My questions...your answers
I'm very disappointed in the local university
Published on March 27, 2007 By Question of the Day In Misc
I think I've shared before that I'm working towars a BA in English with the goal of teaching at a two-year college.

I've only started taking classes at the local university this semester. I have three classes (9cr) so maybe I don't have enough experience yet to fully judge just how good this college is, but so far I'm highly disappointed. If there was another college within a reasonable driving area I’d check it out. The biggest think I’m learning is how NOT to teach a course!

Here’s a rundown of how awful it really is:

Dr. A - English 201 - Intro to lit studies:

This professor is such a jerk. He seems to know his stuff but he treats his students as less than dirt. I'm not exaggerating. He's very knowledgeable and passionate. He could be so effective if he would only try a different approach.

A few specific examples:

I went to his office for help during office hours. When I came in he had pushed himself away from his desk (which was away from me too), slouched down in his chair, crossed his legs and continued to read the book in his hand. It was obvious that I was interrupting him and he didn't want to be bother with helping me learn.

In class he calls on students randomly to discuss the poem/play/short story that we were supposed to read for class. Then he picks apart your comments and humiliates you in front of the whole class. When it was my turn I picked a Frost poem that I didn't understand, thinking that he would make it clearer for me. Well, he made himself clear alright. Yelling at me and wagging his finger at me like I was a child. It took all I had to sit there and keep from crying and running out - but I just couldn't let him get the best of me. It really was disgusting. And this is a guy that clearly states in his syllabus that "reacting inappropriately, rather than in the spirit of problem solving' will result in a reduced participation grade. Boy... if I could grade his teaching on such a scale.

On yet another occasion he was giving handouts to the person at the end of each row. I was watching him as he just threw the papers down on each desk. When he got to me I purposely reach out for him to hand the sheets to me and he threw them past my hand onto the desk. He's just plain rude.

Dr. B – English 205 Arabic Lit

This guy is also very passionate, but also very ineffectual. The texts are inappropriate for a 200 level course. He’s very disorganized in his teaching – jumping all over the place with no apparent path (the texts are the same way so I’m not surprised that he picked them). He also seems oblivious to what’s going on in his own class. He’s facing us students but I’ve seen some have their hands up for over ten minutes and he never even notices. Seems to be in his own world.

There are a few international students in the class. About 5 from Saudi Arabia and 1 from Kuwait. For the first few weeks all these guys did was heckle Dr. B from the back of the room. They were literally laughing at him. They think it’s funny that we’re reading Arabian Nights – apparently they don’t consider it literature in that part of the world. They seem to have settled down and now are actually helping Dr. B with cultural info and even pronunciations. It’s very interesting to talk to them.

Dr. C English 301 Literary Analysis

This guy seems to think that teaching us means giving away the answers. I don’t understand this philosophy at all. We’re paying him to teach us, not to just grade our papers. He seems to think that if he helps us learn to write literarily analysis papers that we’re not learning, just repeating what he has to say. He’s not very helpful at all. We have peer workshops in class but they aren’t very helpful because none of us really know what we’re doing. All the students I’ve talked to say they have the same impression. This guy is not a teacher he’s a grader.



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Comments
on Mar 28, 2007
Sounds like you've got a bucketfull of ineffective jerks.

Stick with it - you'll be glad you did, and like you said, someday, you'll know exactly how NOT to teach.
on Mar 28, 2007
Bleh, those people sound shitty. Luckily, all of my profs are pretty decent. I must say that there isn't really one that I don't like. My zoology professor is awesome...he makes you laugh at least a few times everytime he teaches, same with my chem teacher. Well...I guess if you can stick it out and get decent grades it'll be worth it...once a class is finished you never have to worry about it again. If you sign up for future classes, ask around and see if there are any professors that are recommended by other students....or just pray.

~Zoo
on Mar 28, 2007

My Overall opinion of University professors is not fit for a public forum.  That being said, I can see your frustration poured out onto the written word.  I really dont have any magic elixir of advice for you.  Other than to say that some professors feel that once they have reached that stage, they have nothing more to learn, and that anyone who does not agree with them - since they are at the pinacle of their profession - which is learning - are beneath them and not worthy of respect.

I have seen that mindset all too often, but it is most recognizable for those of us who have ventured out into the real world and then returned for additional courses.  These guys are totally clueless on what the real world is all about.

on Mar 28, 2007

Sometimes I think the diploma is more for putting up with the eccentricities of the profs than with actual knowledge.

Hang in there.

on Mar 28, 2007
Geeeesh, I'm so black and white about stuff like this, I'd probably get thru it, get my grade and then put in a complaint to the Admin. Maybe if they got enough complaints they'd do something. As a group of parents here at the HS level we effectively got rid of a bad teacher. Don't underestimate the power of a group. There's no excuse for rudeness. Dr A's unprofessional manner should not remain unchecked.

I have a friend that booby trapped her English project. She figured out that her Prof wasn't even looking at the projects but just grading by the external. All her other classes she was receiving A's but this one even tho she knew her work was good. So when she had a big project due, she had parts of her project sealed with a small seal. When she received her usual "C" for yet another piece of work she believed was A worthy she opened the notebook to see that the seals had not even been broken. She marched down to the Administration office and ended up getting an A for the semester even though she never once received an A from this particular Prof. I thought she was a hoot!!

I suspect for many of these teachers, it's all they can do...teach (if that's what you call it). They probably couldn't even nail two pieces of wood together if their lives depended on it.

on Mar 28, 2007
Apparently you don't understand the power of tenure.


No kidding. This isn't high school; once a professor has tenure, he can do f***-all and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

And that's what I call job security.
on Mar 29, 2007
Ward Churchill, anyone?


Just wait 'till I get my tenure. I'll make that guy look like a mother-frakking hack, man.