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From: spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,sci.edu,misc.misc
Subject: Re: Are there still good teachers?
Message-ID: <8841@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Date: 5 Dec 89 14:24:37 GMT
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Reply-To: spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
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Let me explain a somewhat abstract point that has bearing on this
discussion: university faculty are not supposed to be teachers.  The
idea behind a university education is that students are supposed to
teach themselves...the faculty are a resource, similar to the library,
and the students are to take advantage of that.

Consider the higher education system in many European countries where
there are no registrations for class and no exams per class.  Instead,
the students sit in on whatever lectures they feel necessary and then
take exit exams to prove they have learned the material.

Originally, all universities were structured this way.  This is
precisely why "teaching" has not carried much weight in promotion and
tenure decisions at universities in the U.S. -- although many faculty
don't understand the real origins.  Imagine signing up for "Philosophy
101" with Plato...and taking a midterm!  That isn't the way things
worked.

We've now reached a state where the majority of undergraduates are not
prepared to learn on their own.  They come to college because it is
expected of them in order to get a good job, or to please mom & dad.
They aren't motivated to learn, except through the fear of grades &
the pressure of regular exams.  They bitch and moan about reading and
writing assignments, and they complain if they have to miss their
evening TV shows.  They expect a huge curve in the grades because they
haven't learned the material -- and they blame the prof for that, not
themselves.

In other words, a university education is gradually changing from an
opportunity for motivated individuals to advance themselves, to an
extension of high school where the students expect to go, as a matter
of course, and between parties they expect the faculty to spoon-feed
them their education.  If they don't get it, they blame the professor.

No, I'm not bitter (although I am a bit frustrated by many of my
current students) -- I like what I do, most of the time..  I'm also
not a "bad teacher" -- I generally get very high evaluations from my
students, and I've had some training in educational techniques.

What does bother me is the attitude of students who expect others to
"teach" them when they should be taking the responsibility of
"learning".  College shouldn't be advanced high school.  Of course, we
shouldn't be admitting students who cannot read or write above the 6th
grade level...even if they do have a high school diploma from
somewhere.  But if Purdue (for instance) dropped our enrollment from
36,000 to 18,000 there would be some major logistical and financial
problems.  So, most colleges and universities continue to accept
a certain percentage of the applicants in order to stay in
business.

This is also why so many undergrad course are not taught by full
faculty.  It is why the grad students seem to have it so much better
(unless you are a grad student, of course).  It explains a lot of
other things about the way higher education works, if you think about
it long enough, including why there are no "teaching" requirements for
PhD candidates.  (Here at Purdue CS, we require that every candidate
instruct one full course before they are eligible for graduation.)

Of course, I'm presenting an extreme view here.  Obviously, we need to
consider the realities of the situation.  There are certainly members
of faculty at every institution who should not be in front of a class
full of eager (?) students.  Often those faculty are important to the
grad students, however, and to the other faculty.  Teaching
evaluations may serve some purpose, as a signal that those faculty
members should not be in classes of undergrads.  Coupled with
evaluations by their peers, they may signal that the faculty members
shouldn't be in academia at all, but in some full-time research
position.  But by themselves, evaluations are not a good indicator of
how well a faculty member meets the goals of the university.

The problem isn't necessarily where the good teachers have gone.  It
is one of the changing nature of higher education, and the lack of
skill and motivation of far too many students entering college.
-- 
Gene Spafford
NSF/Purdue/U of Florida  Software Engineering Research Center,
Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004
Internet:  spaf@cs.purdue.edu	uucp:	...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf