Yo, Lamia, I suspect your approach to e-mail from students says more about your personality and pretensions than it does any serious need for reform of netiquette. As my info science colleagues say about information, communication just wants to be free. And it WILL be free and open, just as free and open as the communicators are willing for it to be.

Professors who are uptight about interacting and communicating with students usually manage to telegraph that without resort to an e-Decalogue. Their very body language often communicates it. Interesting that the student editorial cited in the story is much more reasoned and realistic than Ms. Karim’s.

In my experience as both colleague and grad student, I’ve found that it’s the assistant professors who are most likely to have communications issues, to be rigorous about office hours, to refuse to use voice mail, to be slow to respond to e-mail. There are at least two reasons: (1) they haven’t established in their own minds the boundaries between being faculty and being a student (which often they recently were). This is identity work for them that more seasoned teachers have already completed. (2) They are focused intensely on that research or book that will bring them tenure and communicating with students is an impediment to that.

In the final analysis, I believe it comes back to personality. I can name half a dozen young professors who are comfortable, even eager to extend their teaching mission thru full communication with students and the public. There, also, will always be those profs who aren’t comfortable with that.

Bill Dockery, University of Tennessee, at 9:25 am EDT on April 19, 2006

a solution

People love to accuse each other of sloppy thinking or inadequate communication skills. Unfortunately, these seem people rarely address the argument of the speaker, and therefore, their comments are nothing more than an insult that has no place in academe.

In regards to email etiquette. Perhaps if professors would answer legitimate emails on time, take blackboard-type discussion groups seriously (as they often don’t).

One solution to the problem would be to simply inform the students that the professor may, at their discretion, post the entirety of the email to a class-wide bulletin board. This way, 1) everyone would be on equal footing; and 2) students might be dissuaded from writing stupid emails. This would seem to strike a balance between Mr. Dockery’s position and Lamia’s.

I, would love to see people post emails that I written in IM-speak. Perhaps these emails could be attached to the letters of recommendation that they invariable ask for.

Oh, and just so you know, students don’t have a privacy interest in emails under the FERPA. If anyone disagrees, provide a statutory or regulatory section that would indicate otherwise.

Larry, at 11:00 am EDT on April 19, 2006

Netiquette

In which volume of the syllabus are we to explain appropriate e-mail use? Vol. VI or Vol. VII, addendum B?

J. Madison Davis, Professor at University of Oklahoma, at 11:00 am EDT on April 19, 2006

Most of this seems overdone. Hearing from students is great because you learn a lot,and it helps them if they can get questions answered outside of class. Sometimes really good conversations about course material happen. The price of easier communication for everyone will be a certain number of messages that are importunate or weird. I say live with it. If you give people a rule book for their e-mails, it’s going to make some students less willing to contact you.

What are the volumes of e-mails people are getting? If you’re getting 5 e-mails a day asking for stuff that’s already on the syllabus, perhaps there’s a problem. But if you get the occasional e-mail like that it’s not going to kill you to write back saying Dear Student, it’s good to hear from you, I think you’ll find that question answered in the section of the syllabus on...

C, at 1:25 pm EDT on April 19, 2006

I would ask Professor Karim what in the world “absolve” means as in her statement that email has “absolved” the boundaries between students and professors. Does email also promote sloppy writing by professors as well as students, or the complete misuse of words, or confusion of meanings? Professor Karim obviously means that email has “dissolved” rather than “absolved.” And no one notices, or bothers, and may indeed slip into the same usage, and yet another good strong word disappears. But not because of email — because of mental sloppiness in those charged with keeping the mind clear with close attention to language.

Dale Johnson, Regis University, at 1:40 pm EDT on April 19, 2006

Note this

While I’m horrified that RWH prepares a 15-page syllabus for a course with 14 major topics in it, I applaud him for putting it on the web — and not just to save trees. That kind of accessibility should be available in every course.

But I’m particularly struck by his injunctions against note-taking. Before returning to university work, I spend 20 years as a journalist. Taking notes is like breathing — and almost as vital. It’s a survival skill. I take notes in the meetings I attend, I take notes in class, I’ve been known to jot down the points of a sermon on the back of a church bulletin.

Note-taking is a way of focusing one’s attention on the speaker. It also provides a record of what has been said and done in a class or meeting. Even incomplete notes are a reminder of the content of a session. In journalism courses I have taught, I have been known to call down students who DON’T take notes, because it is a skill that a journalist must develop.

In forbidding note-taking and insisting on a rigid approach to the content and form of e-mail, I suspect RWH is confusing his own personal learning/teaching styles with species-wide wisdom.

