Students can overcome generational gaps by using several tips when they communicate with professors.
When Massie alerted one student that an account the student was encouraging his Twitter followers to read was particularly offensive, the student used "the common refrain of young people, who do not like to be corrected: How dare you be so condescending to me!" A frank conversation later, the student saw things Massie's way.
"A student needs to realize he or she is talking to an authority figure—whether it is a teacher, a parent, or a boss at work," Massie says. "Flippant or insulting comments won't help."
[See a study about what earns student attention in college classrooms.]
5. Grades are earned. Just as arguing strikes and balls can get coaches thrown out of baseball games, students will find that insisting they earned a better grade because they worked hard is likely to fall on deaf ears.
Grades are earned, not given, explains Bremen, who blames the "everybody wins" high school philosophy with confusing students about the objective nature of college grades.
"After receiving a grade, students can say, 'I'm concerned about the grade I received. I expected it to be higher and believed I followed the requirements. Can we discuss exactly what I needed to do differently?'"
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