Some of my colleagues are running courses where they ask students to write essays on science subjects. Part of the assignment is to contact a Professor in the discipline and get them to help with the scientific content of the essay. The idea is for the students to make sure they have their facts correct. A side benefit is that it gets the students in touch with active researchers.
Some of us object to this procedure on the grounds that if it became widespread there would be hundreds of students looking for Professors to help them on their assignment. Most Professors have other priorities, like teaching their own classes. To some extent, our colleagues who engage in this practice are downloading their teaching responsibilities onto others.
From 1992-2000 I ran a molecular biology course where the students had to write a major essay. They were told to do the research themselves but the instructors would be available if they need help with the interpretation of some papers. If necessary, we would put them in touch with an expert but only after the student had done enough work to ask intelligent questions on difficult material.
Here's an email message that was sent to my Sandwalk address last night. How should I respond? I don't feel comfortable ignoring the message. I will feel awkward if I refuse to help. I don't had time to answer the question—it's complicated and, besides, it's not my area of expertise.
Dear Professor Moran,This makes me angry. No matter what I do, I'm going to be disappointing a student who might really benefit from a reply. In my opinion the student's Professor is at fault for assigning such a task to the students.
As part of a University assignment, I have been asked to email a group of experts to request their professional opinion on a particular question.
I have come to understand that a child with Dyspraxia should supplement their diet with a high dose of essential fatty acids. However, as non-Dyspraxic people age it is advised that they also should supplement their diet with these oils to combat age-related memory loss. Does this mean that people with Dyspraxia should augment their intake yet again when they age? If so, could this have an adverse effect on their health?
As your organisation came up in an internet search as being reputable, your answer to this question would be much appreciated.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this email and I hope to hear from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
7 comments :
I think this is a good opportunity for a short reply indicating that not only are there disciplines (e.g. biology) but areas of expertise and specialization within them. If you offer a quick, short reply indicating that it would be better to ask someone whose research and/or teaching covers the area in question, I think you'll have helped this student in more ways than one.
I would be willing to respond to a student if they had done some leg-work ahead of time. Say they lay out their hypothesis with some well thought out support from the literature. That shows that they aren't just asking for some answers, they are asking for your opinion of their hard work. That would be worthwhile, otherwise, in answering, you are doing their assignment for them.
If this is outside your area of expertise, tell the student. If it is within your area of expertise, it's up to your judgment whether the student has "earned" your expert opinion.
If the blame is with the assigning instructor, you could ask the student who their professor is and email him/her with a link to this post. Maybe they'll stop giving this assignment in the future.
Perhaps you could point them to Eszter Hargittai's excellent short article "A Primer on Electronic Communication" (http://www.insidehighered.com/workplace/2006/11/28/hargittai). It's basically advice on how to (and how not to) ask for help by email.
You could suggest the student make an appointment to discuss the question in your office.
Here's something similar. I'm a grad student and this came over the main email listserv in my research area (i.e., thousands of subscribers):
"Hi everyone. I am interested in doing some studies on culture and [X], looking at who is more likely to [one possibility for X], and who [second possibility for X]. I am hoping you might be willing to share stimulus materials with me - scenarios, questionnaires, or experimental designs that measure [X]--and particularly ones that pick up on cultural differences.
Thanks.
-[Assistant Professor at Large U.S. State University]"
I looked up this person's faculty page and they are more than 5 years post PhD. What happened to literature searches?
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