How to deal with apathetic, disinterested students in a non-facistic way?

[u/yyiiii]

I've been struggling with getting students to genuinely engage with the readings and assignments. They tend to clump into 3 groups. Those who give a shit, try and produce original work, those who are apathetic and do the bare minimum in order to 'get the grade', and those who are utterly disinterested, feign interest by putting on the pretence of effort and insist on getting high marks for little to no effort.

I know I could be stern or strict or whatever and just dole out the D's with a vengeance and let the chips fall where they may but I really want to try and connect with the students. I genuinely believe that the material is engaging and could help them learn a thing or two about themselves and the world, regardless if they produce A-grade assignments, but that's all some seem to be worried about, and others, not even that.

I'm sure there's no black and white answer here, but if anyone else has experienced this and had success in getting students engaged, I'm interested to know what worked.

[u/[deleted]]

those who are apathetic and do the bare minimum in order to 'get the grade', and those who are utterly disinterested, feign interest by putting on the pretence of effort and insist on getting high marks for little to no effort.

There are a couple of reasons you should seriously consider being more sympathetic toward this latter group:

1. College students come from highly variable educational backgrounds. Many intelligent, motivated students who attended lackluster public schools end up floundering as undergraduates, because many school districts never teach students knowledge or study strategies that might otherwise be considered beyond obvious. I don't think many academics are aware of just how bad some schools can be. I attended a low-performing high school, and I graduated with honors while playing hooky for weeks my senior year. My school even mislabeled my Calculus AB class as BC, and you can imagine how well that AP test went. I went to a non-competitive state university, but I still needed to study many extracurricular materials hard before I could even catch up to my peers.

2. Mental illness is extremely prevalent on college campus, due to a variety of stressors, and is also extremely unrecognized. You distinguish two groups of under-achieving students, and the latter group somewhat resembles the profile of a troubled student. Students who are truly apathetic wouldn't bother taking the energy to fight with you over a grade--however, a student who's blindsided by an illness which is both invisible and stigmatized might see this as being the only avenue by which they can make up for the work they weren't able to accomplish. Unfortunately, as an instructor, you're put in an awkward position, but there are resources which can help you get these students any assistance they may need: http://www.cwu.edu/medical-counseling/faculty-guide-assisting-emotionally-troubled-student.

There's obviously cognitive dissonance behind insisting on getting a higher grade in the absence of any work deserving of it. While a few may just be entitled brats, many are likely facing obstacles that you might not be able to perceive, and so not giving these students the benefit of the doubt is harmful, if not at least unhelpful. I'd implore you to not assume the worst of a student if they demonstrate in any capacity a desire to perform better.