Korean Job Discussion Forums

earthbound14 · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Location: seoul

Ever year I have the same question....who the hell should I fail? Can I really fail that many of them? Is this really the kind of low quality that is expected from university students at universities in Korea?

Ever year without fail I get students who harldy show up for class. Loads of them.

Then I get the multitudes of students who continuously show up late or miss classes. By our own rules I should be failing them, yet so many do it that I can only assume that other Korean profs must be more relaxed.

Of course you get the students who show up for every class, but do nothing. They sleep, talk, never bring a book a pen or a notepad. They seem to assume that by showing up they will pass, even get a good grade. "But Professor I come all class, why C?" Students copy their essays and will do nothing in class unless I suggest it is for points.

I need to be very clear with them about taking notes, bringing text books, bringing notebooks, doing work...etc.

Only about 5% of my students actually do what students should do.

I want to fail at least 60% of my students. I just can't get my head around how poor the education system is here. Should I accept that this is the way it is in Korea?

Css · Joined: 27 Sep 2004 Location: South of the river

Is it the way it is in korea? do they act the same in other classes?

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

I say fail them. If they were in NA, they'd be destined to fail.

eperdue4ad · Joined: 22 May 2006

Warn them, then fail them. If you get a rep as the easy prof, you'll be setting yourself up for a lot more of this laziness. Make it a challenge, expect a lot, and weed out the bums semester by semester.

Aren't you fed up with that caliber of student for not taking you seriously, not respecting you as a teacher? I certainly am...

Darashii · Joined: 08 Jan 2008

Fail them? Why, don't do that! Then they'd feel bad about themselves. We can't have that.

chevro1et · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Location: Busan, ROK

I figure they should get the grade that they earned... and if it's an 'F', then so be it.

Ultimo Hombre · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Location: BEER STORE

Why wouldn't you fail them? I don't know where this stereotype of hard working Asian students comes from. Simply being at a school for 12 hours doesn't equal work output. I've never seen a place in need of micromanagement in my life.

nosmallplans · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Location: noksapyeong

waywardwanderer · Joined: 04 Dec 2005

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Fail them. I would.

Leslie Cheswyck · Joined: 31 May 2003 Location: University of Western Chile

You're not failing your students, your students are failing you!

Beej · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Location: Eungam Loop

Who cares. Give them all A+. You are not a real professor at a real institute of higher learning anyway. This isnt your country so you are not jeopardizing your or your family's future by letting a bunch of dummies get university degrees. Keep em happy, keep the tuition money flowing. Who loses out if you do this? Nobody.

southern boy · Joined: 29 Sep 2007

Yep. It's all about the quantity!

As long as they're raking in the Sejongs. That's all that matter for the school really, why have to make your life any harder!

earthbound14 · Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Location: seoul

I'd be failing 30-40% of my students. I tried to use clear grading rubrics when I first started but so many students just didn't meet the standards. No matter how much I simplify things, there are always a good 40% who simply don't even read, study, or do anything that would mean they should get a passing grade. So few students actually do what I ask that I have to fudge all but the top 20% of the grades.

They seem to be under the impression that showing up means they get a 'B'.

I used to work hard to explain things, to be tough on them, to fail them, but honestly, I'm tired of trying to teach adult students to be 'students'.

Our school has a great policy. Our students need to have a TOIEC score of 700 before they graduate.....currently our average is 300. Which is probably less than that because about only 15% of my students actually take the yearly mandatory test and students are simply given a 300 score (for being absent from the test).

Our school offers a bi-yearly TOIEC camp....which professors claim is not in demand because students don't enrol. Our students would rather enrol at YBM. After one meeting with our Korean staff, they sat me down and asked me what I wanted to do.....hun? "This is your meeting, this is my first time here and your TOIEC camp is scheduled to start in one month." The great meeting was a BS meeting for highly paid profs who had no intention on doing anything while the students are blamed for not doing the work. So the school turns a blind eye to cheating when students finally take the mandatory test before graduation (basically they bring in a copy of the test and copy it).

The English staff was met with resistance when we suggested that we should stop this, actually I think anger was the word used to describe the reaction.

Basically I don't think education is kept to the same standards as home and English is kind of done for 'face'.

So to fail my students 'en masse' would not really do anything but get me fired. I get far better student ratings, greater freindships with my students and have more fun if I just go with the flow.

But sometimes I'd really like to take my job more seriously...you know be a real teacher.

DomoDomo · Joined: 17 Nov 2008

Whoa, wait wait... let's not go overboard. Perhaps a D would be more prudent.