This term, I have been having an increasingly difficult time paying attention in some of my classes. It is hard enough to focus when I wake up at 8:30 in the morning almost every day and suffer through three classes back to back to back on six hours of sleep. It is even harder in my Spanish class each morning when I struggle to understand levels of Spanish that most students learn over the period of years, not weeks. Follow this with two consecutive hours of somewhat complicated economics, and it goes without saying that I have attention issues by the end of my day.
Now that I think about it, I do not even have it that bad. In fact, relative to other Dartmouth students and friends at other colleges, I will admit that I have it pretty easy. Some students at other schools take four or even five classes that meet for a total of nearly twenty hours a week. I take only three courses and am in class for less than ten hours a week. Despite my strenuous Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, I rarely have work to do outside of class unless I have midterms to study for. I happily sacrifice three mornings of the week for the abundance of free time that I currently enjoy.
A famous man once said that we should not let academics get in the way of our education. But seriously, that does not make any sense. Who said that, anyway? For real, though, something else has been getting in the way of my education: the teaching styles of a few professors. In general, I have been satisfied with the quality of the professors at Dartmouth and, more specifically, with the way they conduct their lectures. Most of my professors during my four and a half terms at Dartmouth have done a good job fostering conversation and debate and leading tolerable if not enjoyable classes. Unfortunately, I have also had encounters with professors at Dartmouth that have exhibited teaching styles that quite frankly should not be found at an institution in the Ivy League.
I am clearly not a professor, but there exist two mortal sins in teaching. Sin number one occurs when a professor makes his point or argument and immediately follows it with a statement such as, "but this is not really important," or, "but none of you care about this anyway." If it was not important, why did you just spend 10 minutes and 15 Powerpoint slides explaining it? Why should we care about it when someone who has devoted his career to the subject clearly does not?
The second deadly sin is committed when a professor, rather than spending extra time to elaborate on and clarify a difficult topic, opts to simply pass it off as "trivial." Based on the collective look of confusion and mediocre exam performances, this material is not so "trivial" after all.
The first sin reflects a lack of passion for the subject and a lack of respect for the job. The second demonstrates the inability of the professor to connect with the class and gauge the level of comprehension or the material. I have skipped classes before for multiple reasons, but for the first time last Wednesday, I actually walked out in the middle of a class -- my own protest against these teaching sins (the beginning of Winter Carnival may or may not have also contributed to my decision).
My point is not to challenge the integrity or qualifications of guilty professors at Dartmouth. I am confident that all were hired because of their experience and accomplishments and I would tell anyone that I think that most Dartmouth faculty members are some of the best and brightest in the world. Perhaps I can even attribute these poor teaching styles to inexperience or insecurity.
Nevertheless, the sins need to be stopped. In addition to simply regurgitating the information that they learned during their own academic studies, quality professors should inspire students and encourage interest in their area of expertise. By mischaracterizing their arguments and failing to recognize the needs of their students, some professors at Dartmouth are not doing their jobs. Dartmouth ought to be able to attract professors that enhance the classroom experience, not ones who make me want to leave class early.
