Editorial by Kernel Staff. E-mail [email protected].

Classrooms aren’t always the site of blissful learning. Students and professors alike can be less than enamored with the idea of going to class.

Recent Kernel online polls sought to ascertain what are the causes of friction between professors and students. The results showed that most professor-student interaction issues could be easily fixed.

If students would resist the urge to use technology during class, a major source of tension would vanish.

Most professor poll-respondents ranked texting or not turning a cell phone off as the worst things a student could do in class. By turning off their phones, students could remove temptation and simultaneously eliminate the risk of having an embarrassing ringtone interrupt a lecture on cancer.

Professors also highly ranked showing up late or talking in class. Students could improve their rapport with professors by simply leaving more time to get to class and keeping the chatter to a minimum.

Classes are, after all, the reason we are at school. If you miss class time because you are late or miss class material because you are talking, you are not just annoying your professor. You are hurting yourself.

Professors could also improve the class environment. Students ranked requiring unneeded textbooks, by far, as the most inconsiderate things professors can do. Professors need to remember that most college students do not have a large expendable incomes. Even a heavily used textbook could cost a student $100. For a college student, $100 can easily pay for food or a utilities bill for an entire month.

Other significant issues students mentioned were requiring assignments not required on the syllabus or holding class over. Some students abuse their time, but many students are peeved by classes held over because they have a professor across campus who will penalize them if they are late for their next class.

Or, they are stressed by an unscheduled assignment because it will inhibit them from working on a paper they have allocated time for since the beginning of the semester.

Professors should remember that by having control over a student’s time, they have control over a part of their quality of life. Students should remember that professors do not view the classroom as a means to an end — the classroom is their end, and it is their life work to teach. With some mutual respect, professors and students can improve the classroom.