Thursday, April 28, 2011

Professor acting badly (by anon)

Something that bothers me about some professors is the lack of support they provide in higher level courses. This happened to me today in a business course. There was something that I couldn't figure out so I went to the professor to get some help on the topic. The professor simply responded, "This is a 400 level course, figure it out." I wouldn't have approached the professor about the problem had I not used every available source to solve to problem. I need this class to graduate, the least I expected from the professor was guidance on how to solve the problem.

4 comments:

  1. That's pretty bad.... I had a similar experience in a math class. The professor would talk and act like everyone SHOULD know how to do X, because it was obvious and the professor would say things, in a stuck up tone, like, "Everyone should be able to understand this. Who doesn't get it??" Of course no one wants to look stupid and raise their hand if they really don't understand it. And then when anyone did raise their hand and ask a question, they were made to look stupid for doing so because the professor would sound annoyed at having to answer what was probably thought to be a stupid question. Also, whenever I went to this professor's office for help, I felt totally unwelcome, as though my professor was in a rush and didn't have time for me, which really discouraged me from asking all the questions I needed to to make sure I clearly understood everything (my professor rarely had any time to spare at all for us students). Then I've also had the opposite, where a professor is more than willing to spend whatever amount of time after class to help me and actually goes out of his/her way to make sure I completely understand everything before I leave his/her office. Guess it's the luck of the draw, some professors will make you feel like shit, and some will actually do their job and not be pretentious jerks with the attitude like, "I'm so busy, don't bother me with your stupid questions", like they expect us students to know more than we actually do at times, and then make us feel crappy when we have questions and are really trying to learn.

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  2. A 400 level class, you should be able to figure it out. So hit the books! Leave the weed alone.

    We coddle students too much in American institutions, all the damn sororities, fraternities, social clubs, diversity programs, sports, advising are nothing but fancy student coddling. If I were Chancellor I would junk them all, including the entire division of student affairs and all those other silly programs, such as the learning communities, first year program. A waste of money and time!

    In most of the countries in the world, its sink or swim. You are on your own baby. The top universities in Europe do not have sports programs or offer any remedial classes for poor students and professors do not have office hours.

    No coddling or hand holding here. You can't cut it then don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

    Get your girl friend or boyfriend to hold your hand, not your poorly paid prof. So step up to the plate, and stop all this damn crying and generalizing.

    No one is going to coddle you or hold your hand once you leave here and get into the so called real world, so consider this as training for the rest of your life.

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  3. Well see ANON 5:37, in the "real world", if I were working a job, and I came across something I was unfamiliar with that I'd never had training with before, I'd expect the employer to be willing to show me what to do, before I go off on my own, thinking I'm doing things right when I'm not. It's much the same I would think with a college class and professor, except since we're paying for our education and professors are getting paid (however poorly that may be) as instructors, I feel it's even more so necessary for every professor to help students when possible. Particularly in the event that the student has used other resources and still did not find an answer. And talk about generalizing! If us students are doing it then so are you.

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  4. @ANON 5:37- It's thoughts like that which allow people to think of "poorly paid profs" and other teachers as just babysitters. While I do agree teachers are not always paid as much as they deserve, students are supposed to be able to come to their instructor as a tool for education and if their instructor isn't willing to help bridge that gap for them, what exactly is the professor doing to earn the little money that they do? Anyways, aren't teachers educators because they love to help, not because of the money involved? The OP seems to have encountered an instructor at our university for the wrong reasons...

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