10 Things Every College Lecturer Hates! (via @lisawade)

The new academic year starts today in the National College of Ireland - new and continuing students are getting lots of advice about everything. Here's some more advice from Dr Lisa Wade, via Business Insider, who writes about the 10 Things Every College Professor Hates. She checked with colleagues about their pet peeves and here is the list of "Don'ts" that she and her colleagues came up with:

Image source: Above The Law.

1. Don’t use unprofessional correspondence
2. Don’t ask the professor if you “missed anything important” during an absence
3. Don’t pack up your things as the class is ending
4. Don’t ask a question about the readings or assignments until checking the syllabus first
5. Don’t get mad if you receive critical feedback
6. Don’t grade grub.
7. Don’t futz with paper formatting
8. Don’t pad your introductions and conclusions with fluff
9. Don’t misrepresent facts as opinions and opinions as facts
10. Don’t be too cool for school

Check the article for more detail on each, but I particularly liked #2 and #10 from the list. I too get the "did I miss anything important" question, and wonder which parts of my classes are not important. I also get annoyed when students think that downloading the notes from Moodle is a good substitute for class. Most of my notes for each class can be read in a few minutes - yet I might spend over an hour talking about a short section. As for #10 - I get it, students are bored in my classes. I teach Business Analysis, Statistics, and Project Management  - not the most exciting subjects in the world, but we still have to get through them. I also get it that I am an old man compared to young students - at 54 years of age I am about 35 years older than most undergrads. Don't make the mistake that because I am "old" that I'm also stupid!