todpose Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 There is an assistant prof who is teaching my animal physiology course. He is the most horrible prof I've ever had in my entire 3 years of university so far. His lecture note is in powerpoint and there is no designated textbook for the course. He just pastes figures and figure texts from various textbooks onto his slides. During lecture, he goes over 6 slides per lecture and each slide has 250 words in average, so they have a very small font size. Each slide also has at least two figures from different textbooks, and most slides have figures literally hiding words and sentences such that when they're printed, the sentences appear cut off behind the slide. This forces me to read the notes in my computer again by rearranging the text boxes in powerpoint. The exam questions are really random and biased towards certain topics, even though he doesn't put any special emphasis on any specifics during lecture. What's more ridiculous is that he repeats "Um....Um....Therefore, therefore, Um....." so many times every lecture and usually makes mistakes on explaining things. He has been teaching the course for 5 years and it's ridiculous how he is so bad at it and how the university is letting him teach it. Whenever someone points out his mistake, he just says "Oh, sorry," and goes on to make many more mistakes. He seems only interested in his own work and research and careless about teaching. He also just ignores students' complaints. I seriously wish he stopped teaching!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGSaint Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 There is an assistant prof who is teaching my animal physiology course. He is the most horrible prof I've ever had in my entire 3 years of university so far.His lecture note is in powerpoint and there is no designated textbook for the course. He just pastes figures and figure texts from various textbooks onto his slides. During lecture, he goes over 6 slides per lecture and each slide has 250 words in average, so they have a very small font size. Each slide also has at least two figures from different textbooks, and most slides have figures literally hiding words and sentences such that when they're printed, the sentences appear cut off behind the slide. This forces me to read the notes in my computer again by rearranging the text boxes in powerpoint. What's more ridiculous is that he repeats "Um....Um....Therefore, therefore, Um....." so many times every lecture and usually makes mistakes on explaining things. He has been teaching the course for 5 years and it's ridiculous how he is so bad at it and how the university is letting him teach it. Whenever someone points out his mistake, he just says "Oh, sorry," and goes on to make many more mistakes. He also just ignores students' complaints. I seriously wish he stopped teaching!!! This sounds like a pretty frustrating experience and I'm sorry you have to go through it. However, I do think most students that go through their university careers have a few well...let's just say disorganized profs so it is by no means a unique situation (I have had 2/3 profs like these myself). To address your question -> perhaps it is the quality of research that this professor does that keeps him in his position at the university. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todpose Posted July 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 However, I do think most students that go through their university careers have a few well...let's just say disorganized profs so it is by no means a unique situation (I have had 2/3 profs like these myself). I've had disorganized profs before, but not someone like him!!! To address your question -> perhaps it is the quality of research that this professor does that keeps him in his position at the university.That's what I think as well. He may be the worst teacher, but I think he seems to be quite good at his own research. I looked up his work history and he got his PhD from UVic and graduated with a Governor general's gold medal, which is awarded on the basis of graduate work (mostly research work). He said his father is an MD, so that probably helped indirectly as well.Anyhow, I really want him to stop teaching. He is the worst teacher ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 They are not hired for their teaching skills. Yes Shay19 below makes a good point, to say the least, your Title is politically incorrect and you could have expressed yourself with greater sensitivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shay19 Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 u know the post's title made me jump a little when i was skimming the site...i mean "retards"?!!!! I understand your frustration but it can be taken the wrong way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todpose Posted July 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 u know the post's title made me jump a little when i was skimming the site...i mean "retards"?!!!! I understand your frustration but it can be taken the wrong way I apologize, I should've chosen an alternative word. I tried to edit the title, but it's too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacko Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 I know where you're coming from with this post. I know of many profs who enjoy their research, but find teaching a hassle in addition to not being good at it. However, for someone likely hoping to become a physician one day, you may wish to become more tactful with your word choices. "Retard" is a derogatory term and shows a degree of immaturity in your writing. I'm sure it's a harmless action on your part, but best to start acting like a physician if you'd like to be one someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w8kg6 Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 The whole slideshow thing sounds like more of an inconvenience than anything. All you have to do is move the figures out of the way on your comp. And even if he's hard to listen to, this is a small deal as well. The biased tests is an issue, but it's something everyone encounters in one course or another. If this is the worst