Why Johnny can't get an engineering degree

[unixronin]

This guy has a point.  I almost thought he was studying math from one of the same math professors I had at EWU, until I re-read the paragraph and realized he was talking about a teaching assistant.  The professor I have in mind was equally incomprehensible to anyone but a math major.

I think this is a consequence of the tenure system.  Our universities hire professors, and give them tenure, not based on their ability to teach, but based on their ability to do research that brings credit-by-association to the university.  We shouldn't be surprised when they put most of their energy into research and have little time left for teaching, relying instead on their TAs to teach their classes.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying all university professors are like this.  I'm not even saying all university math professors are like this.  If I ever decide I can hack going back to school for a masters degree, I'll have to study up and see where absintheminded is teaching and see if I can do my masters there, so that I can take my math classes from him.  Why?  Because the man clearly not only loves math, but loves to teach it and have people understand it.

That's the key to teaching.  It's not enough to merely dump information on a set schedule and rely on a TA to parcel it out for you.  If you're not conveying understanding, everyone may as well go home... including you.

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(Crossposted to engineers; article found on Slashdot by jayguevara)

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

There's more than one now? Or are you including the downtown extension as a campus?

Most of my courses were on the Cheney campus, but I took one or two at the downtown extension, and ran some of the labs at both locations at different times.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

is the downtown extension on spokane falls blvd?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Uhhhh....... Not that I recall. Isn't that Spokane Falls Community College?

Is that now considered an EWU campus?

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

it's got a big EWU on the side.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Huh. Wonder when that happened?

I went there from 1983-1986, and found that their administration was (a) incompetent and (b) more interested in maximizing tuition fees than in actually helping students gain the qualifications they were seeking. They weren't part of EWU then.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

~shrugs~ i dunno, i've only been here a bit over a year.