PAC Student Media

By Peter Maciel
Pulse Staff Reporter

With irritation in the air, students and professors voiced their pet peeves of academic life. Many times these issues go unsaid, causing stress and miscommunication between the student body and professors.

Issues include grades, lack of communication and student participation. This list consists of the pet peeves that riled Palo Alto College student and professors up the most:

1. Tardiness

Professors could not agree more when discussing students and their tardiness. The few professors interviewed spoke about the cringe they get when students are late. Most professors could not stress this issue enough. Missing pieces of the class can have a negative impact on the student’s learning, plus tardiness causes a disruption to classmates and the professor.

2. Mobile out

Using a cell phone during class can prove sometimes beneficial, but for some professors, cell phone use is just not something they abide. The quality of a lesson becomes less effective with cell phone use because of students’ multi-tasking.

“Attention is split with cell phone use. How could you learn with that distraction?” said Maria Yanez, a Sociology and Humanities professor.

3. Late bloomer

Sometimes, the ambition or focus of a student develops late in the semester and as finals draw near, extra credit assignments become a student’s expectation.

“Students who are borderline passing, with finals very close, are almost demanding extra credit,” said Peter Myers, a History professor.

4. Spice it up, professor

Most professors are good, according to many students, but a few dropped the hammer on the creativity of many professors.

“I enjoy my professors very much, but they tend to stick to the book,” said Sharon Sutherland, a Biology major. She also said some traditional methods of teaching are becoming boring and harming the attentiveness of students.

5. Einsteins get no love

Getting help is not hard to find at Palo Alto College, especially when it comes to subjects like algebra or writing. However, students like Sutherland, who expect more advanced tutoring opportunities–think calculus and physics–get the short end of the stick.

6. Progress?

While many students have great professors who post assignments and grades in a timely manner, others do not have the same luck. According to many students, their professors are forgetting to return emails, update grades and even post assignments. This type of behavior can leave a student questioning his/her status in the course.

“I don’t like that my professor takes weeks to post grades. I would like to have my grades sooner to keep up with my own status as a student,” said Brianna Garcia, a sophomore Biology student.

The voices have been heard with students’ and professors’ concerns brought to life. Professors had a lot to say about things like student distractions and drive. Students also spoke their mind about professors’ weaknesses. To ease the irritation of pet peeves, awareness of said irritants is the first step toward resolution.