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incompetent professors, tenure, and America's declining standards of education...

Perhaps the title of the thread is a bit of an overstatement. That, however, does not change this nagging feeling I have that I am currently being cheated out of my education.

Short Version: I have a professor at the moment who thinks that showing movies (even historically inaccurate/biased movies) and imparting the ability to answer trivia questions is an "education." I think this is a travesty and am appalled that I am paying for it.

I am sitting in a class right now, essentially a European history class spanning 1780-Current, that is essentially a two day a weak glorified History channel documentary. The woman who teaches it is quite possibly the single worst educator I have ever encountered. A summary of complaints:

- At least one documentary or feature film (Usually from the History Channel or A&E, todays is "One Day," a feature film about the atomic bomb that significantly lacks historical accuracy) a week that we are expected to "take notes" on.

- Lectures consisting of Prof. Peguero standing in front of class with a list of names, and copies of the "terms sheets" (each containing 40-60 terms), where she picks a term and a student and simply expects them to explain it's meaning. These days generally occur the day and day after she hands out the 3 term sheets for the upcoming exams.

- She also has an attendance policy where after missing 3 classes in a semester, your final grade is lowered %5 for every following absence, regardless of the reason. I could ace this class without showing up once, leading me to believe the only reason she has an attendance policy is so that in the event she was ever "checked up" on, she would actually have a room full of students. In short, her attendance policy seems to attempt to make up for her inability to teach.

- Exams consisting of 120 trivia questions. There is no testing of comprehension, only ones ability to remember asinine dates and names for one day.

And that is only a brief summary. There hasn't been a single actual lecture since the beginning of the term, and her idea of "educating" us, is for us to memorize a list, not to actually understand what the terms meanings historically, or even to each other, are.

There is absolutely no incentive to do any reading, as it will not help for the exams, and once a week (2 classes per week), students are expected to give half the lecture, an expectation that the majority of the class has proven incapable of meeting.

In summation, I know more about European history than this woman could impart in a years worth of classes, much less a semester, and feel as though I am being completely robbed of an education.

Re: incompetent professors, tenure, and America's declining standards of education...

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RJT Perhaps the title of the thread is a bit of an overstatement. That, however....

Short version pleaze.
kthnxbye.

Hate to hear that you've got "one of those" classes. One of my worst classes was Compensation Management (this was part of my human resources major). The professor was an absolutely brilliant man. Very, very widely published. Hell, he had more pubs than your average Harvard professor (a point he kept up with numerically), and this was a state funded university that I attended. However, his idea of lecture was reading the chapter word for word on the overhead projector. This being the same material we read at home the night before the lecture. Longest.class.evar.

He was very helpful for research papers, though. Christ that man could chew up numbers and spit out correlations. I always wanted to get a Ph.D. in organizational behavior/psychology because of him and one other professor.

Re: Re: incompetent professors, tenure, and America's declining standards of education...

quote:

Originally posted by sakabatou Short version pleaze. kthnxbye.

Summary added to first post.

i see the problem... you're just too smart for college.

the fact that you have a lazy professor has nothing to do with tenure or "declining standards of education." remember that a phd is a research, not a teaching, degree, so underwhelming classroom skills are sometimes an unfortunate adjunct.

quote:

Originally posted by l�cid i see the problem... you're just too smart for college.

lol... naw... I just like to be engaged in class, and this whole "passive" education trend really breaks my fuckin' balls.

Thank god for TA and wireless internet, because if I didn't have that as an option, I'd probably fail this class just from not showing up...

Don't drop the class. Get those credits! I'm here every day, and I can entertain (read: bore) you with all of the mundane intricacies of the banking world! Regulation FTW!

quote:

Originally posted by Konijn the fact that you have a lazy professor has nothing to do with tenure or "declining standards of education." remember that a phd is a research, not a teaching, degree, so underwhelming classroom skills are sometimes an unfortunate adjunct.

I disagree.

A. She was a legend before recieving tenure. Almost across the board students have recognized her decline following receiving a tenured position.

B. America's standards of education have, in fact, become a joke to much of the rest of the world. Many European institutions won't even consider a U.S. student for acceptance into their undergrad programs without at least 2 years of undergraduate studies in ANY U.S. University. The documentation of America's inability to keep up with the rest of the world in regards to education as a whole, is both vast and accessible.

I'm not saying there aren't terrific professors out there, I have many. However, the excuse the a "PhD is research, not a teaching degree" should be no excuse. Professors should not be held to a different standard than any other educator.

quote:

Originally posted by Zoso Don't drop the class. Get those credits! I'm here every day, and I can entertain (read: bore) you with all of the mundane intricacies of the banking world! Regulation FTW!

I couldn't drop if I wanted to. I need it to graduate.

