posted
Yes, this is a thread where I bitch about my math teacher this term.
So I'm taking a probability and statistics class this term, which just so happens to be taught by the new guy. Well, new to us, anyway.
We got off to a good start. He was 25 minutes late to class the first two days. We did pretty well until we had a two day absence. The first day there was no announcement of class cancelation until an email was sent at 10:05 for a class that starts at 10:00. The next day we had a piece of paper taped to the door.
He can't lecture very well, doesn't bring the book to class but that doesn't make him anyworse than the Japanses guy that told us how beautiful math is.
So we have the first test. It doesn't seem so bad until he becomes exceedingly anal about definitions. About two weeks later, he decides that the test was too difficult and gives a retest. Mind you, we had not at that time recieved the first test back.
Another couple of profesorial absences, unannounced until the paper appeared on the door. We find out he doesn't tell the math department in time to find a subsititute.
At Drexel, the friday of the sixth week is the drop date, and as such a signification grade must be given, so as to inform the students of there standing in the class. Thursday of the sixth week he hands back ~20% of the first test, and ~20% of the retest for the first test and then recollects it to finish grading it. He's had at least 2 weeks prior to this to grade it.
We take another test, still no grades returned.
Last week the second test is finally returned. Still no news of the first and first retest. Oh and the third midterm is to be last thursday.
Tuesday and wednesday of last we the professor decides to not attended which is followed by the rescheduling of the exam to this tuesday.
The professor was absent from class this tuesday. A sign was posted on the door, stating "Tomorrow I'll discuss today's test"
I was absent from class yesterday, due to a prior engagement. What happens? He gives the test and its only one easy question long (he told us that as of monday 11 AM he had not made test yet). So I email him last night, explaining my situation. At class today he claims to not have received the email, so I explain. and I quote his response:
"I'm sorry, but no I just don't have the time."
Now there are two ways to interprete this 1) he's trying to be nice and not just say no or 2) its an honest statement and he's a jackass.
Oh then today we got the first test and retest back, and guess what, no more was graded on them than was graded at the close of the sixth week.
The grading scheme was changed today aswell, so that your lowest curved test grade is dropped. But we don't know what the curve is.
His final will be more conventional ie, he won't ask you to figure out things you've never seen before on every question.
Most of the student signed a manfesto to be delivered to the department about these problems. Numerous complaints have been made, and no action has been taken.
I'm seriously considering escalating this straight to the provost. The problem is that tomorrow is the last day before finals week.
I'll like to shoot him. I should have informed him that I would be out on wednesday, but over half the class skips any random day anyway and I don't really feel the need if he can cancel class at 10:05. I do not regret not informing him (eh thats awkward.) I regret not filing a stronger complaint monday of the 7th week.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Eeew, what a jerk. You do need to take this to everyone and anyone that has any power to remove him. And you should get your money back for this class if you have to take it over.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sounds like he's inexperienced. Sorry you have to be there for his growing pains. I can see a lot of mistakes he's making . . . chances are he'll be gone soon.
Is he a professor or an adjunct? (My worst university class experience was with an adjunct.)
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
My worst university class, OTOH, was with a long-time-tenured professor. (Not math; although my second-worst was math.)
History professor: the class was History of Peoples (that is, cultural history), 1900-present (this was in 1994). Met three days a week.
The professor, I understand, was working on a book. He used to bring what appeared to be notes for his book to class, and an outline (presumably based on the notes). He would stick to the outline for about 5-10 minutes, and then go off of barely-related (and often incomprehensible and/or obscure) completely unorganized tangents for 30 minutes. About then he would remember the outline, and mention a couple things from the middle. All this while basically reading from his notes, almost at random. Probably would not have noticed if a bomb went off during class -- never noticed students with hands raised to ask questions.
Next day of class, he could be expected to repeat about half of what he said the previous class -- in a new, and equally random order. Thus, if I made it to 2 out of every three classes, I could be assured of missing little or nothing.
He assigned reading -- and then explained the stuff we were supposed to read, in painful detail. So, no one bothered to do the reading.
The absolute WORST was when he showed us a 2-hour video. Hour one was shown on a day he was out, and was great. Hour two was show with him there -- and he kept interjecting comment after comment, speaking over the narrator.
I passed that class for one reason: the TA who led my discussion sections was EXCELLENT, and managed to cover with us in one hour per week all the stuff the professor had NOT covered over the course of three hours. And led us in interesting and thought-provoking discussions.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Sounds like he's inexperienced. Sorry you have to be there for his growing pains. I can see a lot of mistakes he's making . . . chances are he'll be gone soon.
Is he a professor or an adjunct? (My worst university class experience was with an adjunct.)
