Assumptions Page What I Assume and Expect JamesHayes-Bohanan, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Geography Revised: December 29, 2005

Often students are not sure where they stand, or what a professor expects. This list of assumptions is intended to help students understand what is expected in my classes. You may find that other professors have similar expectations, although I encourage you to discuss this with them.

1. All of my students have great potential.
2. Students take responsibility for their own learning.
3. I can expect students at Bridgewater State College to be just as capable as the students I have taught or studied with at major universities, because they are!
4. All students are in my class because they desire to learn something. Otherwise, they would not be paying good money to go to college.
5. Students who wish to earn credits without working and learning have switched to other courses.
6. Students understand that it is possible to fail a course. Unlike high school, the requirements for passing a college course go beyond merely showing up or making a good effort.
   
7. Students at Bridgewater have perhaps considered attending a technical college, but decided that they want the breadth of a four-year, liberal arts program. This means that they are willing to do difficult intellectual work in fields that are not directly related to future employment, and to trust that it will eventually all make sense. They will not waste their time and energy wondering how each fact or skill they learn is connected to future employment. The connections are usually neither direct nor predictable.
8. Learning is more valuable than credit hours.
9. General education courses - which constitute half of an undergraduate curriculum- are as important as courses in one's major. Both faculty and students should act accordingly.
10. My class fits the personal schedule of each student in the class. Otherwise, they would have waited until a more convenient time to take the course. Students check the holiday and final exam schedule early, and plan accordingly.
11. Exams are important events. Students put them on their personal calendars at the beginning of the semester, and do everything they can to avoid missing them.
12. Students spend two to three hours studying for each hour the class is scheduled to meet.
13. In courses where I provide lecture notes online, all students have read them before class.
14. Each of my courses is a semester long discussion of a set of ideas. I provide a framework and resources for the discussion, but I do not provide the entire discussion.
15. It is rude to arrive late to, or leave early from, class.
16. Any laptops present in my classroom are there for academic, not social, purposes. They will not be used for IM, e-mail, or games.
    
17. Any laptops present in my classroom will not distract nearby students with offensive or provocative material.
    
18. Sometimes genuine crises arise, for which students may need to excuse themselves from class or arrive late. In such cases, they will sit near the doors, and be as quiet as possible when arriving or leaving. 
19. I will not hear cell phones during my classes.
    
20. Each student has - and regularly uses - a Bridgewater State College e-mail account and Blackboard account.
21. Students who send e-mail to a professor will check for an e-mail response before asking, "Did you get my e-mail?"
22. Students will use the name of the course at the beginning of the subject line of each e-mail message (e.g., "GE196 - question about tides" or "GE307 - missing class for medical emergency"). Otherwise, messages are easily lost.
    
23. Students read the assigned readings prior to each class.
24. Each student has a dictionary, in order to look up unfamiliar words.
25. In books with a glossary, students first check the glossary, as some words are used in very specific ways in geography texts.
26. Students know what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, and the consequences for violations.
27. Students will not turn in somebody else's writing without proper attribution.
28. Students understand the purposes of citations and how to use them to avoid plagiarism.
29. Students know that a google search is not the same thing as research.
30. Students know when to ask a librarian for assistance.
31. Students know that wikipedia is not a valid resource for research, because anybody can post to it. Although wikipedia is self-correcting in theory, in practice a mistake can remain unchallenged for months or years, and mistakes are easier to see than corrections!
    
32. All written work is proof-read before it is turned in.
33. Just because an essay is printed on a laser printer, it is not a final copy unless it has been proofread.
34. I do not know everything, even in courses I have taught many times.
35. College should be treated as a job, in order to practice punctuality, neatness, reasoning skills, computer skills, communication skills, decorum, and all of the other things that make liberal arts graduates employable.
36. Even students who have outside responsibilities will plan to spend some time on campus outside of classroom hours. Otherwise, students will not have time to take advantage of the many learning opportunities provided by the campus community. These include special lectures, library facilities, computing facilities, opportunities to work on group projects, and - perhaps most importantly - the opportunity for random interactions with other students and faculty!
37. I should be available to students through office hours, additional appointments, telephone calls, or e-mail.
38. All students know what is in the syllabus for each class they take.
39. Students who do not find me by casually dropping by my office will try one of the many other ways I make myself available, including hours posted on the door of my office and on my web site.
40. Students have access to computers, either at home or at the College, and they have some ability to use them.
41. Students who are unfamiliar with computers will avail themselves of the free computer training available through the Information Services Department.
42. Students with computer problems will seek help from computer specialists, friends, or me.
43. Students know how to obtain information from the World Wide Web, or are willing to learn how to do so.
44. Students who are writing for my class have read my writing page .
45. All of my students are worthy of respect, from me and from each other.
46. My students do have a life outside of my classes, and I should respect that, while striving to ensure that outside commitments do not erode the quality of their educational experience.
47. I have probably forgotten some of my assumptions.