Professor under fire for telling students they have to work hard.

[Sparko]

Professor draws ire for saying students will have to work hard and avoid drinking

[RumTumTugger]

Professor draws ire for saying students will have to work hard and avoid drinking

[TheWall]

Everything I have ever been taught concerning education involved me putting aside my time to focus on tasks. How have we gotten so befuddled that that fact escapes folks.

[Darth Executor]

the professor's comments are dumb (and the thread title is not really representative of what he actually said) and in the current climate they will trigger a gross overreaction that ends up making the experience bad for everyone involved.

[Sparko]

the professor's comments are dumb (and the thread title is not really representative of what he actually said) and in the current climate they will trigger a gross overreaction that ends up making the experience bad for everyone involved.

sorry I didn't think I could fit "and avoid drinking" into the title

[mossrose]

Natural science - survival of the fittest - let them at the booze. It will weed out the stupid.

[Mountain Man]

the professor's comments are dumb (and the thread title is not really representative of what he actually said) and in the current climate they will trigger a gross overreaction that ends up making the experience bad for everyone involved.

I know some professors pride themselves on how few students are able to pass their course, so his comments were a little over the top, but the reason why people are objecting - "He'll upset the fragile snowflakes!" - is what I think is stupid. We're on the path to creating a generation that will have great self-esteem but be as dumb as rocks and wholly unequipped to cope with real life.

[Sparko]

Natural science - survival of the fittest - let them at the booze. It will weed out the stupid.

Yep. If they want to waste thousands of dollars (or pounds in this case) per year to fail courses and get drunk, that is their right. But to whine when they are warned that if they do so they will fail is ridiculous.

[Darth Executor]

sorry I didn't think I could fit "and avoid drinking" into the title

i think the part about having to work like a machine with no leisure time is more relevant, what caused the actual outrage, and is a dumb comment that will set his students up for burnout (and thus failure).

[Sparko]

i think the part about having to work like a machine with no leisure time is more relevant, what caused the actual outrage, and is a dumb comment that will set his students up for burnout (and thus failure).

it wasn't like he was giving them orders, just advice. He was telling them that if they don't put serious effort into his course they will fail. They can take it or leave it.

[Cow Poke]

Natural science - survival of the fittest - let them at the booze. It will weed out the stupid.

Especially the ones whose last living words were "Hey Bubba, hold my beer and watch this!"

[One Bad Pig]

it wasn't like he was giving them orders, just advice. He was telling them that if they don't put serious effort into his course they will fail. They can take it or leave it.

We were warned by my Intro to Astrophysics professor before the first class that the course would be hard, and if we weren't sure we could hack it we should drop the course so someone else could take it. Only about a third of the starting class size passed it; pretty much everyone else had dropped out.

[Cow Poke]

We were warned by my Intro to Astrophysics professor....

They didn't have an "Intro to Intro to Astrophysics" class?

[ke7ejx]

I mean come on, we're talking Cambridge one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. You can't reasonably expect to be allowed to slack off. While one should balance study and social (not that I'm one to talk, I only study these days), if you want to make a good investment into your future you had darn well be willing to put your heart and soul into your courses. That's basically what this instructor is getting at.

[Psychic Missile]

I mean come on, we're talking Cambridge one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. You can't reasonably expect to be allowed to slack off. While one should balance study and social (not that I'm one to talk, I only study these days), if you want to make a good investment into your future you had darn well be willing to put your heart and soul into your courses. That's basically what this instructor is getting at.

It looks like the objections are coming from people who think the professor is not allowing a balance, which apparently is an issue at Cambridge and potentially deadly.