Archive for the ‘Stories’ Category

Steve Wilkinson makes an important point about helping clarify the lines between real and fake work.  We certainly hear a lot about fake work in education, and clearly many teachers don’t add the context for work for the students that Steve does.  Without it, students may interpret work as “busy work” and either dismiss it and do something else that is truly fake work or they do it without respecting the reasons.

Steve is also suggesting that people can be glib about busy work, what we would call fake work, and it is a mistake to just treat work of any kind with an air of arrogance.   Teachers have a responsibility to be clear about the results they are seeking, and students have a responsibility to ask about value and intent.

In Higher Education many times students feel they are participating in “fake work” when they are given something they deem as “busy work.” This is a phrase that represents work that has no value to students other than to keep them busy.  While I do not argue that, on occasion, some professors do ask their students to complete assignments just to take up time; often I think it is a matter of them not understanding the assignment’s relevance – how it leads to their ultimately learning.

Often students do not have the perspective to understand the value of the assignment or the value has not been clearly explained to the students.  For example, for one assignment, I require my graduate students to research a topic and to input the information into a database using a software program that is unfamiliar to them.  When I describe the assignment I always explain the reasons why I am having them do the assignment including my reasons for using the computer.

The topic I assign my students is relevant to their field of study, but my students are not computer scientists; therefore, they may question why I have them use a computer as part of their assignment.  Because the students are not computer scientists, and I have them use a software program that is foreign to them; I will often have them complain about the assignment.  These complaints are often expressed as the assignment being “irrelevant” (translation = busy work).  After hearing this, I will ask my students, “Was the topic relevant to your field of study?” The students will answer in the affirmative.  Then I ask, “What was irrelevant then about the assignment?” Most students will state that they don’t like computers or the software was difficult to use.  I then restate why I had them use the computer (as I did when I introduced the assignment), reiterating that they will encounter very similar situations once they are out of school where they will be required to use the computer and often with foreign software.

Once the students realize that the assignment was truly aligned to their learning, the assignment immediately becomes more meaningful and is not identified as “busy” or “fake work.”  The take home message is that all work that is meaningful must be aligned to the ultimate goals of the organization.  This holds whether in school, business, or home life.

Steve Wilkinson
Assistant Professor, Rockhurst University
Graduate and Professional Studies
Physical Therapy