Ah one of those. Yeah, sometimes it's a beotch. Overall, I really enjoyed my college years. Some of the easiest I ever had, really. The deal was: bring home As and try your hardest, we'll (parents) pay for it. So, I took it pretty serious (too serious, looking back) and made it a 60hr per week "job," basically. Good times.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RJT lol... naw... I just like to be engaged in class, and this whole "passive" education trend really breaks my fuckin' balls.

agreed. i was just teasin' ya, smarty-pants.

that would frustrate the hell out of me too... when i took a class at MIAD, our instructor didn't even know how to operate a Mac. how can you instruct a class that is taught entirely on Macs if you don't even know how to use one yourself!?! i swear we spent half our class-time watching the guy trying to figure out how to open programs or set up the projector or find files that he had saved on a ZIP disc. eventually he just asked the 17 year old kid who sat next to me to always set up the projector for him, lol.

I hate to ask, but what level is this class? Is it just a 1-200 level where they figure the majority of people will be blowing class off?

More to come after I find out (I also find that terrible!!)

quote:

Originally posted by _Nut_ I hate to ask, but what level is this class? Is it just a 1-200 level where they figure the majority of people will be blowing class off? More to come after I find out (I also find that terrible!!)

308

Does she have tenure?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RJT 308

Now that is crap. Is she a tenure track professor.... with a PhD? How long has this prof been there?

For a 300+ level class that is purely unacceptable.... I dont even know what to say regarding that. I would consider writing the administration over it. College is expensive, why waste it on A&E when you already have to pay for cable??

quote:

Originally posted by fitom tiel Does she have tenure?

Yes.

quote:

Originally posted by _Nut_ Is she a tenure track professor.... with a PhD? How long has this prof been there?

Yes, 15+ years.

the title of this thread would make a good book title

quote:

Originally posted by citric_acid the title of this thread would make a good book title

Any book written by me would deteriorate into cursing and jibberish before the end of the table of contents.

if you'd want better education, you'd try to get to a better college. otherwise, you should read a lot of books on your own to keep yourself in the upper echelon.

there was this ridiculous situation: physical science professor said that g (the freefall constant) equals to 9.8 m/s, and i said, it cannot be so, because m/s is speed and g means acceleration, which means, it's m/s^2. she said "well, which year edition is your textbook, cause mine is the latest!".

quote:

Originally posted by Jocker if you'd want better education, you'd try to get to a better college. otherwise, you should read a lot of books on your own to keep yourself in the upper echelon. there was this ridiculous situation: physical science professor said that g (the freefall constant) equals to 9.8 m/s, and i said, it cannot be so, because m/s is speed and g means acceleration, which means, it's m/s^2. she said "well, which year edition is your textbook, cause mine is the latest!".

You have got to be kidding me!!!

just pass the class, get a decent letter grade then proceed to next set of classes till you get a piece of paper saying you graduated and finally you can get a decent paying job that requires that piece of paper saying you graduated. thats whole point of school anyway imho..get a degree then get a job, no other point. schools waste of time..memorize random shit get a grade then proceed to next set of classes. i'm sure alot of you will disagree with me here, but i really don't give a fuck. were all in it to get a 9-5 job in the long run, its sad but true.

quote:

Originally posted by Jocker if you'd want better education, you'd try to get to a better college. otherwise, you should read a lot of books on your own to keep yourself in the upper echelon.

Except this is the best Natural Resources University in the country, and college in the country that offers my major and specialization.

quote:

Originally posted by sot just pass the class, get a decent letter grade then proceed to next set of classes till you get a piece of paper saying you graduated and finally you can get a decent paying job that requires that piece of paper saying you graduated. thats whole point of school anyway imho..get a degree then get a job, no other point. schools waste of time..memorize random shit get a grade then proceed to next set of classes. i'm sure alot of you will disagree with me here, but i really don't give a fuck. were all in it to get a 9-5 job in the long run, its sad but true.

But when your job requires you to know historical events... the 700+ that you paid for that class would be pointless. In your idea, why even goto school?

quote:

Originally posted by sot just pass the class, get a decent letter grade then proceed to next set of classes till you get a piece of paper saying you graduated and finally you can get a decent paying job that requires that piece of paper saying you graduated. thats whole point of school anyway imho..get a degree then get a job, no other point. schools waste of time..memorize random shit get a grade then proceed to next set of classes. i'm sure alot of you will disagree with me here, but i really don't give a fuck. were all in it to get a 9-5 job in the long run, its sad but true.

And you my friend are a fine example of both a victim of the American education system and of the declining value placed on education by the average American, only perpetuating this idea of bullshit pacifist education that actually does bother a lot of us who are here to attain a well rounded and engaging education.

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