I think I can say that, since I used to be one.
I guess having been a teacher means I know how to spot when one isn’t really prepared, or doing their job properly, or just plain incapable.
I’ve got some teachers, both lecturers and tutors, who I don’t really have much time for.
There are a few things I really dislike. The first is obnoxiousness. I have one lecturer who is not only obnoxious, but also boring. He can spend a whole lecture teaching a tiny amount of content, and perhaps this is why he is so boring. He is also dry, and does not use examples to elaborate particularly well. His worst trait is probably the questions he asks. It is never clear whether a particular question is a rhetorical question or not. Finally, he seems to think that it is acceptable to just discard all negative feedback that he receives, as it is “probably invalid”, or the person “just has a grudge”. Never mind that you are just a crap teacher.
The next thing I dislike is when someone is teaching something they don’t really know that well. This is definitely a place I have been, having to teach stuff I didn’t really know about. I have one tutor who as much as said several times there were things he didn’t understand. I’m paying good money to go to Uni, I don’t want to waste that, or my time. At one stage, when I knew I was right about something, and he wasn’t really listening to what I was saying, I basically gave up and let him continue. I know (that with a ternary relationship total participation isn’t automatically implied), and I think now that the rest of the class thinks that it is.
My third annoyance is to do with general organisation. I hated being poorly organised when teaching, and did my best to overcome this issue. I know at times I didn’t and it really embarrassed me to be the one who was at fault. Not having work prepared ahead of schedule, not being on time, these are all things that turn off the good students, perhaps more so than the bad students!
My final gripe is about… I’ve forgotten what I was going to write next.
I’d agree with you more or less, but I think the big difference is that (in my experience at least) the primary task of lecturers and tutors in the university system is not teaching, it’s research. The teaching is a way of paying the bills, but there’s little motivation to be organised and enthusiastic about it.
Having taken subjects at all three of SA’s universities, I can say that Adelaide University was the worst in teaching quality (UniSA was probably the best), but I think that ultimately this made me a better student. Part of the problem you had (where you thought you knew better than the tutor) is exactly the opposite of a problem. If you understand the issue enough to debate on a level with the tutor, it shows you’ve had independent thought about the subject, which implies a pretty thorough understanding.
On the other hand, by far the best lecturer I ever had (who was also head of the Department at the time) was so across his subject that he would show up to lectures without notes, lecture beautifully for an hour, and we would all leave with an almost perfect understanding of the material. I didn’t need to do any study for the exams, just attending the lectures made the subject clear enough, even though it was an Electrical Engineering subject which I typically struggled with.
I guess maybe when you’re paying a lot more for university education, you expect a more organised, seamless experience. When I did my course (and you did your first) you didn’t expect to be led through a course, but since you weren’t paying (or not much, at least) you didn’t mind.
12 hours, 38 minutes after the fact.
Good points.
And probably also because I see teachers taking the same shortcuts I took, I know how they are being lazy, too.
13 hours, 1 minute after the fact.
You should try supporting the lazy, unenthusiastic teachers…
4 days, 3 hours after the fact.
Pass. Thanks for the offer though!
4 days, 4 hours after the fact.