I thought I’d post some general complaints/concerns I have when it comes to teaching. I have a particular class this semester that embodies many of the things I feel are counter-productive to an effective learning environment. The class is an upper-level psychology course comprised mostly of juniors and seniors. The approx. number of students is 70, half of which didn’t show up today. Often, poor attendance reflects poorly on the students themselves. We are often the focus of criticism when it comes to “poor” performance. Our bad test grades represent our lack of trying. However, I don’t feel this is fair. Why is the teacher free of blame? Perhaps a better question is why does anyone have to be blamed at all? Why can’t we all (teacher included) take on the role of students and learn together (Kumbaya). It’s within the teacher’s power to modify the learning environment. This can drastically improve the learning experience and probably help engage students. Below I’ve listed many of the things I think are working against my psych professor and the learning environment he is attempting to create. Many of these observations apply to other “bad” classes I’ve taken in the past, so this could be considered a general list of complaints, observations, etc. with regard to education.

1. Ineffective introduction. First communication teacher has with the students is a sigh. ::sigh:: “So, how is everybody?” Sending the message that he would rather be somewhere else other than in the classroom teaching.

2. Haphazard rehash. He attempts to recap the previous class period, but fails miserably. He uses no visuals, just quick verbal summary filled with speech disfluencies (“uh,” “um,” etc.). Very little is gained from this. Granted, there is some benefit of such a review, but considerably more could be gained from slowing down and putting more effort into the review if his true intent is to improve our retention and comprehension.

3. PowerPoint slides FULL of text. Images are rare. No way to distinguish one slide from the next, which prevents memory chunking and ultimately the effective learning of the material. Also, when lecturing over so much text there is a competition of media. Do we read the slides? Or do we listen to the prof? Also, just so you know, we can read faster than you can speak. You’re better off using little text and relevant pictures to drive your points home.

4. Irrelevant tangents that seem to bolster the prof’s own ego rather than benefit the learning environment. Represents an inability to take the perspective of the students.

5. Little to no student involvement. The overarching theme of the classroom is one of authority/obedience. The typical lecture format. This isn’t inherently doomed, but in a class of 70 (though, on avg only about 50 show up), there is more opportunity to involve students in the discussion. And with the class being an upper-level psych class, you’d think the prof would respect the knowledge of his students, most of whom have been in college for 3 or 4 years. To not interact with upper-level students in a relatively small class, in my opinion, is patronizing. We’ve worked hard to get out of the sandbox. We deserve the opportunity to speak our minds and grapple with the ideas being presented to us in an open atmosphere of collaboration and co-learning.

6. Inflexibility when it comes to students’ questions and incorporating them into the flow of the class. Much of the time, students are made to feel stupid for asking questions. There is an overall sense of annoyance, portrayed through the prof’s facial expressions and body language. Students’ questions are never entertained longer than absolutely necessary. They only serve as derailments of the planned lecture. Each class period has a point A and point B. If point B isn’t reached, the prof makes some comment about needing to “make up for lost ground” in later classes or something to that effect. Questions only serve to deter us from reaching point B. For example, I contested a point made in class and the prof responded with a rebuttal that I felt didn’t adequately answer my question; so I pushed further. We went back and forth (civilly) for a while when some students got involved. I addressed their comments but felt like we weren’t focusing on the point of my argument. After a while you could obviously tell not only the teacher but the other students were getting annoyed by my “difficult” behavior. I eventually gave up and let him continue his lecture.

7. Absence of questions. This works into #5. Hardly ever are questions posed to the class. We have class activities but they don’t require us to talk or even interact with each other. It’s the prof speaking, the students listening.

I know I’m leaving some things out, but here are some of the main qualms I have with this class and education in general. I’d love to hear other perspectives on this, or other examples, or ways you think these things can be improved!

*oh and for a humorous aside, sitting behind me just now were two professors having coffee together. As they got up to leave, one guffawed to the other, “I bet your students don’t even know what’s going on!” He patted the other on the back and they both exited to coffee shop grinning.