BY TEH WOON YA
“What is she doing?”
“Why is he speaking without thinking?”
“Can you just stay quiet?”
Let’s be honest, have you ever thought of any of these whenever your course mates acted or behaved out of the ordinary while in the midst of lessons?
Students could easily identify different types of student behaviors that they might find distracting or annoying in a lecture or tutorial class.
Check out the five types of students listed below, and see if your course mates fit into any of these categories.
1. The Criticizer
As the title suggests, the students who fall under this group always criticizes their classmates or lecturers in class.
However, what makes it worse is that most of them think that they are giving out fair comments, and do not find their words carrying any offensive meaning which might hurt the feelings of others.
“I have encountered criticizers in most of my classes, who will judge anyone even the lecturers, on one’s appearance, talking method, language proficiency, teaching style and so on,” said Taylor’s Business School student Michelle Cheong Ying Hooi, 18.
She added that when one is dissatisfied and started complaining, friends who would like to concentrate in class might get distracted just to entertain him or her.
2. The Egoistic
According to a study done by Joshua May on understanding egoism, psychological egoism refers to the motivational state of an individual that is ultimately egoistic, where they often desire things that they devote to their own sake or interest.
These students with high egoism would want the other classmates to follow a certain desired flow, answer all questions raised by the lecturers, could not accept others’ opinions and will never admit their mistakes even when they are wrong.
School of Communication (SOC) lecturer Doris Lim Swee Lian, 63, said, “I need to tolerate or change a topic whenever students with high ego needs require me to pander to them.”
3. The Boss
This boss is not referring to the usual boss, but it emphasises on the students who treat their friends like a worker or maid by ordering them to fulfill their needs and wants such as buying drinks, jotting down notes, doing tutorial tasks and so on.
SOC student Yue Pek Chee, 21, shared that she encountered this type of student previously who ordered her to take down all lecture notes. However, what she found annoying was when the student laughed out loud while watching drama on his device.
Based on a study done by Thomas Hurka, there are three elements of friendship including mutual caring, having shared activity and intimacy such as spending time together and helping one another, instead of solely taking advantages from friends.
4. The Joker
At this point, some of you will definitely be wondering why ‘the joker’ is included in this list. These students are the ones who often tell jokes to their friends sitting beside or even to the whole class loudly when the lecturers are explaining.
Some might define them as the ‘happy viruses’ in class, but there are also students who think otherwise.
“My friend thinks that he’s brightening up the atmosphere of the class whenever he’s making jokes, but in fact he’s actually distracting the flow of concentration, creating awkward silences and slowing class progress” said SOC student Cheong Sin Hwa, 21.
5. The Toilet Companion
“Hey, would you want to go to the loo together?”
The question above answered all your queries about what does ‘the toilet companion’ means. These people, especially the female students, often ask their friends to accompany them whenever they are in a hurry to the toilet.
It is understandable that females are more relational and less independent in a way that they would prefer to be in a pair or in a group, but this behavior might interrupt the class when they whisper to one another, passing by their classmates, or slow walk in and out of the lecture hall.
“I think that they utilise toilet as their own private conversation area, and I only get distracted when they would like to pass through the students in class,” said School of Computing and IT student Lee Wei Liang, 19.
Sometimes, we as student, often forget to reflect on our own behavior and take everything for granted. Do consider whether the action, including those which are not mentioned above, will result in discomfort or disturbance to your friends and others before doing it.
Together we can create a better study environment!
“What is she doing?”
“Why is he speaking without thinking?”
“Can you just stay quiet?”
Let’s be honest, have you ever thought of any of these whenever your course mates acted or behaved out of the ordinary while in the midst of lessons?
Students could easily identify different types of student behaviors that they might find distracting or annoying in a lecture or tutorial class.
Check out the five types of students listed below, and see if your course mates fit into any of these categories.
1. The Criticizer
As the title suggests, the students who fall under this group always criticizes their classmates or lecturers in class.
However, what makes it worse is that most of them think that they are giving out fair comments, and do not find their words carrying any offensive meaning which might hurt the feelings of others.
“I have encountered criticizers in most of my classes, who will judge anyone even the lecturers, on one’s appearance, talking method, language proficiency, teaching style and so on,” said Taylor’s Business School student Michelle Cheong Ying Hooi, 18.
She added that when one is dissatisfied and started complaining, friends who would like to concentrate in class might get distracted just to entertain him or her.
2. The Egoistic
According to a study done by Joshua May on understanding egoism, psychological egoism refers to the motivational state of an individual that is ultimately egoistic, where they often desire things that they devote to their own sake or interest.
These students with high egoism would want the other classmates to follow a certain desired flow, answer all questions raised by the lecturers, could not accept others’ opinions and will never admit their mistakes even when they are wrong.
School of Communication (SOC) lecturer Doris Lim Swee Lian, 63, said, “I need to tolerate or change a topic whenever students with high ego needs require me to pander to them.”
3. The Boss
This boss is not referring to the usual boss, but it emphasises on the students who treat their friends like a worker or maid by ordering them to fulfill their needs and wants such as buying drinks, jotting down notes, doing tutorial tasks and so on.
SOC student Yue Pek Chee, 21, shared that she encountered this type of student previously who ordered her to take down all lecture notes. However, what she found annoying was when the student laughed out loud while watching drama on his device.
Based on a study done by Thomas Hurka, there are three elements of friendship including mutual caring, having shared activity and intimacy such as spending time together and helping one another, instead of solely taking advantages from friends.
4. The Joker
At this point, some of you will definitely be wondering why ‘the joker’ is included in this list. These students are the ones who often tell jokes to their friends sitting beside or even to the whole class loudly when the lecturers are explaining.
Some might define them as the ‘happy viruses’ in class, but there are also students who think otherwise.
“My friend thinks that he’s brightening up the atmosphere of the class whenever he’s making jokes, but in fact he’s actually distracting the flow of concentration, creating awkward silences and slowing class progress” said SOC student Cheong Sin Hwa, 21.
5. The Toilet Companion
“Hey, would you want to go to the loo together?”
The question above answered all your queries about what does ‘the toilet companion’ means. These people, especially the female students, often ask their friends to accompany them whenever they are in a hurry to the toilet.
It is understandable that females are more relational and less independent in a way that they would prefer to be in a pair or in a group, but this behavior might interrupt the class when they whisper to one another, passing by their classmates, or slow walk in and out of the lecture hall.
“I think that they utilise toilet as their own private conversation area, and I only get distracted when they would like to pass through the students in class,” said School of Computing and IT student Lee Wei Liang, 19.
Sometimes, we as student, often forget to reflect on our own behavior and take everything for granted. Do consider whether the action, including those which are not mentioned above, will result in discomfort or disturbance to your friends and others before doing it.
Together we can create a better study environment!