Do you correct your professor?

[latebloomer74, LPN]

It depends on the subject matter. If it is say a nursing skill and you saw nurse x do it differently then your instructor, it often doesn't mean it's wrong, there's just many different ways to do whatever skill it is.

Education goes both ways sometimes. Professors are not perfect, sometimes they are wrong. Some will get mad cause you are right and they are wrong. Others are open to being corrected. So if you have a teacher who is not open to being corrected, then you should go talk to her/him privately.

[RN9742]

It is not a nursing skill, although there have been moments I get to be Mama Nurse... Basically I have a child with a chronic condition, while a lot of people have at least heard of the condition, most people do not know much about it unless they have worked with someone who has it, or has a child themselves with it. When my child was born, one of his doctors told me I would become an advocate! I never realized how true that was until recently. My child's doctors and nurses are very aware that dealing with this condition takes a wealth of knowledge, and admit they do not always have the most current, so they are always open to hearing new ways of dealing with things etc.

If I were to let my instructor know about it, it would be in a I just wanted to let you know I have a child with XX, which has in turn led me to have a lot of hands on experience dealing with it, and the side effects in a way that most never get the opportunity to.

I'll be the first person to say I do not have an answer to something, just ask my kids they are constantly being told to google stuff! HA!

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

This might come off a bit rude, but I feel like there's no reason for you to preemptively state your expertise on a subject. My little sister has Autism and my boyfriend has Aspergers' syndrome, so I have often given suggestions to my classmates when we have patients of that variety, but I can't imagine approaching my pediatric instructor at the beginning of the year with something like, "Hi, I have a lot of experience with taking care of autistic kids and plenty of knowledge from research into autistic spectrum disorders, just so you know."

I've found the best way to correct instructors is to simply ask. If it's because of an experience you witnessed, briefly describe the experience and then ask if this is a typical or atypical case/procedure/patient/etc. Just because some things are normal for one patient of one disease process, it does not in turn mean that they are classic symptoms/side effects/etc of it from a learning point of view.

Most of your classmates care about what she's going to test over, not necessarily the 100% correct information. I know that might sound bad but it's the truth. When you have four lectures worth of material, it gets confusing when everyone starts speaking up with contradictory real world experience. I'm usually annoyed by students in my class that work in a lab, have had the particular surgery, or have kids and seen a certain topic, and expand on it for a lengthy period of time in a back and forth with the instructor. I'd much rather that student keep it brief if they choose to speak up, and if they have a completely different point of view that is changing what the instructor is saying, I'd prefer they talk to him/her after class. That gives them more time for an actual conversation, and gives the instructor the opportunity to decide if she needs to correct herself and wishes to integrate that information into the knowledge base for the students to be tested over or is more of a "Oh thanks, good to know" situation. This also keeps it straight, as she can send out an email retraction of wrong information to correct it, but it's not always possible to figure out as a student what a teacher wants you to know when she's having that conversation back and forth with another student in the middle of lecture.

[llg, PhD, RN]

:yeah:

Great post, decembergrad2011. I think you made a lot of sense.

[RN9742]

Although I can see your point, the information I corrected my instructor about was due to the fact that they were flat out wrong in what they told the class. It would have made lots of people look ignorant going into a discussion about this condition with someone else using the information that was supplied by the instructor, or made it near impossible for them to further look into the condition since he did not even use the correct terms in what its different forms are called (and no the terms used were not interchangeable, i did a lil research after the fact to ensure that). The only reason I knew better was because of my experience with it. In fact the instructor has been wrong about several things in the class, but most are minor. It is not a nursing class, it is a pre-req, so these things are facts, not theories, practices, personal opinions, procedures, etc. This particular class has been so bad, I have considered re-taking it at another college because the instructor is the only one who teaches it at my campus.

This might come off a bit rude, but I feel like there's no reason for you to preemptively state your expertise on a subject. My little sister has Autism and my boyfriend has Aspergers' syndrome, so I have often given suggestions to my classmates when we have patients of that variety, but I can't imagine approaching my pediatric instructor at the beginning of the year with something like, "Hi, I have a lot of experience with taking care of autistic kids and plenty of knowledge from research into autistic spectrum disorders, just so you know."

