Can he, for instance answer his own tutorial questions and anything you throw at him without resorting to the answer booklet?
Is he doing copy-paste from the textbook to the blackboard or does he really masters what he teaches?
2006-08-28 05:15:42 · 5 answers · asked by Who_am_i 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
and please please please state the name of your university whom you had a GOOD maths professor. I am looking for second degree in maths and this question will be very helpful to me in the future.
2006-08-28 05:24:37 · update #1
Such a good question. I was a college TA myself for a while.
For one thing, just being a professor of something doesn't mean he can answer any old question off the top of his head. Most of the stuff he is teaching you is old news in his field; he probably hasn't used it himself for many years. A lot of times my students would ask me a question and I would be like "aaahhhh" trying to remember it; they think if you can't answer within 5 seconds you are stupid.
However, it is true that many university professors do not give 100% effort when teaching classes. They are there to do research; having to teach is simply an extra duty. It is sad when they don't care too much about the class. But, once a person is in college, he should be self-motivated and try his best to understand the material on his own BEFORE asking for anyone's assistance.
2006-08-28 05:24:00 · answer #1 · answered by s_e_e 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fortunately, I've had great TAs and professors that will answer your questions.......but the down side is their heavy accent.
I've had this 75 year old Polish professor that is hardly audible, with thick accent, talks into the blackboard and can move with small steps. But he damn sure tries and he's out there doing a full professor load. I actually had him for two classes that ran consecutively and he was there from 5:30 to 10!!
He knew his stuff, but you could hardly understand him. So we would resort to learning from a classmate that understood it. I had a 3 day crash course learning an entire semester of Abstract Algebra. What a head trip! In the end, it wasn't as hard as we thought, if only we could understand the prof.
Other professors or TAs: One from India, from Rumania (who passed away a year ago), Sweeden, and Russia.
2006-08-28 12:26:55 · answer #2 · answered by Carolina 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I actually had a maths professor who was EXTREMELY intelligent. He could make up problems and work through them with us based on his knowledge of the way numbers worked, especially more difficult Algebraic equations. He could string the numbers together, look at it, and tell just from the combination whether it was solvable on our level of capability. So yes, but also no. I had another maths professor who just gave us all standard questions and procedures. I didn't learn anything from him.
2006-08-28 12:23:00 · answer #3 · answered by jennybeanses 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine were- I was math/finance major in college, and most of my profs were excellent. If it frustrates you that they cannot answer questions during class time (they are also trying to manage time), talk to them during office hours- they usually like it when people show interest.
2006-08-28 12:29:34 · answer #4 · answered by jimbell 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YES. My teacher is a female and she is so helpful! I love her plus she has a cute swedish accent.
Though, I feel you man... I had some awful teachers in the past.
2006-08-28 12:19:26 · answer #5 · answered by kat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