Shitty College Professors Options

[Voodoo-Lady]

Before I send a letter I've written regarding the shittiest instructor I've ever met in my life to the department dean, exactly how futile is it? The professor is tenured, which makes him untouchable, right? 15 other students have formally complained already, this semester alone, more than that have just dropped the course and walked away. His rating on Rate-Your-Professor testifies to his shitty reputation dating back as far as 2002, the same complaints over and over. Wish I'd known to consult this in advance. It's not only about protecting my 4.0 - I'd accept the opportunity to earn a B in this course just to be done with it but this sorry son of a bitch is FAILING EVERYONE. I'm not kidding. The average score on the first test was 62, the average on the second test was 49 ! He refuses to accept that his whole class failing (I'm not nearly the only honor student) is a direct reflection of his piss poor teaching skills. He responds that the deficit is in the students' "learning", which I would be inclined to agree since we're not 'learning' a goddamn thing, as evidenced - but what he means, he's quick to add, is that we're failing in our "responsibility" to learn. Again, this isn't a classroom full of flunkies or babes in the woods. Everyone I've spoken with has encountered tough professors, I know I have. This is beyond being tough. This is not challenging, its impossible. I dropped the class today, clearly there is no chance for me to succeed with this asshole.

I wouldn't wish this on anyone but if you've had a bad experience, do tell. Maybe I'll laugh about this someday, right now I could pinch his fucken head off !

[Existentialist]

This is a somewhat common complaint in college, but it typically has little merit. Unless for some reason the professor is deceiving you about what material will be covered on the exams, or if the grading is subjective and clearly unfair, there is little to no room for complaint.

In college and all schools beyond that, students should be expected to learn the material on their own. Unless you have consulted numerous texts outside the recommended reading, studied through entire weekends and truly gone above and beyond, you have little room to complain. I suspect you've gone to class, read any reading assignments and expect to show up and ace the exam. That might cut it at a lot of colleges or in a lot of college classes, but it shouldn't be the expectation.

Your professor is probably right, unless everyone really has gone to these extremes and is still failing. I highly doubt that. I wouldn't bother sending a letter either, because a professor with tenure basically has to molest someone to get in trouble.

This post has been edited by Existentialist: Nov 6 2007, 1:47 am

[Voodoo-Lady]

I do appreciate your response and I’ll allow that sometimes what you need to hear isn’t what you want to hear. You may be right that this is the harsh reality of it. I would still disagree that it should be, but in terms of how it is vs. how I perceive it ought to be, your points are taken.

And I’ll allow that at any level, it’s a student’s responsibility to learn the material - but it cannot possibly be solely the student’s, the instructors role must be to facilitate that learning by presenting the material in a relevant and comprehensive manner.

I don’t have an arbitrary expectation to ‘ace’ anything in the context you’ve applied of lacking a willingness and capability to put forth exhaustive efforts, availing on my own. I wouldn’t have gotten this far with this track record of success with that kind of negligent approach, and I am not convinced that it is unreasonable of me to expect that the investment of my time in lecture would offer (not provide in the context of here you go its handed to you in a neat package with a ribbon on top) a perspective of the material that is conducive to the level being taught, and I do emphasize being taught.

Indeed, we have all in essence been self-taught in everything we know, to the extent that we are the masters of our own minds as much as our own destinies (less dramatically, outcomes) and no one but ourselves can organize and apply the network of our minds, but our instructors do have an obligation, in assuming the role of an instructor for the subject matter, to enhance and stimulate the process by applying their skill, presuming they possess one, of teaching.

Teaching is a skill in and of itself. It is a skill that I have an immense respect for, in large part because I believe that not just anyone can do it. Being knowledgeable, even at the level of expertise, does not automatically a competent teacher make.

I have no problem being accountable, I will own failure when it belongs to me. I’m damn well not accustomed to failure, so perhaps I’ve gained something from this experience after all. Not a lesson in getting familiar with failure because I’ll be damned, but perhaps I need to re-measure my big girl pants before I endeavor this course again with another instructor because I’ll allow that even with a shitty professor, and I’m going to have to insist he is, a good student has the potential to prevail on their “own”, regardless of whether the necessity for that is right or wrong. I probably exhausted enough energy being pissed off that I could have applied to overcoming this.

I don't regret venting here, but I think I'll forgo that letter to the dean.

[crazy1]

I have dealt with only one shitty professor so far in college. He teaches Cost Accounting which is not that easy. He made me get a freakin' doctor's note because I was not in one day because I was suffering from Vertigo and couldn't drive!! The f*cked up part about it is that he happens to be my friggin' advisor! I got my one & only C in his freakin' class because I don't think he even gives out A's. He is tenured of course and I pray that he retires before I have to take Auditing, which happens to be the hardest Accounting class that a Accounting student has to take. Since this is a small college, he is the only one who teaches that class!!! UGH!!!

[Badman]

I've just started college so I have had no bad professors yet... I can't wait!

[Existentialist]

I guess it depends on how you learn. I don't think I've ever been taught anything from a professor that I hadn't already read in a book. However, I learned some valuable lessons from the ones who made their classes so hard that it forced you to find ways to do better. In classes (all liberal arts) I took in undergrad where the average grade was a B, the lectures were full every day, people learned nothing they couldn't read on their own and that was enough to do well enough on the exams. In other classes (all hardcore science) where the average grade was a D or an F, the lectures were barely attended, people were consulting as many as 20 textbooks to handle the material and that was generally enough to pass the course.

I think the bottom line here is that you won't ever remember most of the stuff you learn in college or even in medical school in my case. What you will remember is how to learn and how to study and those are lifelong lessons. So, when you have a professor like the one you had, you have a great opportunity to do some real learning, even if your GPA takes a hit. Keep experimenting with different methods of studying and I'm sure you'll eventually find something that works, and that will be a real breakthrough in your academic career. The classes where the professors "teach" I think you'll find are surprisingly worthless as soon as you graduate.

[Hoodstock]

Instead of bitching about what you can't control deal with it and move on. Welcome to the real world!

[Voodoo-Lady]

I'm in a program so I had to see an administrator to withdraw from the course. She’s the one who advised I contact the dean, handed me his contact info and told me to get right on it, because each ‘attempt’ at a course is considered, even though only the best grade is factored for the GPA. My inclination had been to just deal, other students had complained, I wasn't going to but when I started to stew over it by composing that letter, my inclination shifted to piss and moan. I knew better than what I was told, which is why I started questioning the whole point of what I was doing – albeit in all the wrong regards once I got all riled up. Contacting the dean is not a matter of academic record even if attaching a reason to an attempt mattered which it doesn’t, it’s all about my numbers, which again are not affected. Bitching was an unnecessary distraction, shouldn’t have done. I mentioned to the administrator today that I have no intention of taking this further and she conceded her advice was based on “If it were me, I’d feel better backing myself up like that” Yeah, I felt better getting all bent about it. I know her intentions were good. Ah well. I’d be embarrassed if I were the only one who had to live to learn my real world lessons.

I have enjoyed the necessary distraction of this board though. It’s been awhile. Thanks y’all