Many have heard the complaint: "I got a bad grade in this class because it's so boring."
Some blame the subject. Some blame the books.
Whatever the case may be, instead of putting the blame on themselves, a majority of students blame the first and easiest target in class -- the teacher.
Some students say teachers can be monotone while others say the subject is a major deterrent to students' attention. At times, teachers can ramble and often repeat themselves without knowing.
"Sometimes they go over stuff that's redundant," said Dustin May, a sophomore business management major. "I usually try to teach myself from the book."
Maybe the question is, are the teachers there to entertain the students, or is their primary goal merely to recite information?
"If you are enthusiastic about what you teach, it shows," said Stacey Johnson, a foreign language teaching assistant in Spanish. "I love this language, and it shows."
Johnson said she does not use the conventional methods of teaching such as the overhead projector, group activities or teaching straight from the book.
"I try to use a variety of activities," Johnson said. "I use all five senses. I try to get as much of a person's body as possible into a language learning. We never use the book, we use it to study at home so we can come to class prepared. We play a lot of games. It's an activity based class, so you are always moving or participating."
Julia Pillow, sophomore journalism major, said she agrees with Johnson that professors should keep things interesting.
"I find it exciting when teachers are excited about what they're talking about," Pillow said.
For some students, the only way to pass the time during a boring lecture is to daydream or to fall asleep, no matter what the teacher's sleeping policy may be.
"I don't have a sleeping policy," said communication graduate teaching assistant Bryan Dawson. "Maybe I could bring in a couple of cots."
Sophomore finance major Scott Bendure said he finds it discourteous to the teacher to fall asleep during class.
"I think it is more disrespectful to fall asleep in class than to get up and leave," Bendure said. "I (get) up and leave before I fall asleep."
English professor Catherine Martin also said she doesn't have a sleeping policy because the student's grade is an indication of his or her involvement in class.
"Usually, I just let them sleep," Martin said. "If they are out of it, they soon get so far behind in class quizzes that they drop the class. An occasionally sleepy student is okay, especially in an early class, but it's a very bad sign in a later one."
Robert Washington, a senior biology major, said that professors should encourage more class participation.
"Most professors run off at the mouth," Washington said. "If they take their time to involve the students, I don't think we'll have students catching z's."
Towards the end of the semester, students get a chance to voice their opinions about their teachers through teacher evaluations. Teachers said the most rewarding aspect is when students write positive comments about their classes.
"I just try to remember the students who tell me 'I thought this was going to be boring, but you changed my mind,'" Martin said. "That especially makes me happy when it shows up on student evaluations, because I know the students aren't angling for a better grade."
Scarlett Summers, academic personnel services manager, said students' evaluations are appreciated.
"The (department chairs) review not only the numbers but the comments on the back of the evaluation, which is very important because the chairs want feedback from the students."
