Think of it this way … if you sign up at a karate dojo, there are a ton of rules and norms you’ll need to follow. And those rules and norms will be very different dojo to dojo. That’s an understood expectation. It’s similar to college. The professor is empowered to dictate the structure and norms of their course.
And sure… The professor will dictate their expectations on day 1. If you don’t like the structure, you have 2 weeks to change the course with no penalty.
At a university, there are only so many options to meet some requirement for your program, often just one or two teachers for a given class, and at least at my school, they didn’t provide the syllabus until the start of classes. So if you disagree with the rules of the class, you may just be screwed.
Class policies shouldn’t stray too far from institution policies, and a syllabus should largely stick to defining coursework expectations, like when projects and coursework are due. I’m also of the opinion that attendance shouldn’t be part of the grade unless it’s a hands on class or something (i.e. all material for tests and homework is in the textbooks).
If your behavior causes issues in the class, you should be removed. But if your behavior merely distracts you, that should be your business. Higher level education shouldn’t hold your hand, you should succeed or fail on your own merits. A huge part of the expected outcomes should be developed self-discipline, because the whole point should be to cultivate self-motivated people who can learn and improve on their own.
Think of it this way … if you sign up at a karate dojo, there are a ton of rules and norms you’ll need to follow. And those rules and norms will be very different dojo to dojo. That’s an understood expectation. It’s similar to college. The professor is empowered to dictate the structure and norms of their course.
And sure… The professor will dictate their expectations on day 1. If you don’t like the structure, you have 2 weeks to change the course with no penalty.
I think that’s a bit different.
At a university, there are only so many options to meet some requirement for your program, often just one or two teachers for a given class, and at least at my school, they didn’t provide the syllabus until the start of classes. So if you disagree with the rules of the class, you may just be screwed.
Class policies shouldn’t stray too far from institution policies, and a syllabus should largely stick to defining coursework expectations, like when projects and coursework are due. I’m also of the opinion that attendance shouldn’t be part of the grade unless it’s a hands on class or something (i.e. all material for tests and homework is in the textbooks).
If your behavior causes issues in the class, you should be removed. But if your behavior merely distracts you, that should be your business. Higher level education shouldn’t hold your hand, you should succeed or fail on your own merits. A huge part of the expected outcomes should be developed self-discipline, because the whole point should be to cultivate self-motivated people who can learn and improve on their own.