He not inexperienced. He earned his phd from Berkley in 1972. And I'll willing to bet he's never had a job outside of acadamia.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
My worst teacher taught DC and AC Circuits. Holy cow was he awful. I've heard one person say, "He couldn't teach his way out of a wet paper bag." I remember one day where he went off for the whole class period on the subject of "Why we shouldn't reintroduce wolves into the wild." Wow. Yeah. Electronics vs. Wolves...Man am I glad he retired right after that semester Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
That's odd. Many of the things you're describing are beginning teacher mistakes. He earned his Ph.D. in '72, but has he been teaching since then?
My only other case is that he is at the supernova end of a major case of burn-out, and he just doesn't give a dang about the classes he teaches.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I just would like te relativize a little bit about math teachers. As you know, I work in a school library. For various reasons (too long to explain here) I needed lists of students from two groups of teachers. The first group is the scientific teachers group, the second the litterature teachers group (well, some of them teach history too). I gave all the teachers a paper asking for these lists on monday morning. The afternoon, I had all the lists from the scientific teachers. I'm still waiting for the litterature teachers, and I stated I needed them for yesterday ! So statistically, at last here, scientific teachers are more reliable. I crossed one of the litterature teachers yesterday, told him I needed the lists, and he told "What, now ? I can't. Maybe next week, if I have some time".
[ December 10, 2004, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: Anna ]
Posts: 3526 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, as an update, he's been fired. Of course I know this only unofficially, as they can't (for good reasons) tell students about staffing decisons. I've got a freind that was a TA for the math department last term, and she tells me that the provost actually fired him during the last week of the fall term. This actually gives me some faith in the system here. I'm fairly certain that the department gave everyone an A.
The math department is the worse one I've ever had dealings with here at Drexel. You've got the guy who wears identical clothes everyday (had him for linear algebra), the japanese guy that would wax on and on about how beautiful math is (differential equations). We spent less than two weeks on multiple integrals in the fourth and final quarter of calculus.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm sorry you're having a hard time with your teachers. I remember how horrible it was when one year I had a crazy linguistic teacher in High school, actually he has been the reason I had to drop linguistic : I was too late compared to those who really had linguistic courses... The guy has been fired too a few months after. Anyway, I'm quite happy I'm out of it now.
Posts: 3526 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've had my share of lousy teachers (in college and elsewhere), and I sympathize. But what on earth has clothing to do with it?! Waxing rhapsodic instead of actually covering the material is a problem, certainly. But "wearing identical clothes everyday"? Who cares?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I agree with rivka on that part of it. So what if he likes to create his own "uniform"? I mean --in some schools, the STUDENTS wear the same outfit every day.....
I had an economics teacher. By coincidence, he was the father of one of my best friends, but he was soooo odd that there was no way I was going to own up to knowing his son. I preferred remaining unnoticed. To say that he was odd is being very very kind. If he was rich, he'd be called eccentric, but since he isn't, he's just . . . downright strange.
He wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, either.
He wore the same 1970s lime green polyester triple knit suit with six inch lapels every single day. They were stained in various places that made it certain that it wasn't a matter of several identical suits. Unless he was intentionally going for his own version of the grunge look.
posted
See, mocking teachers on the basis of their odd clothing choices I understand. (There was the pchem prof I had who wore eye-searing Hawaiian shirts with khaki shorts and flip-flops. Every day, a brighter and more hideous shirt than the day before. And the psych professor who must have been in her mid-to-late 30s, but dressed like a prep-school teenager. And . . . )
But saying that makes them a bad teacher, or contributes to a "lousy department" seems unreasonable. The two professors I mentioned were both very good teachers -- just not such good dressers. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I also had an English Lit teacher in high school who was fabulous - the best teacher ever. If/when I get me a novel published, I'll be dedicating it to him, he was that good.
He always wore long sleeves, even in the hottest of summer days, and jeans and thick socks. Never dressed appropriately at all. Got to the point where a lot of kids made fun of him.
Well, we were the honors class, after all, and he loved us, so we got it out of him. It was all on account of him having third degree burn scars over most of his body. Only his face and hands remained unscathed.
Oh, wait. What was the point? Right. Dressed funny. Great teacher. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Had a beginner course instructor who lectured solely on philosophy, assigned "extra" outside reading assignments solely on philosphy, and tested solely on the portions of those "extra" outside readings not covered in lecture.
I must admit that he was an excellent first year philosophy instructor Unfortunately, it was a sociology class.
posted
Absolutely, wearing the same clothes is no reason to say they are a bad teacher. However, lack of material coverage, and grading issues are.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
Right. Dressed funny. Great teacher. 
