January 2011
Professors routinely complain about students who
spend class time on Facebook or texting their friends or otherwise making it
clear that their attention is elsewhere. But is it acceptable for a faculty
member to deal with these disruptions by walking out of class?
Two years ago, a Syracuse
University professor set off a debate with his
simple policy: If he spots
a student texting, he will walk out of class for the day.
Now two faculty members at Ryerson University, in
Toronto, sparked discussion at their institution with a similar (if somewhat
more lenient) policy — and their university’s administrators and faculty union
have both urged them to back down, which they apparently have.
The Ryerson professors’ policy was
first reported last week in The Eyeopener
(the student newspaper) and then was picked up by other Canadian publications.
Two professors who teach an introductory engineering course in chemistry jointly
adopted a policy by posting it on the courses’ Blackboard sites. The professors
vowed to make tests more difficult, to encourage students to pay attention. And
the professors said that after three warnings about disruptions such as cell
phone discussions and movies playing on laptops, the professors would walk out
of class — and students would have to learn the rest of that day’s material
themselves. (Sources could not say whether the faculty members followed through
on their treats.)
The student newspaper described a chaotic
environment in the class where the faculty members made the threat to walk out,
with loud chatting among students and even paper airplanes being shot around the
room. A Ryerson spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm that those conditions
existed, but others at the university said that student behavior has
deteriorated in introductory courses (even if only a minority of students
misbehave). Comments posted on the student newspaper article from people who
said that they were in the classes — including comments from those critical of
the professors’ response — confirmed the rude behavior. One student wrote about
"a whole row of kids" chatting and reading Facebook throughout a recent lecture.
But this student added these questions: "Was it
really fair to leave the class based on the actions of these few students? Why
were we all reprimanded for their bad mistakes?"
The two professors — Robert Gossage and Andrew
McWilliams — did not respond to requests for comment (and have not responded to
inquiries from reporters in Canada, either).
Janet Mowat, a spokeswoman for Ryerson, issued a
statement on behalf of the university that rejected the approach used by the
professors. "Ryerson University does not endorse faculty members threatening to
abandon their class if the class is unruly nor does the university endorse
arbitrarily raising the bar for tests in the middle of the semester." The
statement went on to note that the university has a "guide to civility" and a
student code of conduct, both of which say that both students and professors are
responsible for jointly assuring a good learning environment. Students are
specifically barred from "disruption of learning and teaching."
The engineering college at Ryerson is also
starting several initiatives to help faculty members teach large classes, the
statement noted, including a special online seminar on managing large,
first-year classes; inviting a student conduct officer to participate in
orientation to discuss these issues; and adding teaching assistant support to
large classes.
Mowat said that the professors had been contacted
and that she believed they would be trying other tactics in the future to deal
with the issues.
Anver Saloojee, a professor of politics and
public administration at Ryerson who is president of the union that represents
tenure-track faculty members, said that the faculty contract would not permit
faculty members to leave their classes unless there was an issue of health or
safety. "One of the most important things we have to do is teaching," he said.
And while Saloojee said he sympathized with faculty members struggling with
inappropriate student behavior, he is not a fan of collective punishment. "You
might have a minority of students who are disruptive, but you are doing a
disservice to the students not engaging in that activity" by leaving, he said.
The university does need to do more to educate
students — especially first-year students — on acceptable behavior, he said.
And inappropriate behavior is clearly on the rise, he said, "when students have
multiple devices at their disposal" in class. Saloojee said that he has had
success from outlining expectations about behavior in the first session of each
course.
While Ryerson appears committed to
dealing with these issues without professorial walkouts, Laurence Thomas, a
professor of philosophy at Syracuse University, said that he’s sticking with his
ultimatum about students who text, although he sometimes gives a warning for the
first offense he spots. He said that since Inside Higher Ed covered his
policy, he shows students that article
on the first day of class.
Thomas said that the reason for the policy is
straight-forward: "I have the power to walk out whereas asking a student to
leave the class could result in a very awkward confrontation."
In explaining his policy to students, Thomas said
that he stresses that he himself uses text messaging (when doing so would not be
rude), as he wants students to know that his objection to texting in class does
not arise from being "clueless" about technology. "I talk about the climate of
the classroom and how each of us makes a difference in that regard."
Sometimes, he leaves class. "I actually walked
out two weeks ago and I was stunned by the extent to which the student
apologized for the behavior," he said.
Inside Higher Ed, November 29, 2010
Help us maintain freedom in teaching, research and scholarship by joining SAFS or making a donation.
