I have so many students that don’t perform well because they didn’t understand some material. I’m seriously getting paid to help you understand it, but I can’t present it in a way that works perfectly for every student since they all have their own learning styles. I also wont know if they aren’t getting it of no one speaks out.
I want:
to help
everyone to learn the material
to talk about science because I’m a super nerd
what is and isn’t working for you in class
students to show up to office hours
I don’t:
expect anyone to already know something they haven’t learned about
care if you ask me a million questions
want you to perform poorly
want you do go to the field unprepared
like it when students treat me like they are bothering me
grade papers that are ridiculously wrong because students didn’t try to ask me for help
The vast majority of university professors are obsessed with what they teach, so much so, that they made a career out of talking about it. Asking then about it would make their day. If you go up to one that seems like they’re being bothered, then that’s the exception. Don’t let that one stop you from engaging with all of the others.
Note: This is true for almost all courses. However, there are some courses in certain universities that are considered “weed out classes”. These classes, typically taken in the first 2 years, are informally designed to have lower performing students fail before they advance too far into the major and find out later that they don’t have what it takes to be successful in the field. The professors of those classes are more commonly not helpful at all. Don’t give me shit about it because I didn’t design this system nor do I teach those classes.
I was going to say I had the polar opposite experience until your last paragraph.
Lecturers were very rarely excited about the material they taught, left as soon as they could and were far more concerned with their research than helping students.
That was EE so probably a mix of weed-out and the fact that they were all socially awkward mega nerds.
Same theme for my LPT, different area. Are you having a problem? Housing? Tuition? Health issue? Ask about it! Likely you’re one of many and we (support staff) have systems in place to point you in the right direction. If you’re the first to run into a problem, we need to know so we can fix it. Don’t worry about bothering us, that’s what we’re there for. Many students wait until they have no other choice but to get in contact when it would have been easier for everyone if they had brought it up sooner. I totally understand the impulse, I’ve been that kid.
Back when I was taking GEs I had an ancient history class that I just couldn’t get. One visit to the professors office hours and he basically guaranteed me a decent passing grade as long as I did the final essay.
His job was to teach and help students pass. He knew his subject wasn’t everyone’s passion and was super chill about it.
One caveat of this, is in my experience it was younger TAs running 100 level classes that were the strictest. They for whatever reason didn’t have the experience or self-awareness to know that their teaching method didn’t align with every student.
You also have the viewpoint that some freshmen level classes were designed to specifically weed people out. If you aren’t able to have a way to pass those classes, then it was thought that teaching you further would be a waste.
Which is such a poor attitude. Just because someone is bad in one subject doesn’t apply to every subject. English, math, and history were all GEs. What use does having an English major be weeded out by their ability to do stats or calculus?
Or a psych major because they have no particular interest in pre-silk road civilizations?
Just because someone is bad in one subject doesn’t apply to every subject.
No, but the freshman year is supposed to lay the groundwork for later classes and teach soft skills for use later.
What use does having an English major be weeded out by their ability to do stats or calculus?
I’ve found it rare that universities require English majors to take advanced math. However, even within that, calculus is just a different way of preparing logic proofs and statistics is commonly used and misused in developing arguments.
Also, a four year degree isn’t meant to be a technical degree, but to help create a more well rounded leader. That means having more knowledge than just the subject. This is the reason why engineers have to take humanities classes.
Thank you for putting all of this so succintly. I’m not into teaching, but I’ve done a few workshops and I always struggle to express the attitude you described to get the pupils engaged.
I had this same attitude when I was a student. Even though my professors were older and more knowledgable, I always tried to approach them as peers and it worked out great. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but because I talked, I could use my strengths better because I was more aware of the expectations and requirements than a portion of other students.
Tertiary education: university professor.
LPT: Talk to your professor and ask questions!!
I have so many students that don’t perform well because they didn’t understand some material. I’m seriously getting paid to help you understand it, but I can’t present it in a way that works perfectly for every student since they all have their own learning styles. I also wont know if they aren’t getting it of no one speaks out.
I want:
I don’t:
The vast majority of university professors are obsessed with what they teach, so much so, that they made a career out of talking about it. Asking then about it would make their day. If you go up to one that seems like they’re being bothered, then that’s the exception. Don’t let that one stop you from engaging with all of the others.
Note: This is true for almost all courses. However, there are some courses in certain universities that are considered “weed out classes”. These classes, typically taken in the first 2 years, are informally designed to have lower performing students fail before they advance too far into the major and find out later that they don’t have what it takes to be successful in the field. The professors of those classes are more commonly not helpful at all. Don’t give me shit about it because I didn’t design this system nor do I teach those classes.
I was going to say I had the polar opposite experience until your last paragraph.
Lecturers were very rarely excited about the material they taught, left as soon as they could and were far more concerned with their research than helping students.
That was EE so probably a mix of weed-out and the fact that they were all socially awkward mega nerds.
Tertiary education: IT (software developer)
Same theme for my LPT, different area. Are you having a problem? Housing? Tuition? Health issue? Ask about it! Likely you’re one of many and we (support staff) have systems in place to point you in the right direction. If you’re the first to run into a problem, we need to know so we can fix it. Don’t worry about bothering us, that’s what we’re there for. Many students wait until they have no other choice but to get in contact when it would have been easier for everyone if they had brought it up sooner. I totally understand the impulse, I’ve been that kid.
I completely agree.
Back when I was taking GEs I had an ancient history class that I just couldn’t get. One visit to the professors office hours and he basically guaranteed me a decent passing grade as long as I did the final essay.
His job was to teach and help students pass. He knew his subject wasn’t everyone’s passion and was super chill about it.
One caveat of this, is in my experience it was younger TAs running 100 level classes that were the strictest. They for whatever reason didn’t have the experience or self-awareness to know that their teaching method didn’t align with every student.
You also have the viewpoint that some freshmen level classes were designed to specifically weed people out. If you aren’t able to have a way to pass those classes, then it was thought that teaching you further would be a waste.
Which is such a poor attitude. Just because someone is bad in one subject doesn’t apply to every subject. English, math, and history were all GEs. What use does having an English major be weeded out by their ability to do stats or calculus?
Or a psych major because they have no particular interest in pre-silk road civilizations?
No, but the freshman year is supposed to lay the groundwork for later classes and teach soft skills for use later.
I’ve found it rare that universities require English majors to take advanced math. However, even within that, calculus is just a different way of preparing logic proofs and statistics is commonly used and misused in developing arguments.
Also, a four year degree isn’t meant to be a technical degree, but to help create a more well rounded leader. That means having more knowledge than just the subject. This is the reason why engineers have to take humanities classes.
Thank you for putting all of this so succintly. I’m not into teaching, but I’ve done a few workshops and I always struggle to express the attitude you described to get the pupils engaged.
I had this same attitude when I was a student. Even though my professors were older and more knowledgable, I always tried to approach them as peers and it worked out great. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but because I talked, I could use my strengths better because I was more aware of the expectations and requirements than a portion of other students.