Classrooms aren’t what they once were. ..obviously, if you’ve been in a classroom recently.

In my last semester as a teaching assistant for introductory computer science at Mines, I found myself saddened when I looked up. I was even more saddened when it continued and became normalized.

What I noticed wasn’t just from freshmen. I saw it throughout my undergraduate degree, at all levels, and perhaps sometimes even moreso in my graduate degree.

What’s going on?

The average university classroom is full of uninterested students. They’re falling asleep or unnaturally energized by the latest caffeinated, sugary drink. You would be hard pressed to find a classroom where a single student doesn’t have a laptop, tablet, phone, or all three in front of them.

Students chat at full volume while the professor is talking. They come in late, or not bother to show up at all. Some students show up and put headphones over both ears.

It’s normalized for students to use ChatGPT, whether they are allowed or not; students get more for putting in less effort, and the students putting in honest work and effort get decentivized.

Who’s responsibility is it?

A common argument you might hear in reaction to someone making the points I have is: “Well, the students are paying a fortune to be here, so it’s their loss if they don’t pay attention.” or, “It’s not on the professors to manage adults.”

These points make sense and I can see these perspectives, but I would generally disagree for a few reasons:

College is the bare minimum now. For a lot of professions, college is the bare minimum, or at least that’s a common view in the engineering world. It’s no longer high school as the bare minimum; a lot of people I know think college is the bare minimum, and a graduate degree is somewhat like college once was.

The point being: I don’t think the “they’re paying a fortunte to be here” argument works anymore, because students and parents will seemingly throw money at schools anyways. Students want to be there for one reason or another, however little they may show it. ;)

The professors should care. It’s hard to gauge whether or not a professor “cares” or if they have a specific teaching style when it comes to wrangling those who are not paying attention. But, at the risk of sounding patronizing, I would encourage professors to put their foot down and try to foster a good learning environment for the students. The students are part of the reason you teach to begin with!

Learning can (and should) be fun for both parties! Learning is fun. Or, was, at one point. To me, at the university level, it feels like more of a game. People chase after As for their GPA (which ultimately is not that meaningful in the end) and cut corners because they’re under such heavy load. Teachers also are confronted with silent, uninterested classrooms (barring an energetic one every few semesters). It doesn’t have to be this way!

Learning is a fun experience: ultimately, the teachers are there to share knowledge and support students, while students are there to learn about something they want to do for the rest of their lives.

What are the solutions?

I think we’re still finding this out in the educational community, but I would offer a few ideas:

1. When possible, get the laptops and devices to go away. I can recognize that some students need to take notes or draw to focus, but encourage them to do this on good old fashioned paper.

Both teachers and students could learn from this: I’ve seen both parties get distracted in meetings and classes by a new notification or work they need to finish. It’s just too much of a distraction, even in “Do Not Disturb” modes (you’re likely to check anyways!).

..and when students get off of their devices, they pay more attention to the world around them. If you’re a teacher, you should encourage your students to talk to each other and get to know each other. If you’re a student, you should get to know people! Don’t just open your phone if it’s awkward.

2. Give more opportunities to directly show knowledge. Exams, in-class writing, or presentations are times when students can show their knowledge and (probably) don’t have access to generative AI.

3. Disallow, or selectively allow generative AI use. Especially in classes where written responses are used, disallow GenAI use. As a grader, it’s actually quite obvious to see when someone is giving way too much detail on something they know little about.

Further, in coding classes, it’s also shockingly obvious at an introductory level. I asked many freshman what nested, functional Python calls including map, zip, and lambda were doing in their code, and they had no idea. I don’t think you have to ban AI forever, but at least when learning the basics. Additionally, students should be well educated about AI and how it works. This is something we’ve been trying more in the intro track.

4. Teachers: stick up for yourselves and set boundaries. Over the course of four years of an undergrad degree, I had just one teacher who walked in the first day, and said: “Put all of your devices away now. You don’t need them. Pay attention and listen instead.” And, to my and others’ surprise - that worked.

Don’t be afraid to set those boundaries, even if it makes you appear a little more strict.

5. Tweak the flipped model. The ‘flipped classroom’ model gained traction around COVID, but now, I know myself and even other students are beginning to strongly dislike this model.

Students are paying thousands upon thousands to be told to learn on their own. I’m not saying that it has to be completely removed, but one thing that shouldn’t be sacrificed is being able to learn, talk, and demonstrate knowledge in the classroom. It’s still worth it to have in-class worksheets and activities, even in a flipped model.

I will repeat: learning should be fun for both parties; the students and the teachers. When there is a neverending abundance of distractions on devices, a normalized use of ChatGPT, and classroom models that students dislike, it’s no wonder that school is becoming more of a game than anything for students. Students want to get the grade (preferably an A for their GPA) and get out.

In Conclusion

The traditional classroom might be dead for now, but I think a lot of its ideals are seeing a renaissance. Both students and teachers have an important role to play.

Students can get off their devices and engage with the real world and take notes the old fashioned way. Be attentive - don’t have headphones in and don’t be talking to people. Seriously, try it!

Teachers can listen to students and support the way they want to learn, even if the class is set in stone as a flipped model. Teachers can also set boundaries for using devices and AI, which can really help.

The modern classroom is a classroom where everyone should be able to succeed; we just need a bit more direction as a whole. When there’s structure and enjoyment for both parties, learning will become fun and valuable again.