Bill Dockery, University of Tennessee, at 4:05 pm EDT on April 19, 2006

For Bill Dockery:

From RWH’s syllabi (minus good formatting) ...

“Addendum 1 (Taking Notes in Class)

Because my ‘philosophy’ regarding taking notes in class is apparently controversial at **** University, I would like to describe my perspective by sharing with you parts of an e-mail message I sent to a student last term.

‘Next is my philosophy — some may call it my attitude — about taking notes in class. When I was in high school and college, virtually every one of my teachers went to great pains to get their students to take notes in class … and some even provided instructions on how to do it effectively. In fact, one of my favorite colleagues here at **** University sent the following note to me last week: ‘Do you really discourage students from taking notes? If so, why? I get upset when they don’t take notes.’

As you know I do, indeed, discourage students from taking notes in class. I say something to the effect that, ‘I will try to make it unnecessary for you to take notes; however, if it is an important learning tool for you (as a specific individual), I understand that and encourage it.’ Then I repeat the fact that I hope it will be unnecessary for you to do so. I have been teaching for quite a long time now and I think I can anticipate more than 90% of your questions even before you ask them. For questions with complicated answers, I have developed what I consider to be a large number of state-of-the-art handouts, and you’ve got copies of all of them. It’s also the case that I will frequently and purposely write things on the board that are false ... just to follow your lead and then steer you away from the wrong path. Now your notes are a mess.

My course is different from most. I spend more time explaining what things mean than I do providing students with new information (although there is plenty of that and you can read it in your book). I have each of my students for an average of two-and-a-half hours per week for sixteen weeks, they must share that time with me with up to fifteen to thirty other students, and I want them to use as much of that time as possible in an intellectual interaction (give and take and give and take, etc.) with me. It strikes me as being a terrible waste of our time — yours and mine — to spend that short period frantically writing down everything I have to say (which is a lot) and then attempting to decipher it in the privacy (isolation) of your study space. In my classes, taking notes is generally an impediment to the learning process.

I would not generalize my perspective to other teachers and their classes, but I do believe that, in general, to the extent that class time can be managed in a manner that minimizes note-taking and maximizes the interaction between teacher and student and students with each other, independence of thought, intellectual self-confidence, learning, and understanding are enhanced.

That two-and-a-half hours a week is the only opportunity I have to attempt to convert individuals who generally think of themselves as learners, sitting at the feet of the master, into intellectual colleagues (partners in the learning process). As a ‘learner,’ the student’s learning process is seriously distorted when I disappear from the scene, As a ‘partner in learning,’ the student’s learning is much more likely to be a life-long process during which his or her interaction with me was merely a ‘blip’ on the screen.’ I like that thought.

So there you have it; if taking notes is an intellectual aid for you — and I hope you will very seriously consider the pros and cons of that activity in BA 302 — then, by all means, do it. Don’t think for a minute, however, that there are no negative consequences of taking notes in any class, let alone ours. My teaching style emphasizes the development/transfer of knowledge and understanding as an interactive process, not as a one-way street from the instructor’s mouth and PowerPoint slides to the student’s notebook and brain.

RWH, at 5:30 pm EDT on April 19, 2006

Respect

I can understand the need for netiquitte, however, I think that the tone and quality of student/prof intereaction begins with the professor. I consider it a real honor and priviledge to: 1) be teaching in the first place; 2) that students take classes with me and show up on regular basis; 3) WANT to communicate with me. I also tell them how honored I feel to have them in my classes, and the opportunity to teach X topic. I very rarely receive emails that are disrespectful and inappropriate, and that is saying a lot considering I get AT LEAST 1 email an hour just from students. The fact is we are very fortunate to be in a position where people trust us (students especially), are interested and care enough to listen for hours on end to what we have to say (via teaching or even after class discussions). I model this level of respect and in return, I am deeply respected by my students.

As professors, we have it darn good...I never forget that...

Very blessed and knows it,Maine Prof

Maine Prof, at 7:10 pm EDT on April 19, 2006

Familiarity is irrelevant: a real-world lesson

After 2+ decades as a software engineer, I’ve gone back to school to study a somewhat unrelated field. My department is a small one at a local university. The department is friendly and welcoming, and undergrads as well as graduate students are encouraged to address faculty by first names.

Having worked for some time in the “high-tech” world, I grew up professionally in an environment where everyone was on a first-name basis, from CEO to the guy who fixed the heating system. I quickly learned that this faux-friendliness did not affect the work assigned, or how it was evaluated. New grads who didn’t catch on so quickly invariably embarassed themselves.

