I have had two instances of students arguing with me. I have had several ask for clarification and then show their disgruntlement, but only two have ever argued with me. 

One argued with me because the class required that initial discussion posts include a source (it could have even been the textbook, I didn’t care, it just had to be a reputable source in APA format). Apparently, when she had taken the course in the past (and was repeating because she failed the first time), that professor had not required it. I essentially said sorry, but you need to include a source or it will result in a 40% deduction (as stated in the syllabus and the school policy for the course). She kept trying to go back and forth with me, and eventually I responded that I didn’t know how much clearer I could be, I had already sent the appropriate syllabus and policy sections. She was welcome to not include a source, but she would lose points. Eventually she somewhat dropped it, although she would always bring it back up with any other grievance she had about the course. 

The second argued with me because I told her she had to write more professionally in her discussion posts. You can look at last week’s post to see an example of the type of post she would include. The following is a paraphrase of the resulting conversation.

Me: “Hello Student, I just wanted to let you know that I gave you points since it is the first week, but for the rest of the class, our posts, replies, and assignments should be in a professional tone, as this is a prerequisite for nursing school. Please let me know if you have questions!”

Student: “Hello Dr. Larsen, This is how I normally talk, it is my professional style, and no other profs have said anything about it before. I do the same thing in all of my classes. If it’s the emojis, I understand, but this is how I learn. You’re the first one to bring up my tone – I’d understand if my stuff wasn’t good, but it is. Sorry.”

Yes, she spelled my name wrong. At least if you’re going to argue, ensure you spell the professor’s name correctly. Also, are you noticing a difference in tone from this and the initial posts she wrote? I certainly did, and it only confirmed my prior suspicions. But let’s continue.

Me: “Thanks for getting back to me! I know everyone learns differently, and I understand how writing like you’re talking to a pen pal can help. I had to color coordinate topics for biochemistry, but knew that exams could not follow my color coordination. I would suggest you keep writing as you do to learn, but before posting, just rephrase it so that it is professional. Thank you!”

Student: “So I should just use ChatGPT? I’ll remove the emojis, but that’s about it, unless I’m using ChatGPT to make my response, that’s how I’ll be answering. Does that mean I’ll lose points because of my tone?”

Student (three minutes later): “You are the only prof to ever say this about my tone.”

Student (over a half hour later): “I am not excited for this class. I can’t be myself and I need to make my response conform to your standards, making me do more work to be part of this class. I will do a boring post and take personality out of it. Hopefully I can learn but I will be using ChatGPT to make my responses since I can’t be myself. Thanks!”

Student (a few minutes later):👎

Woooow. That was essentially my response as I read her messages. She must have never read Ecclesiastes 7:9, which says:

“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”

The moral of this story is to not respond angrily, like the student did. I had not responded at all (as she replied late at night), and I just thought it was funny as I saw her messages keep coming in. Also, this confirmed to me that she had been using ChatGPT to begin with, and now she knew that she was probably getting caught and so threatened to use it. Which, again, if you’re going to argue with a professor, you should not 1) threaten to use AI 2) complain about having to conform to class standards 3) threaten to use AI, again and 4) send a thumbs-down emoji. 

As a student, I would NEVER send those messages to my professor – you know, the person who is literally in charge of my grade. Next week, I will outline how you should challenge your professor appropriately. Sometimes it is needed. In these two instances, however, it was not. 

I waited a day to respond to make sure that my response was sincere, without a hint of being upset. I reported her to her advisor for her inappropriate conduct, after speaking with faculty support to confirm next steps. I sent her the AI policy, and she stopped responding. As I’ve mentioned before, I am probably one of the easiest graders you will ever meet. As long as you meet the requirements, I give 100%, and don’t dive into the specifics to be sure you’re correct. Except in this student’s case. I graded each of her assignments to the letter. There was no “hey, you got all the formatting requirements, I’m not going to double check your references and grammar.” I did verify her references (and turns out she provided dead links for some of them). I made sure I thoroughly, but still fairly, graded her. 

In college (and even in work), your tone is very important. If I gave a rant like she did to my boss, I would get a talking to. There is a right way to complain about requirements to your professor. But first, you need to make sure you have ground to stand on. We’ll dive into that next week.  

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