7 Things Professors Do that Annoy Students

Professors may be experts, but we’re certainly not perfect.

Being vague about criteria for course success, refusing to give As, wearing distracting clothing, and spitting on students while talking are just a few of the things professors do that irritate students.

This post is the flip side to my post 12 Ways to Tick Off Your Professor.

Straight from students I interviewed, here are 7 Things Professors Do That Irritate Students:

1. Email fails

Students have a lot of complaints about the way professors use email, ranging from having poor email etiquette (like using poor subject lines and writing in incomplete sentences), to taking up to a week to respond to messages.

2. Vague expectations

Students want to succeed. Professors who are vague about guidelines or deadlines and those who grade opposite of what is stated on the syllabus frustrated them. Students want concrete information about expectations.

3. Being unprepared

We think we can fake it, but we can’t. Students can tell when we’re unprepared for class, and it harms our credibility.

4. Being late

Multiple students I interviewed for this post mentioned professors either being tardy for class or ending class late. They also hate it when professors cancel classes after the class session already should have started.

5. Arbitrary grading

Contrary to popular belief, students don’t want to be handed grades. Students are annoyed by professors who give people As who don’t deserve them because it cheapens their hard work. Students also are irritated by professors who openly state that they don’t give As.

More than anything, students want assignments back promptly and they want to understand what they’ve done wrong. They also don’t want to lose credit because you don’t agree with their views.

6. Changing rules

Students are annoyed by professors who add major assignments to the syllabus in the middle of the semester or those who change assignment due dates the day they are due, seemingly disregarding their hard work and rewarding those who procrastinated.

7. Killing them with PowerPoint

Professors’ poor attempts to use technology, specifically slide presentations, annoy students. Students don’t want professors reading them slides or showing slides packed with way too much information. They want to be entertained and engaged with the material being presented.

So, professors, least we think we are perfect, here is a list of some pretty obvious faults. I just hope I’m not spitting on any students!

Let’s Talk Nerdy!

What are things your professors do that really annoy you?