What is a "bad professor" to you?

[Aunt Spiker]

I'm really wanting this to focus on college or high school level education. Most of the debates on "bad teachers" discuss elementary and junior high - public education.

So - from your personal experiences (either yourself attending or something you know who attended and had problems) what *were* those problems
If that teacher failed a considerable number of students, seemed disconnected from the learning process or didn't make an effort to actually *teach* the class - what do you think should happen to him/her?

 

[Aunt Spiker]

My high school algebra teacher was Mrs. Stuckei - she was too distracted by 'the one bad kid' in class and seemed to spend more time yelling at him than she did trying to teach us. (10th grade). One day I actually lost my temper with her because she was yelling at this one kid about putting his arms in his sleeves because he was cold - instead of teaching.

My current Law teacher is nice, I like him personally, but he has no interest in teaching the subject at hand - he lets us out early, often. When he begins to discuss a chapter he often starts off with "I don't like this, it's boring" and then quickly mumbles through it. Personally - to me it seems as if he just doesn't LIKE the subject he's teaching at all - but yet he's teaching it.

I attend my classes so I can *learn more* than what the book tells me - and he's just not that type of teacher, he doesn't expound or add to our reading. In fact - he assigns and takes up homework but doesn't engage the classroom in much discussion *on* the homework. So - basically, we aren't given the opportunity to discuss - and we don't know whether we *understand* the subject or not before we're given a test - which makes the tests just *that* much more difficult to study for and get through.

He, also, insists on letting us out early - today he was in a bad mood because other students were talking during class so he ended class after just 20 minutes - instead of just *sending the talkative students out* he sent the whole class out.

I tried to get Mrs. Stuckei fired but that didn't work
and my current teacher - I don't know - I don't think I'm going to worry too much but it's kind of a bummer that the *one* subject I was looking forward to taking is turning out to be the *one* class that's almost a waste of time to attend.

 

[soccerboy22]

A bad professor to me is pretty easy to define. Some one who no longer loves teaching, can't keep a class engaged, and gives a test below the student's capabilities. What I mean by that is say in a 300 level course with 70-100 kids having the test be multiple choice, especially if you have a TA or grader.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

A bad professor to me is pretty easy to define. Some one who no longer loves teaching, can't keep a class engaged, and gives a test below the student's capabilities. What I mean by that is say in a 300 level course with 70-100 kids having the test be multiple choice, especially if you have a TA or grader.

Multiple choice doesn't necessarily make the test hard or easy - it's the content.
My Law tests are extremely hard because they're each paragraph case-based scenarios.

But for my math class which is also multiple choice - that's just too damn easy. If you can't get your math right you often can just plug in one of the 4 answers and see which one works which is just stupid.

Each test should be craft to match the logic and critical thinking level of the class - some are hard enough as it is being multiple choice - others are too easy.

 

[UtahBill]

The only really bad one was my high school Solid Geometry/Trig teacher. We learned a lot about his surveying days, his school bus driving experiences, etc, but hardly a thing about the math...he should have been fired, but he was union, tenured, and old.

 

[spud_meister]

My high school biology teacher sucked, he couldn't control the class, so we'd all give him a hard time.

 

[soccerboy22]

Multiple choice doesn't necessarily make the test hard or easy - it's the content.
My Law tests are extremely hard because they're each paragraph case-based scenarios.

But for my math class which is also multiple choice - that's just too damn easy. If you can't get your math right you often can just plug in one of the 4 answers and see which one works which is just stupid.

Each test should be craft to match the logic and critical thinking level of the class - some are hard enough as it is being multiple choice - others are too easy.

That isn't really what I meant. What I mean is if the class has a grader and a TA and it is not an intro course than the exams really should be written to test how well students understand and can explain and argue ideas and principle rather than getting down to two answers on a multiple choice test and picking one.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

But for my math class which is also multiple choice - that's just too damn easy. If you can't get your math right you often can just plug in one of the 4 answers and see which one works which is just stupid.

Multiple choice math also murders dyslexics. Since the answers are all too similar, it's very hard for them to differentiate them.

 

[soccerboy22]

Multiple choice math also murders dyslexics. Since the answers are all too similar, it's very hard for them to differentiate them.

Hell I had a professor that would put two rights answers on the test and you had to pick the more right one.

 

[RightinNYC]

The grad student TA's at my school decided to try to form a union. The school said that was retarded and told them to get bent, so the grad students decided to go on strike. A bunch of my hippie professors refused to cross the picket lines and decided to relocate our classes to various union halls spread throughout the city.

I would say that made them bad professors.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

The grad student TA's at my school decided to try to form a union. The school said that was retarded and told them to get bent, so the grad students decided to go on strike. A bunch of my hippie professors refused to cross the picket lines and decided to relocate our classes to various union halls spread throughout the city.

I would say that made them bad professors.

What the? :shock:
What reason did they have to go on strike?

 

[samsmart]

Personally, I hate college education in general, but that's probably because high school education sucks so much, so I hate high school education too.

I really don't think high school education prepares people for college any more. Or at least it didn't for me. I had the unfortunate circumstance of graduating from high school and entering into college just before the internet became fully mainstream in the early 2000's. To go from textbooks and white boards to computers and power points in just a few years gave me a bit of tech shock.

I remember back in my freshman college days when I was at a writing workshop. One of the people there said they did their writing on a computer. Most of us were shocked that they could actually do that, instead of writing in a paper notebook to concentrate and write things out.

Bad teachers or professors don't really stick out in my mind. Nowadays, if I need to learn something, I try to find ways of teaching myself or someone who knows how to do it to teach me. I think 99% of the things we learn are outside of a classroom setting, especially now that home internet access is so prevalent.

