Chapter 7 - 7

07 Office Hours

Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor. Fill in the diagram with the information that you hear.

W: Good afternoon, Professor Moreno. I was hoping I could talk to you for a couple of minutes.

M: Sure, Marcy. What’s on your mind?

W: I just saw my midterm evaluations on the website, and, I have to say, I’m a little disappointed about my participation grade.

M: Let me pull up your file. OK, I got you down with a B minus. That’s not a bad grade.

W: I understand that. What I don’t understand is why it’s not ab A. I mean I haven’t missed even one class all semester. I’m here every single time, and I’m always prepared.

And after talking to some of the other students in the class, we all agree that I’m one of the most vocal students in class.

M: Well, Marcy, although I certainly appreciate your good attendance, that’s really not all there is to it.

W: Wait, but it’s not as if I just show up and stay quiet for an hour and a half. In fact, I make a point of making at least three comments per class. That’s more than what some people could say for their own participation. Some people never say anything at all.

M: That’s true, but to be fair, most of the other students to participate pretty regularly.

W: I know. I guess my point is that I just don’t really get how I could have earned a B minus so far.

I’ve been working for an A plus, and I didn’t expect the participation grade to be dragging down my average. I try really hard in class.

M: I can see that you do, and I appreciate that. Let me explain something to you, though − I don’t give anything away in my class. That means you have to work for everything.

W: But I do.

M: You may think you do, but from this conversation alone it becomes apparent that your attitude about participation is not at all what I’m looking for.

W: Sorry, I’m not really following. What are you looking for exactly?

M: Have you ever heard the expression “quality over quantity”?

W: Yeah.

M: What I’m getting at is that I don’t only expect for my students to speak up in class. I also want to make sure that people are adding quality contributions to the discussion.

W: Oh. I’m sorry, but would you mind explaining what you mean by quality participation? Obviously have different ideas about what that is.

M: Marcy, I don’t mean that your comments aren’t interesting. But ultimately, some comments are more relevant to the discussion than others. It’s those kinds of comments that the others can learn from, which is what we want, obviously.

W: So I just need to try to keep my comments more on-topic than?

M: Well yes, I think it would help if you could limit your in-class commentary to things that are immediately relevant to the discussion. Otherwise, it’s just distracting to the others.

W: OK, I can do that. How else could I improve the quality of my participation?

M: I would advise that you pay more attention to your interactions with your peers and try to be more attentive to what others are saying.

W: Like how? I don’t get it.

M: OK, you mentioned earlier that you try to make at least three contributions every class.

W: Uh, huh. I thought it was a good way to make myself participate.

M: I can see that, but don’t you think that maybe by doing that, you tend to focus more on meeting your quota rather than really listening and responding to what others have to say?

W: Oh wow, yeah, I can see that. I never meant for it to be that way… I guess I was just really focused on nailing this one part of the class, but I see what you mean now, I really do.

M: It just happens that way sometimes. But now you know how you can improve, and that means you can bring your B minus up to an A plus by the end of the semester if you keep the things we talked about in mind.

1) What can be inferred about the student’s attendance?

2) What does the professor imply when he says this: Have you ever heard the expression “quality over quantity”?

3) What does the professor imply about the student’s interactions with her peers?