Home
Site News
Personal
About me
Pictures
Professional
School
Work
Resume (PDF)
Hobbies
Cooking
OFP
Programming
Writing
Old GDT Articles
Published
Links
Contact
I have been sitting in class this quarter, subjecting myself to another series of lectures for yet another quarter. I am in an academic rut right now. I am unmotivated by the things that are being taught to me. My preparation for the real world is important, but I have lost my enthusiasm. I love to make accusations with this happens. Some of the problems are just with me, but one has to admit the campus contributes. There are some things about the professors themselves that I feel is off. These are the front-line officers in RIT's army. While their upbringing and experience may be incredible, the teaching performance demands some comments. My particularly quarrels are listed here for everybody to read. Sadly, I think I am catering to the wrong demographic (the students), but who knows? Perhaps I can get one or two of you riled up. We'll see.
First, lecture is not a dictation session. Note that the students are not even good at dictation. This should be clear from their penmanship. If a professor plans to clutter a whiteboard with notes for the students to write down, why not just pass the notes out before class? This hampers the professor, who must "lecture to the whiteboard," along with the students who are copying. Why waste everybody's time? RIT is down the road from Xerox; we have access to quite a few copiers around here. Note that this doesn't apply to working out problems. It is often beneficial to see the thinking process performed in real-time. For other cases, use our copiers.
My next opinion here is radical: each student's notes should be personalized. And I mean more than just in penmanship. Notes are like sketches, thoughts, catch-phrases, or just about anything unique from the lecture that interests the student. This means that the student is paying attention. One way to help the student pay attention is to minimize mindless copying. As it stands, student's notes are the same. It's the same crap the professor pastes on the board for us to copy. You might ask me what this means for notetakers. Well, it means they get wiped out of the picture. After all, all the "notes" are available to be copied, right from the professor. I think this is something that has been burnt into our minds from high school, or even elementary school. The teacher writes on the board, and we copy it. But how often does the student begin to copy something down, only to find it is meaningless? I am sure all you students have tried not to write some of the banter down before. It isn't easy. All your other students are hunched over, busy scribbling away in their notebooks. And there you are, looking like the odd one. How often do you cave? So I am suggesting something quite different then the standard. But take some time, and ponder if copying paragraphs from the board is efficient lecture time.
My next issue is with the textbook, and how it relates to the curriculum. Do not lecture from the textbook. The professor is not a spokesperson for the publisher. The students must be literate to have gone this far in their lives. They can read the book on their own. Oftentimes, the textbook is a terrible teaching tool, and lecturing from it results in terrible teaching. In many cases, the text is secondary -- the textbook is really just a homework set with the occasional solution in the back. It is irritating to have the same examples from the book worked out in class. Consider working different examples in class. Then, the student has twice the examples to draw conclusions from.
If the professor can't grade something, the professor shouldn't bother assigning it. This should be a clue about the complexity of an assignment. Or if the assignment is simple, then the timetable between assignment and collection is obviously too short. Also, don't fart around returning graded work. The student will prefer to have the feedback, especially before being quizzed on it. Without this, situations like "double jeopardy" can happen. The student is penalized twice for the same error, when it would have been corrected if feedback were available. I've been the sorry recipient of triple jeopardy at least once in the past year. It's pathetic, but I was perfectly oblivious to any problem. Some professors may say, "It's up to the student, oblivious or not, to set themselves straight." Well, why bother grading things in the first place, then? And don't randomly pick and choose which portions of assignments are to be graded. Would a professor enjoy being denied tenure after the board read only one, random letter?
Some picky details about lecture behavior. First, repeat the student's question. Often, determining the question is half the answer. Also, some of the students are soft-spoken. The only thing the other students will hear is the professor's answer, and not the student's question.
Also, "basically" is a dry, stale, useless word. Oftentimes, what follows "basically" is not basic at all. Students and professor's alike must eliminate this word from their vocabulary. It is the word technical people use to fill the air with their own voice when they have nothing to say. Also avoid basically's cousins like "Essentially," "in essence," and "in layman's terms." Choose your words carefully, and make them stand out. They don't even have to be big words. Try to talk like you want to be understood. Emphasize with the individual student. The class is not a group of thirty, it is thirty individuals. They learn differently, but they'll get bored in the same way.
RIT brags about its industry-trained professors, and well-educated professionals. Sadly, I have seemed to experience is "a bunch of old people with Ph.D's." This is a spot where RIT could seriously shine, one professor at a time. Aren't these experts professionals in the courses they are teaching? How often does their professional experience shine in the course? I wish that the professor would bring in their lives into the course. Where's the intensity? Did these people just decided, "I'll stay in school until I'm 28 because then I'll make good money teaching in engineering." People that are that poorly-motivated never make it through the undergraduate program, let along through a doctoral thesis! So elaborate, and bring in yourself. In some cases, these real-life comments may seem like off-topic ramblings. However, some of our most important lessons could be gained from it. After all, good advice doesn't conform to course titles.
I have felt
my instructors are often incompetent; they have no idea what they are talking
about. However, another idea has recently been turned around in my head.
What if these people are seriously afraid to show themselves off? I have
met a few that have some big opinions on how they wish to conduct class.
Often, these ideas are excellent, but they are stifled by the pressure
of their peers. This is regrettable. Perhaps this is the biggest issue
here. The biggest cloud over these professors is their own reservations.
These folks were nerds at one time -- not the most outspoken people. So
perhaps a connection needs to be made between the students and the professor.
This is a complex problem I'll never have a good answer for. My only suggestion
is to stop sniding about your professors behind their back, and bring their
deficiencies to the front. Now, if they shrug you off, or even yell at
you, then do whatever the hell you want. You have my permission . . .
Return to GDT Index