 

[RightinNYC]

What the? :shock:
What reason did they have to go on strike?

Because they only got free tuition ($50k), stipends of $22k, and health insurance in exchange for their excruciating schedule of teaching 10 hours a week. Nothing screams "downtrodden worker" like a spoiled 29 year old working on his PhD in Critical Gender Theory.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Because they only got free tuition ($50k), stipends of $22k, and health insurance in exchange for their excruciating schedule of teaching 10 hours a week. Nothing screams "downtrodden worker" like a spoiled 29 year old working on his PhD in Critical Gender Theory.

What a bunch of jackasses.
Free money for lame ass papers, that hardly anyone will ever read. :doh

 

[RightinNYC]

What a bunch of jackasses.
Free money for lame ass papers, that hardly anyone will ever read. :doh

I was looking for a link with more details and found out that they're trying it again:

Graduate students who assist professors with teaching and research may not seem like typical workers, but more than 1,000 such assistants petitioned New York University on Monday to recognize a union that would represent their interests.

The school’s officials signaled they would not recognize such a union, which would be the only union of teaching assistants in the nation at a private university.

But with Monday’s move, N.Y.U.’s 1,600 graduate assistants are seeking to persuade the National Labor Relations Board, now dominated by President Obama’s appointees, to reverse a 2004 decision that found that graduate teaching assistants at private universities are essentially students, not workers, and thus do not have a right to unionize and bargain for a contract.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/nyregion/28grad.html

Ugh.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

I was looking for a link with more details and found out that they're trying it again:



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/nyregion/28grad.html

Ugh.

"The four-year accord raised stipends by nearly 40 percent, improved health benefits and paid the assistants extra if their work took more than 20 hours a week."

You've gotta be kidding me.
What kind of idiots are these people.

I'd love to trade with them, for one week.
They'd quit if they had to work, like I do.

 

[phattonez]

New York University you say? The place I should be applying to for graduate school you say?

 

[OscarB63]

my HS biology/chemistry teacher. he taught us all about "portaplasm" and we spent the entire year in chemistry talking about the freakin periodic table. We jokingly referred to him as the "father of science"

I also hate those gay ass liberal arts profs in college that make you read some stupid ass poetry and then write an essay on what it means...then fail you because what you think it means isn't exactly what they think it means. I got very tired of having to figure out what those brain dead tards wanted to hear

 

[winston53660]

New York University you say? The place I should be applying to for graduate school you say?

Oy Vey you better get ready to open your check book!!!

 

[DrunkenAsparagus]

My experience in 10th grade Spanish showed me essentially most of what is wrong with our educational system. Doctoro Hazard was probably the laziest teacher, or emotional supporter as he called himself, I've had in k-12. He was basically a grumpy old guy with no real interest in teaching. I wasn't even sure if he was fluent in Spanish until about half way through the class. During the whole 90 minute block, he'd give us one short assignment and then let us "roam about the country" for the rest of the class. Before tests he'd always literally give us the answers to an entire section.

Some of his greatest quotes include:

[to an Indian student] "What are you waiting for, Gandhi?!"

[When asked about his opinion on women] "Good for nothing, make me a sandwich!"

"Dr Hazard, when I'm talking to a baby do I use the imperfect or perfect command?"
"When your talking to a little ****, do you think you use the formal command!?"

"And if you look in the book, you can see all the kids having a good time at the party. Oh look there's the token paraplegic"

"No soy diccianario!"

 

[WI Crippler]

I had an awful professor for an online course. It was a 100 level English course, where we were supposed to be learning about expository writing and he used it as a sociology course instead. It was disorganized, and set up poorly. nice enough guy in person when i met him, total cluster **** as a professional educator.

 

[1069]

In my extremely limited experience with school, most teachers are well-intentioned.
Some are more boring than others, but they mean well.
This might be different at a college level; I just can't imagine why anyone would choose a career in education if they didn't have a calling. It doesn't pay very well, compared to other things an educated person could be doing.

 

[Bodi]

I'm really wanting this to focus on college or high school level education. Most of the debates on "bad teachers" discuss elementary and junior high - public education.

So - from your personal experiences (either yourself attending or something you know who attended and had problems) what *were* those problems
If that teacher failed a considerable number of students, seemed disconnected from the learning process or didn't make an effort to actually *teach* the class - what do you think should happen to him/her?

I find that most college teachers and professors are not good at teaching anybody anything, they are good at telling.
The best teachers are high-school teachers, in general.

I assume that you are in a college law class? Nobody EVER talked during lectures (when teacher is talking) in ANY of my college/university classes.

 

[obvious Child]

I had a professor who was leaving so he just gave virtually everyone Bs and didn't really teach.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

My experience in 10th grade Spanish showed me essentially most of what is wrong with our educational system. Doctoro Hazard was probably the laziest teacher, or emotional supporter as he called himself, I've had in k-12. He was basically a grumpy old guy with no real interest in teaching. I wasn't even sure if he was fluent in Spanish until about half way through the class. During the whole 90 minute block, he'd give us one short assignment and then let us "roam about the country" for the rest of the class. Before tests he'd always literally give us the answers to an entire section.

Some of his greatest quotes include:

[to an Indian student] "What are you waiting for, Gandhi?!"

[When asked about his opinion on women] "Good for nothing, make me a sandwich!"

"Dr Hazard, when I'm talking to a baby do I use the imperfect or perfect command?"
"When your talking to a little ****, do you think you use the formal command!?"

"And if you look in the book, you can see all the kids having a good time at the party. Oh look there's the token paraplegic"

"No soy diccianario!"

What the hell, are you serious? :lol:
It's so bad and wrong, that it's funny as hell.