Comments on: Link: Confessions of an Engineering Washout http://offby1.net/backlog/2005/09/28/link-confessions-of-an-engineering-washout/ Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:32:29 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chris http://offby1.net/backlog/2005/09/28/link-confessions-of-an-engineering-washout/comment-page-1/#comment-2725 Chris Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:15:46 +0000 http://www.offlineblog.com/backlog/2005/09/28/link-confessions-of-an-engineering-washout/#comment-2725 I'm not really sure how to respond to that -- obviously, with actual _real-world experience_ to back you up, you'll know your stuff better than me. As a university student myself, I only see things from the student side. Moreover, I only see things as a student who has little ability to teach (Know thyself!) and would probably be the sort of teacher the original article was referring to. The algorithm used by yourself and this writer's professors is arguably as good as it gets, but it has to be asked -- why is it that some professors are better than others? This is a simple set of steps, and it seems that -- if it is the best way -- following it verbatim should produce good professors. It doesn't. I’m not really sure how to respond to that — obviously, with actual real-world experience to back you up, you’ll know your stuff better than me. As a university student myself, I only see things from the student side. Moreover, I only see things as a student who has little ability to teach (Know thyself!) and would probably be the sort of teacher the original article was referring to.

The algorithm used by yourself and this writer’s professors is arguably as good as it gets, but it has to be asked — why is it that some professors are better than others? This is a simple set of steps, and it seems that — if it is the best way — following it verbatim should produce good professors. It doesn’t.

]]> By: Moebius Stripper http://offby1.net/backlog/2005/09/28/link-confessions-of-an-engineering-washout/comment-page-1/#comment-2669 Moebius Stripper Wed, 28 Sep 2005 21:20:05 +0000 http://www.offlineblog.com/backlog/2005/09/28/link-confessions-of-an-engineering-washout/#comment-2669 Thanks for the vote of confidence! Ironically, though, when I first saw that article a few days ago, I wondered if any of my students would one day write an article just like that one about me. I'm pretty sure I'm not as bad as the profs that Kern describes - for one, I genuinely care about teaching and am delighted when students come to my office for help - but the nine-step (greet class, ask if there are any questions, etc) algorithm he outlines is uncomfortably familiar to me. And it's not because I don't care. It's because I've got 20-60 students working at a variety of levels (ranging from "pretty much knows that [s]he's doing" to "ten years below grade level", and no that latter one is not an exaggeration), and I have a lot of material to cover. My teaching style, for the most part, is only a minor adaptation of "stand in front of the class and talk at people" - not because I think that's the most effective way to teach...but because I know it's the <I>fastest</I> way to teach, and it's my only hope in getting to the last chapter in the course outline by the last week of school. I've had profs who were star researchers are crappy teachers, myself, and they're a problem. But even the best teachers are only as good as their students and their curricula allow. When the curriculum has 1) twice as much content as is reasonable for students to learn in the given time period, and 2) no resemblance to the "prerequisite" material taught in high school...it takes more than a good teacher to do a good job. It takes a miracle worker. Thanks for the vote of confidence! Ironically, though, when I first saw that article a few days ago, I wondered if any of my students would one day write an article just like that one about me. I’m pretty sure I’m not as bad as the profs that Kern describes - for one, I genuinely care about teaching and am delighted when students come to my office for help - but the nine-step (greet class, ask if there are any questions, etc) algorithm he outlines is uncomfortably familiar to me. And it’s not because I don’t care. It’s because I’ve got 20-60 students working at a variety of levels (ranging from “pretty much knows that [s]he’s doing” to “ten years below grade level”, and no that latter one is not an exaggeration), and I have a lot of material to cover. My teaching style, for the most part, is only a minor adaptation of “stand in front of the class and talk at people” - not because I think that’s the most effective way to teach…but because I know it’s the fastest way to teach, and it’s my only hope in getting to the last chapter in the course outline by the last week of school.

I’ve had profs who were star researchers are crappy teachers, myself, and they’re a problem. But even the best teachers are only as good as their students and their curricula allow. When the curriculum has 1) twice as much content as is reasonable for students to learn in the given time period, and 2) no resemblance to the “prerequisite” material taught in high school…it takes more than a good teacher to do a good job. It takes a miracle worker.

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