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From: windley@iris.ucdavis.edu (Phil Windley)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Ph.D.'s and Teaching
Message-ID: <906@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>
Date: 22 Jan 88 07:51:09 GMT
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Reply-To: windley@iris.ucdavis.edu (Phil Windley)
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In article <2062@pdn.UUCP> reggie@pdn.UUCP (George W. Leach) writes:
>In article <844@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> windley@iris.ucdavis.edu (Phil Windley) writes:
>>larger problem is that most secondary school teachers don't know their
>>subject.  A chemistry teacher in high school should be a chemistry
>>major who took a couple of education courses, not an education major
>>who took a couple of chemistry courses.  
>
>    Ah, but you see the problem does come back to money.  You see that
>Chemistry teacher may also be teaching Physics or some other science.
>Most high schools can not afford to hire subject matter experts for each
>and every subject that is taught.  Generally you find people within certain
>departments will have to handle several specialties.  More money would enable
>just what you are asking for to take place.  More teachers could be hired and
>they could specialize.
>
I believe that my point (with some small modifications) still has
validity.  Who would you rather learn physics from: an education major
who took non-calculus-based physics, or a chemistry major who as part
of his major took several physics classes and has a good grounding in
basic science?  I still would rather have the chemistry major, even if
she's teaching physics.

Another solution might be to share teachers anong high-schools so that
more sections of a course could be supported.


Phil Windley
Robotics Research Lab
University of California, Davis