Biggest university/college/school pet peeves.

[CAPTCHA]

I attend the Open University and everything works a bit different than a brick uni, but my top problems would be:

1: Since it an open system you get all sorts of people of different background, age and experience in a course. I guessing that most the people already experienced in a subject just stay quite and get on with things, but occassionaly you'll get one who want to feel validated and start posting stuff on the forums that way above the level that people are at. No one understands what they are going on about, it's demoralising and it's of no benefit to anyone. But where are these people and their advanced knowledge when someone is having trouble and asking for help?

2: Tuition, or rather the lack of it. All students are issued a tutor, but they seem unable to help with any questions relating to the course. For example, last year I was having trouble getting to grips with a concept and so I sent my questions to my tutor, hoping he would be able to clarify it for me. His reply was that he couldn't tell me anything about it because it pertained to information that I would be assessed on. That just blows my mind. "sorry, we can't actually teach you this because you are going to be graded on it".

3: Poorly concieved word limits in assignments. Write 1000 words on this subject using no source other than this one supplied sentance -or- write the entire history of of everything in 40 words or less.

 

[Colour Scientist]

It just comes off as a bit rude to the professor like one doesn't take their education seriously. As for the comment of that they earned their place, perhaps that could be said twenty years ago when it was a bit harder to get into colleges. Nowadays colleges are mostly a business (well in the United States) though that is an entirely different issue. I'm surprised many people are defending those that wear pajama pants to class, but I see many people complaining about those who wear sagging "hiphop" pants when in their neighborhoods. Certain social settings should at least require a decent presentation. One doesn't wear pajama pants to a funeral, but I'm sure some will defend that as being that they will be comfortable in their time of loss.

I'm not saying to outlaw it. Just saying that it is very tacky.

I don't see how their choice in clothes reflects how much they put into their education. That's an incredibly judgemental attitude you have there. College does not equate with a funeral.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

From what I can tell here, Unis in the US suck.

 

[Ziame]

1. Group responsibility.

Oh, two out of thirty people are talking? EVERYONE GETS EXTRA HOMEWORK

2. Physical Education

I don't fucking need your gymnastics, just leave me the fuck alone and I'd probably spend this time on a bicycle

3. Group-work
I hate group-work for grades. I like to work in group with people that want to do something though. So much hate I bear for it I've always done everything just to get an A because everyone was a fucking retard or acting like one. I don't know why everyone thinks that group-work=leisure time=I-can-turn-off-the-brain

4. I don't need X - tards.

I know I said that about PE, but PE is just a source of mockery and boredom (boredom for me - never been mocked, though i've seen people with A-grades just break up in tears because they couldn't handle something physical. that's retarded.

But, tards that go "I'M ON MATH-PHYSICS PROFILE I NO NEED LITRATOORE" Yes, you do. Being ignorant is nothing to be proud of.
"I'M ON LA-COURSE FUCK THIS MATH SHIT" please tell me again how bank cheated you out of money

 

[purf]

My biggest pet peeve about my university education?

That must surely be... everything.[footnote]With the exception of our secretary who is awesome. Thank you, Anne. You are awesome.[/footnote]
No, I can't elaborate, Escapist's severs couldn't handle it. I will say, though, that anything dealing with the actual subject feels like I'm in a three year long elementary school's project week and that 85% of my fellow students are thus right where they belong.

 

[Caine Master]

People that don't look where they are going. Do student just forget everything that their learned when they were kids. Look both ways before you cross the road dummies. I don't care if you have to look away from your phone, it cant be that dam important.

This is more for any school, but when you have full class and every class has to give a big project at the same time. How the hell i'm I to do all of this work, and get a job, and have any type of a social life.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Here's another, and one people might agree with me on, I hate when I see girls dolled up in makeup strolling to class in pajama pants. It kind of cheapens the whole feeling that this is an actual place of learning.

They obviously earned their place there, why should they be able to wear what they're comfortable in?

