Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Four Ways to Annoy a Professor When Asking For Help (And Four Things You Should Do Instead)
Study Hacks: "I often recommend to struggling students that they talk to their professors. My philosophy: when a class is giving you trouble, figure out exactly why and then craft a customized solution. Your professor’s input is an invaluable piece of this process."
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5 comments:
I can sum up these four points very simply: Do your work before you ask questions and don't look for the easy way out, you're not going to get it. This of course is easier said than done. It is easy to get caught up in the work load. If you are going to ask for help, work at it first.
I think this is good advice and we all need to be reminded of it from time to time.
I agree with Cody. This is really good advice, and many students would be advised to take it. I often find myself in (mostly non-drama) classes where the students ask questions just to make themselves look smarter, not particularly out of any curiosity for the answer. I think that this is the same as many of the bad techniques listed in the original article- asking for help when what you want isn't really help.
Yeah, it really bugs me when people ask for help or answers without truly attempting to find them themselves. A huge part of education is learning how to work through problems, and when students reach for the easy way out, they are wasting an opportunity for learning and self-discovery. If you really want to get better, you have to be willing to put in the work, it's that simple.
These are good points made by the article and Dick talked about this a little a few days ago. These seem like the sensible things to do, but many people just want people to hand them the answers, which is not the point. Dick always asks you to try to answer your own question and doesn't ever just answer your question outright. Many people just need to try ans solve their own problems and if they are really stuck, then ask someone.
Recently, I've become more and more aware of how much the issues brought up in this article really do irritate professors. It's amazing how some students try to find the easy way out or believe that just because they're asking they should be given an immediate and complete answer. Granted, when you really don't understand something at all, it's frustrating to bang your head against it for a while, ask the professor, and get nothing. Sometimes you have to make multiple trips but I find that the more I try to figure it out myself before I ask or clarify the better I actually understand the problem and solution in the end.
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