College Professors?

Question

Why does it seem like many college professors are more interested in proving they more about the subject then the students do? Also, why do many feel that they need to make a class as hard as possible instead of actually teaching? Such as making tests that are "almost impossible to do well on". <-----I've been told this by professors before. Are they bitter or just bored?

I have had many good professors but about 20% of them are just *******. I have had ones who are never around to answer questions. I've had ones who's average test scores are around 35%. I've had ones who have admitted that their tests are more about tricking the students into making mistakes than showing knowledge (i swear to god). I've had ones who pass all of the teaching duties to grad students and do nothing themselves. For me a good teacher is one who wants their students to understand the subject and take something away from the class. However, it seems like much of the time (at least for me) they are only there to prove that they are smarter than the rest of us and show that they have power over their students.

Answer 1

The professors who give those nasty exams are teaching "weed-out" courses. They are usually introductory or 200-level courses in the course sequence for a major in the hard sciences, and professors are mandated by their departments to "weed-out" students who think they might want to be scientists, or go to medical school.

I have no excuses for the professors who are "missing in action," except to observe that they are probably much more involved with their research than their teaching. Let's face it, universities don't hire or promote us for teaching skills, but rather for our research productivity.

I wish you every success, and I wish you more of the "80% type" of professors.

Answer 2

A little of both.

Remember, they have devoted their entire adult lives to the study of this subject. When they get together with their friends, they talk about this subject. On weekends, they travel to conferences to discuss this subject. They have published articles and books on this subject. They are a wealth of knowledge in this area.

Then, you come along, just want to coast along... taking the class because it satisfies a pre-req, and want to do as little work as possible. It doesn't take a lot to prove that the professor knows more about the subject than the student - they have a Ph.D. hanging in their office that demonstrates it. The MAJOR problem is that the student often does not want to be there, and does not want to engage the subject matter on the same level as the professor, which is why you may perceive that there is not teaching going on. My guess is that if you had devoted 3 hours outside of class to every hour in class throughout the semester, then the tests would not be "almost impossible to do well on".

So, yeah, the professor is probably a bit bitter, but don't think that he/she wouldn't be thrilled to have an actively engaged pupil - it happens so little these days.

Answer 3

Every professor is different. Many do love teaching, and many are able to teach well. However, for a lot of professors teaching is a very minor part of their job. They have the job they do because they are both knowledgeable about and intererested in the subject, and they spend most of their time researching obscure topics in their field. Often it is because they know so much and find their field so interesting that they fail to realize how difficult or boring the class may be for many students. Some professors also feel that the purpose of a college education is to celebrate learning for its own sake. They feel that learning should be a challenge, which is why they make it difficult to excel.

Answer 4

Since a professor's job is to teach students things that they do not know -- showing that they know more than the students is something that they can't be avoided.

As for hard tests -- professors like to see a lot of dispersion in the grades so that they can tell who deserves the As and who deserves the Bs. I've had classes where my professors gave tests where the median grade was around 95. In those classes, Bs went to the unlucky students and As went to the lucky ones. That is much less fair.

Answer 5

I don't know where you go to school, but you are talking about some really big jerks. As college teachers, of course we know about the subject than you do. That's a given. We don't have to prove it.

The mark of a good teacher is a class that takes away something from the class--new knowledge, new skills.

Perhaps they are bored. Or bitter. Look for better profs.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

You mean like pointing out that "proving they more about the subject THEN the students do" is not a sentence.