Yes. But they’ll feel like they’re the one who failed.
Today, I had 3 students (out of 11) show up for what I thought was a scintillating talk about the immediate aftermath of publishing The Origin. Wilberforce and Huxley! Huxley humiliating Owen on the hippocampus minor question! Fleeming Jenkins’ extremely awkward question! Darwin’s epic genetics failure! How can you not want to discuss these dramatic events?
Maybe I’m not as scintillating as I thought. How are these students going to learn anything if they don’t keep up? Less significantly, how do they expect to pass?
Retirement looks ever more attractive.
P.S. I should mention that my entire class is not at risk of failing. Some are. Others may be working on a lower grade than they want.
Maybe coming to grips with the current existential drama is already more than they can handle.
I’m amazed that students in college give so little regard to soaking up the knowledge of a professor while they have the chance.
I considered it to be very important to attend classes and participate in discussions.
It seems that those attitudes have mostly disappeared since the ’70s.
There was one young lady who was in several classes with me. She showed up on the first day to pick up the syllabus, assignments and test dates. She would show up on the test dates to take the tests.
The rest of us were fairly resentful that she always passed each class with high grades. I gave her the benefit of the doubt that she may have had a good reason for avoiding classes, but I felt that she missed out on the rich experience of participating in classroom discussions/debates. I suppose the attitude of a teacher was inborn in me.
I remember well the one day that my boyfriend/now husband of 48 yrs coaxed me into skipping classes.
We had a nerdy day-long date that he had planned. We attended a special presentation at the planetarium in Forest Park, then had a picnic lunch under the trees, and spent the afternoon strolling through the St. Louis Zoo.
Other than absences caused by illness, that was the first time that I had ever ditched classes in my life!
It is a sweet memory, though.
I hope they’re all having sweet memories, then.
It’s a creationist plot. They realized sending ignorant loudmouths only increased your resolve.
But stonefaced non-interaction? That’ll drive you straight to retirement.