developed for optimal learning.

A few times a year, an online student in one of my classes posts an unprofessional, rude post on the message board and excuses it with the phrase, “I’m just being honest.” When I remind the student of proper online etiquette (netiquette) rules, I will sometimes get a complaint about how I am stifling their personal viewpoints or encouraging cookie-cutter, boring responses from students. Don’t I want differing perspectives?

Well, of course! However, the issue with rude or unprofessional message board entries is not with the student’s opinion itself, it’s with the tone and attitude conveyed. Students should feel free to disagree and to entertain unusual/divergent opinions with their classmates, but there is a way to share those opinions in a professional manner that is not condescending or obnoxious to your peers.

It’s not about being honest; it’s about being courteous and professional. Be honest by all means, but don’t be mean and rude to your classmates.

Tips on Putting Your Best Foot Forward in the Student Forums:

• Avoid calling a project or a student’s ideas a “waste of time.” This is one of the most obnoxious phrases a student could use in the forums, and it makes you look really narrow-minded, haughty, and pompous.
• Don’t play the victim. If you’re instructor or classmate mentions you’re your entry might have been a little rude, avoid acting as if the world is against you. Take a moment of self reflection and see if perhaps your phrasing might have been taken the wrong way. If you’re still confused, ask them to clarify so you can better understand what might have been misunderstood.
• If someone else is rude to you, ignore them. You can also alert the instructor, who will likely speak to the offending student privately. Engaging in an online battle is counterproductive and will just make you look bad as well, even if you’re right.
• Sarcasm doesn’t always work well on the message boards. Just remember, something in print often comes off harsher than a verbal exchange. So sarcasm can really look rude or mean. If you’re going to use it, know that you’re taking a risk.
• It’s not about having thin or thick skin. Avoid telling someone to build thicker skin. Communicators in professional environments have a responsibility to consider their audience and to do their best to convey ideas in a manner that’s professional and polite. Telling people to just take whatever you throw their way is not a best practice in the professional world.

Now that you’re in college, don’t expect to get extra points for telling the instructor, “But I tried really hard.” Unfortunately, you’re now past the point where that kind of excuse is acceptable. It’s okay when a fourth grader uses that excuses, but a college student is expected to work hard on all assignments, and if they still don’t make the grade, then they need to simply work harder next time.

Reasons why “trying hard” isn’t a valid excuse:

• It’s about the results. In business, they judge you by your results and not by your effort. After all, if a contractor botches your kitchen renovation but then says, “but I tried really hard,” would you still pay the bill?
• It makes you sound immature. When a student tries to use the “trying hard” excuse, an instructor immediately wonders whether that student is prepared for college. These types of excuse are like neon signs above your head that say, “I am not prepared for this,” or “I don’t know what is expected in college.”
• Did you really “try hard”? Ask yourself the following questions to see if you really did all you could on the assignment: Did you start the assignment weeks in advance? Did you ask the instructor focused questions when you didn’t understand something? Did you include all the required elements in the assignment? If you still didn’t understand the assignment, did you get a tutor or go to a Writing or Math Center? If you did none of these things, you didn’t really try all that hard.

If you want a high grade, you have to be willing to “go that extra mile.” And sometimes, in tough classes you actually will go that extra mile and still not do as well as you expected. That’s all part of the learning process. You can’t ace everything, and that’s okay.

Remember to see your education in context across the span of your educational career, instead of focusing on one class. Sometimes, you will barely pass a class, and while you’ll wish you did better, the important thing is that you made it through to the next phase.

You’re not expected to be an expert in everything, but you will be expected to do your best to problem solve, adapt, and tap into your inner strength to persevere. After all, getting the best from yourself is indeed part of the college experience as well.

Remember when your high school teacher used to check up on you to see if you understood the material and keeping up with the work? Your college instructor will not be so involved.

In college, students are treated as adults, and if they don’t speak up with questions when they are confused, the professor is not going to follow up with each and every student in the class. Professors do not give progress reports or warn you when you’re failing. The student is expected to take full responsibility over monitoring performance in the gradebook and asking questions when issues arise.

Therefore, online students can’t be afraid to ask questions. They should not be afraid of looking stupid.

Tips on asking questions effectively:

• Be clear and detailed: An instructor can’t answer your question if it is vague and unclear. List the specific assignment or textbook page number that is confusing you.
• Be polite: Even if you think an assignment is worded poorly, avoid blaming your confusion on the instructor. If you aggressively criticize them, it’s not only unprofessional but counterproductive. If you’re asking for help, why insult the person who can help you?
• Be professional: Write your question as if you’re writing to a potential employer. Use proper grammar and address your instructor politely. Close your message with your full name and contact information. Professional courtesies go a long way in school and in business.
• Follow instructions: If there is a specific mailbox or phone number where instructors prefer to receive questions, follow the procedures as instructed. If you’re asked to write your name and course number at the top of your message, be sure to do so.