I remember going to seminars and lectures in pyjamas. I miss those days.

And of course in first year I had a 7am seminar on Fridays and an open mic on Thursdays that I didn't get home from until 2am. For the entire year I rolled up to that thing in the sweat stained clothes from the night before. Occasionally I showered.

People who think that university will teach you a 'job'.

'Historian' is not my job, it refers to a skillset which you won't learn from reading Wikipedia.

At least you get that, any time I get asked it's "Oh, so you're going to be a teacher?", I hate that question.

OP: Group work, I think it's an only-child thing but I just hate it. Also people who raise their hand in class but, instead of asking a question, they try to show off how much they know. Save it for your assignments.

You would have hated me in Sci-Fi seminars. It always started as a question, but then it ended with me and the tutor discussing really in-depth sci-fi stuff. We'd be talking about Metropolis and whether Frankenstein or Gulliver's Travels was the first work of science-fiction while the rest of the class were like 'aren't we talking about The Matrix?'

I never got the teacher thing, but I did get the 'what exactly can you do with an English degree?' thing.

I hate groups if they're bad groups. Unfortunately by bad I also mean students who couldn't keep up with me and my ideas, which was a lot of them in some classes (see above re: sci-fi) I'd be talking about bringing together a complete multi-media presentation of cryberpunk themes referencing Neuromancer's beginnings to the post-cyberpunk movement seen through the medium of Japanese influences on both the original creators of cyberpunk and how it has now come around full circle with works like Ghost in the Shell and they'd reply 'how about a power-point about The Matrix?'

Thankfully my Shakespeare groups were much much faster on the ball. They could actually stretch my work further (I just sort of assumed they were stretching themselves as well.) we once did a presentation in the form of a musically accompanied sonnet in tribute to Shakespeare.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

Lol, last year we marked our peers, accounting for 10% of the project mark. My team got sent emails saying that it was highly suspicious that we'd all received 10/10 from each other and unless we changed them or came up with bloody good justifications we'd all get 0 for that bit.

Meh, at least you tried. Our class was admonished a little by the tutor, but nothing actually happened and the marks were still counted. In your case, I would have argued that the reason you are doing the course is that you are not currently fully qualified in the subject. Given your limited knowledge, as far as you are aware your peers were indeed deserving of 10/10. Peer marking is an idiotic system to begin with. How can someone who is not an expert accurately and with sound conscience judge the contribution of others?

I think the idea is that by honestly assessing others, we gain a greater understanding of what is required and this can improve our own skills. Similarly with group work the idea is to get better at working as part of a team.

Lets face it; most people will spend most of their lives working in teams. Learning to deal with the inevitable team members who slack off, either by compensating for them or learning how to get them to pull their weight, is probably a more important life skill than anything you get examined on.

Also, if I'm working with people, I have a pretty good idea of how much work people are doing, and how useful it is to the project, so in those terms I feel you can give an accurate representation of people's contribution.

Its different if you're marking each others essays or something, in that case you definitely have a point.

 

[NinjaSniperAssassin]

People who set up booths at the entrances of the various buildings. Guess what, I already have a part-time job, I don't want your card, just let me get to class!

Professors who tell you that the newest edition of the textbook is ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY, and then finding out that the older editions going for a third of the price are virtually identical except for specific case studies or page numbers. Especially infuriating when the professor in question wrote the book.

Being put into groups where I'm the only one who cares. I like group work in general, just as long as everyone contributes.

Required classes that are only available at 7PM. I don't like missing my hockey games!

People who send out emails asking for the notes from the previous class but don't specify which class they mean. I don't know everyone in all of my classes by name!

But the worst? Referencing. I understand why I need to give credit to authors whose ideas I use, but having different types of referencing for different classes, and all the styles being so specific, is a complete pain in the backside. Especially when I have three papers due in the same week, each with at least 10 sources, and each using a different style of referencing.