prof you've had, you're not doing too bad, haha. I understand the importance of venting though . Also, bad call on the use of the word 'retard'. I work with a youth with severe autism, and I kind of took offense to that (surely I'm not the only one). It's better to be called out on this faux pas on an anonymous forum than in real life, so just watch the labels; they can be much more offensive than any profane word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a41 Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 I apologize, I should've chosen an alternative word. I tried to edit the title, but it's too late. I was also a bit surprised about your choice of words in the thread's title. I haven't heard people use that term since high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todpose Posted July 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 The whole slideshow thing sounds like more of an inconvenience than anything. All you have to do is move the figures out of the way on your comp. And even if he's hard to listen to, this is a small deal as well. The biased tests is an issue, but it's something everyone encounters in one course or another. If this is the worst prof you've had, you're not doing too bad, haha.You make it sound as if it's not that bad, but the reality is actually much worse than what I wrote here. I was also a bit surprised about your choice of words in the thread's title. I haven't heard people use that term since high school. If anyone actually noticed, the title initially had "some people" in place of "retards" when the thread was first posted. But after posting it, I changed it to the latter because I was too emotional. But I guess this doesn't justify the use of the word. I apologize again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I use to work for a prof who hated teaching, being a prof is a job, lots of people don't wanna do everything involved, just like any other job. I've had disorganized profs before, but not someone like him!!! That's what I think as well. He may be the worst teacher, but I think he seems to be quite good at his own research. I looked up his work history and he got his PhD from UVic and graduated with a Governor general's gold medal, which is awarded on the basis of graduate work (mostly research work). He said his father is an MD, so that probably helped indirectly as well. Anyhow, I really want him to stop teaching. He is the worst teacher ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Keep in mind that profs aren't formally taught how to teach. Teaching isn't easy. Try doing it yourself. I don't mean teaching multiplication. Try explaining something complicated and you might have a better understanding of your prof's situation. Furthermore, I think that a lot of people hate on their profs because they have misconceived expectations of what a lecture should be like. People expect to be spoon fed information. A lot of university courses have huge scopes and it would be impossible for the prof to cover every single thing in class. This isn't high school, you have to learn some of the stuff on your own. At any rate, your situation sounds quite frustrating. But, that just the way university is, you will have good profs and bad ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathan Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Whenever someone points out his mistake, he just says "Oh, sorry," and goes on to make many more mistakes. Wait...what did you want him to do, get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todpose Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Furthermore, I think that a lot of people hate on their profs because they have misconceived expectations of what a lecture should be like. People expect to be spoon fed information. A lot of university courses have huge scopes and it would be impossible for the prof to cover every single thing in class. This isn't high school, you have to learn some of the stuff on your own.I've heard that so many times when I was in first year, lol. I'm going into fourth year and, by now, I've taught to feed myself. In other words, my complaint is not based on the prof's not spoonfeeding us. Wait...what did you want him to do, get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness? I want him to stop making the same mistakes over and over again, or at least show that he's trying to reduce them. What frustrates me is that he just doesn't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I was also a bit surprised about your choice of words in the thread's title. I haven't heard people use that term since high school. totally . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkles3288 Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Because that's the way the world is? Some people are really talented at their job, some are mediocre, some are not good. Same can be applied to doctors you know. Don't think it's exempt =P. And like others have said, the paramount decision in hiring a professor is their past research/reasearch ability. Teaching is down on the totem pole. As someone who was a former TA for only 20 people, I can safely say teaching is not as easy as it looks. Give it a try then feel free to criticize =P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mei_Mei_girl Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 hahahaha...I think everyone can relate to having a proff who doesn't really give a hoot about his/her students. Sometimes I've been in situtations where the proff is stressed out in their personal lives and takes it out on the students too... Its sort of scary, particularly for proffs who are tenured and can do basically what they want. I guess its just something you have to gritt your teeth at and get by...but if the problem is quite severe, perhaps you and a group of students could consider anonymously complainign to a higher-up? I mean, you are only cashing out thousands of dollars for school.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renin Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 There are people in every profession who really shouldn't be in their profession. *fist shake for them* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.