When you have a question related to your online classes, where is the best place to send it to the instructor? Here are some tips to help you figure that out:

Tips for Sending in Questions:

• Messages boards: If it’s a general question that might help other students, feel free to ask your instructor right on the message boards (discussion boards). Avoid using the message boards or student forums to gripe, whine, or complain. It does not reflect well on you, and the discussion areas should focus on the assigned questions. Keep personal issues or complaints out of the classroom.
• E-mail: Most of the time, it’s best to simply send your instructor an e-mail. Be sure to include your full name and the course title/number. And be detailed about your question. Also remember to phrase your questions professionally.
• Phone: If you are experiencing an emergency or are close to a deadline, you might want to give the instructor a call. Be aware of time zone differences, and prepare notes on all the things you want to cover during the conversation. If you leave a message, be clear on summarizing your question, and again, include your name and course information.

The important thing is to ask questions when you have them. It’s much better to ask for clarification before an assignment than to find out you made a simple but costly error after you’ve already submitted your work.

You ever wonder why an instructor doesn’t just give you a point to push you to the next grade? What would it hurt to give you a point that moves you from a C+ to a B-? Well, here’s why instructors often do not budge when it comes to giving away even the smallest fraction of points.

• Instructors like to keep things fair. As the saying goes, if a instructor gives you a point then, to be fair, the instructor needs to give a point to everyone. Few people are willing to do that.
• You should get what you earned. Quite often when a student asks me to “give them” a point to help them pass, I look over their assignments and find that almost always, they neglected to complete all the assignments. So if they are missing a point to pass, they should understand that they squandered that opportunity on their own earlier in the term. It’s not the instructor’s responsibility to give you points. It’s the student’s responsibility to earn every point.
• Academic institutions frown upon this practice. Honestly, instructors can get into trouble with the Deans or Academic Directors for giving points away just to help a student pass. This is an ethical issue, and it’s taken very seriously by the administration. Instructors these days need to account for every point, and they can be questioned at any time about their grading practices. So most instructors, even if they want to give you that point, will not risk damaging their reputation with the school to do so.
• Academic integrity makes your diploma mean something. If a school gains the reputation for lenient grading practices, over time, this means your diploma won’t carry as much weight. The value of getting your degree is that you survived and conquered the toils of higher education. If the school you attended becomes known for grade inflation, this tarnishes your diploma and your own reputation.

Of course, if there was a grading error, instructors will often be happy to make that correction and add the missing points. However, this is a justified point adjustment that is not deemed arbitrary by the school’s administration. So it’s a little different in that case.

The important element is to complete all your assignments, no matter how small, because you never know if you might need those points later on down the line.

Imagine this: it’s the last week of the term, and you’ve realized that you’re on the verge of failing because you skipped some of the major assignments earlier in the class. So, you ask your instructor if you could just submit them all now. The professor says no. Why?

Here’s what such a last-minute request looks like from the instructor’s perspective:

• This student has got to be kidding. Think about this. Imagine that you’re part of a group project and you’ve done all your work on time. But some procrastinating team member waits until the last minute and creates a stressful situation for everyone else in the group. Well, that’s how it appears to the instructor. Your professor has been doing his or her part the entire term, and for a student to come along during the last week and expect the instructor to stay up late and grade several assignments at the last minute is, quite honestly, rude.
• There is too little time. Instructors get an astonishingly short period of time at the end of every term to tabulate and submit final grades. It is the worst time of the term for every instructor because the workload quadruples and the deadlines are halved. They barely have enough time to grade the timely final projects, and there is hardly time to eat.
• This isn’t fair to the other students. Most instructors keep fairness at the top of their minds. They know that if they accept one student’s late work, they should really accept the entire class’ late work, at least for that particular project. And so, if they say no to you, they’re really saying no to at least a dozen others just like you waiting in the wings.
• The late work will probably be very poor in quality. Experience shows that late work submitted by students at the last minute is usually, to be blunt, total junk. The student is rushing through many final assignments for several classes, trying desperately to get some points. And late work handed in at this stage is usually a haphazard, incomplete, disjointed mess. And such incoherent projects always take longer to grade than the polished, stronger student submissions. And so it’s a double whammy for instructors. And so, the experienced ones avoid such abuse by simply saying no.

Contrary to many students’ beliefs, instructors do not take joy in declining student requests. It’s simply a matter of limited resources. There is only one instructor and several dozen (sometimes several hundred) students. If you’re lucky, you have a graduate student helper, but that’s about it.

So, get your work done on time throughout the term, and know that you’ll get a better overall experience from it.

At the end of almost every term, at least one student argues that they deserve an “A,” even when his/her scores did not meet that standard. Quite often, they just missed it with an “A-” or a “B+.”

One of the biggest pet peeves for an instructor is to hear a student say, “But I’m a straight-A student. I always get A’s.”

However, just because you’ve gotten A’s before does not mean you’re simply entitled to get an A every time. Each term is a new proving ground. An instructor is not influenced by your past grades.

Should “C” students be locked into “C” grades?
If this doesn’t sound fair to you, consider this scenario: If you once received a “C” in a recent course, do you then expect to receive a “C” in another course even if you scored higher? That would be absurd. You want the chance to show that you can do better.

It is equally unfair to grant you an “A” just because you achieved that high score in the past.

It is great that some students are ambitious and strive for a stellar grade point average. However, it goes against the spirit of learning to expect a grade for anything other than your performance in a particular class.