Written by Niklas Myhr
Suspend your entitlement issues.
To get the most out of your classes, you need to recognize that you need to be an active participant in the learning process. Some students sit with the arms crossed on the back row expecting to be “taught” and/or entertained by a professor up front while seeing their own roles as passive at best or distracted / absent at worst.
Breathe, don’t be so judgmental.
It is known that students make up their mind about a professor in the first few minutes of the very first class and that this first impression is rather difficult to change later on. While this largely is a reality that professors have to live with, students would be well-advised to try to be open-minded about the possibilities of actually maximizing learning in each and every class. Yes, not every professor will have the style and structure that fits you personally but if you are creative about it, you can probably find ways to learn as much as possible during the time you have to invest anyway.
Get out of your comfort zone, that’s where life begins.
Student participation in class is key. Stop playing it so safe. What is the worst thing that could happen if you say something silly? Make a point of making your voice heard in the first week of classes so it won’t be so awkward to raise your voice come mid-semester if you have not uttered a word by then.
Don’t slam that door.
My personal pet peeve… when students come and go in the middle of class. It can be bothersome if it happens a lot especially if students are so inconsiderate so that they don’t even care to close the door softly but rather leave it to close by itself with the inevitable slam as a result. I am known for staring students down for this one but perhaps I should be the one to relax a bit… or what do you think?
Eye contact.
I have not yet banned the use of electronics such as phones, tablets, or laptops in my classes. I recognize that many students make notes on their devices and sometimes I actually encourage students to look things up online during class either individually or in small improvised teams. That being said, it is not only rude to the professor to fully lose yourself in whatever distraction a computer can provide, it is also distracting to students around / behind you. I tell students to pay attention to the class lecture and discussion for at least 80 percent of the time and keep their eyes on their devices less than 20 percent of the time but every professor is different in this regard.
-Niklas Myhr