The faculty in my department are teaching their students to function in this kind of environment. They may be “Dick” or “Jane” rather than “Professor Plum” or “Doctor Smith” but they are skilled at the art of being kindly hardasses. They are doing their students a great favor.

Karen, at 5:25 am EDT on April 20, 2006

I find this topic fascinating. I think the discussion comments to the fact that the roles of teachers — and students — are changing.

No longer is the teacher the sole provider of content — the internet and online libraries expand students ability to access information anytime, anywhere. This is changing the role of teachers.

Educators are demanding that students become more involved in their education. This is changing the role of students from passive to active learners. The role of students in education is changing.

The challenge is finding the middle ground where students — who are paying thousands of dollars to attend college classes (our customers)- and where teachers who are guiding the development of new knowledge can meet.

Donna, at 7:40 am EDT on April 25, 2006

At its best, e-mail provides students with another means to have their questions answered. The best of student-faculty e-mail exchanges address questions that aren’t already answered in class or on the syllabus, and allow students who can’t make it to office hours the opportunity to obtain assistance. As e-mail can be returned at my discretion, I actually prefer students to e-mail me with such questions rather than to make surprise visits outside of office hours, as the latter almost inevitably happen when I cannot see them (due to an imminent class, meeting, etc.), if they find me at all. I also found e-mail invaluable for communicating with students at a former job when I lived an hour away from campus. E-mail can help us manage our time while helping our students.

I would say, though, that it’s helpful to establish boundaries concerning e-mail early on in the term, and even to state policies in the syllabus. I answer brief questions over e-mail ("is X a scholarly journal?” “is this a strong thesis?"), but don’t “take in” (to quote a student’s wording) entire papers for comment (washing?) over e-mail. They know to come to office hours with drafts and to submit work in person ("for their protection, as e-mail sometimes doesn’t arrive"). The key is to word such a policy in supportive language rather than self-aggrandizing (call me “Dr.!") language.

It’s the irrelevant and the asked-and-answered questions that pose problems. As previous comments have suggested, the extent and nature of e-mail “problems” can vary significantly depending on the nature of one’s educational institution. I agree. Volume will be a problem for faculty teaching large lecture courses or heavy assignments; in such situations, streamlining by spelling out answers in the syllabus is a necessity (even without considering institutional requirements for research productivity, one does need time to grade papers, prepare lectures, etc.) rather than a sign of selfishness, and even the “good” questions might be tracked to T.A.s (here, the student can be given a T.A.’s address at the beginning of the term) to spread out the load. Faculty at schools with students that don’t fully understand how college works (esp. lower-division students and first-generation college students) are also more likely to ask questions that are already answered in the syllabus, but there, brief and polite referrals to the syllabus can help educate students about how the system works rather than further alienate them. Truly irrelevant messages can always be ignored. The question here is simply one of how to manage the e-mails efficiently so they work to support teaching, without allowing them to become too time-consuming.

Chris, at 6:40 pm EDT on May 10, 2006

Note-taking

I’m posting this about a year after the initial discussion so I’m not sure if anyone will read it. I was referred to this article by RWH in a recent article about teaching writing. I have a couple thoughts/experiences to share.

1. As an undergraduate in the 1980s I came to the personal realization that in certain classes, ranging from philosophy to chemistry, I learned better if I did not take notes. Instead I focused as much as possible on trying to understand the concepts in the moment and to immediately ask for deeper clarification about dimensions that I did not understand. I also always initiated study groups with classmates. I found that they often had pages and pages of notes that they did not understand, in part because they were more focused on capturing notes than on understanding the concepts and engaging in class. Of course, one option that left me more at ease with my approach is that our student government ran a lecture-note service in which we could subscribe for about $12 to $15/class and pick up the professor-approved notes once a week. The notes were often taken by graduate teaching assistants or upper class students.

2. Once when I was a Vice President of a national non-profit, I hired someone with an undergraduate degree and MBA from two different Ivy League schools plus about 4 years as a consultant and 2 years as a high school teacher. In spite of this pedigree, she could not write — even something as simple as a 2-page memo. No matter what was asked of her, her first attempt was a bulleted powerpoint. When a narrative memo was requested she just could not or would not do it. Eventually she left. I suspect that she must have known how to write at one point in order to get into and to graduate from an Ivy League school. However, she must have forgotten it along the way.

3. Last point —I think it was Arthur Levine who commented about the effectiveness of the typical lecture by characterizing it as: ”. . . the notes of the lecturer becoming the notes of the student without going through the minds of either.”

John

John S, at 8:35 am EDT on April 16, 2007