I've found the best way to correct instructors is to simply ask. If it's because of an experience you witnessed, briefly describe the experience and then ask if this is a typical or atypical case/procedure/patient/etc. Just because some things are normal for one patient of one disease process, it does not in turn mean that they are classic symptoms/side effects/etc of it from a learning point of view.

Most of your classmates care about what she's going to test over, not necessarily the 100% correct information. I know that might sound bad but it's the truth. When you have four lectures worth of material, it gets confusing when everyone starts speaking up with contradictory real world experience. I'm usually annoyed by students in my class that work in a lab, have had the particular surgery, or have kids and seen a certain topic, and expand on it for a lengthy period of time in a back and forth with the instructor. I'd much rather that student keep it brief if they choose to speak up, and if they have a completely different point of view that is changing what the instructor is saying, I'd prefer they talk to him/her after class. That gives them more time for an actual conversation, and gives the instructor the opportunity to decide if she needs to correct herself and wishes to integrate that information into the knowledge base for the students to be tested over or is more of a "Oh thanks, good to know" situation. This also keeps it straight, as she can send out an email retraction of wrong information to correct it, but it's not always possible to figure out as a student what a teacher wants you to know when she's having that conversation back and forth with another student in the middle of lecture.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

When it's a matter of tasks/practice, I think everyone in my class knows that every nurse has a different way of doing it or has a slightly different intervention for the same health problem. We have come to realize that evidenced-based practice hasn't taken as strong a foothold in nursing right now as we suspect it will in the future with changes to regulations. That said, we make a note of the suggestions and move on.

With patho, no, we don't confront the professor directly. Usually, if something that is absolutely not correct is stated in class, one of us will raise our hands and ask about it...then shut up. After class, we'll all murmur to each other and hash out if we weren't understanding it correctly or if indeed the professor is wrong. Problem solved, and the correct information is available to us through our own discussion.

My school is small, my classmates genuinely like each other, and overall, we like and respect our professors to some degree. We don't see the need to "correct" professors for every little thing because we usually do what I explained above to get to the right answer.

[decembergrad2011, BSN, RN]

Although I can see your point, the information I corrected my instructor about was due to the fact that they were flat out wrong in what they told the class. It would have made lots of people look ignorant going into a discussion about this condition with someone else using the information that was supplied by the instructor, or made it near impossible for them to further look into the condition since he did not even use the correct terms in what its different forms are called (and no the terms used were not interchangeable, i did a lil research after the fact to ensure that). The only reason I knew better was because of my experience with it. In fact the instructor has been wrong about several things in the class, but most are minor. It is not a nursing class, it is a pre-req, so these things are facts, not theories, practices, personal opinions, procedures, etc. This particular class has been so bad, I have considered re-taking it at another college because the instructor is the only one who teaches it at my campus.

That's fine but it still would be better for you to wait until after class and privately speak with the professor. And again, your experiences and use of terms does not necessarily mean that clarification was necessary for the course or for the students in your class to know in order to prepare them for the exam. Often in nursing school, information is presented at a basic level, to be expanded upon at a later time, or with the expectation that if you specialize in an area that requires more knowledge, you will learn it then. An example is the progression from learning normal vital signs, to abnormal vital signs and their pathophysiological causes, to disease processes that cause those patho processes by body system, to the nursing care of these diseases. Most of what you'll learn is simply scratching a little more of the surface semester by semester. Concepts get revisited again and again. If this is just a pre-req, I would really cut the professor some slack. You aren't doing clinicals with patients yet, and most of the people in your class right now won't make it into the nursing program if it's one where you have to apply and be accepted. The explanations for certain diseases could be simplified because of the level of the course.

Again, I would simply learn what you need to learn for now, and take really big issues up with the professor after class. And I would guarantee if a school has bad pre-reqs overall, there's a good chance their nursing school isn't that great either. If it's so bad that you're considering taking a pre-req at a different school, why not just transfer and apply to their program?

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

Just curious, what did she say/what did she say wrong; and what was correct? Can you back your side up?

[RN9742]

Just curious, what did she say/what did she say wrong; and what was correct? Can you back your side up?

I can back my side up no problem, but do not want to go into exact details to protect what anonymity I have left.

As for changing schools, the schools in this area are very competitive. The school I am currently going to is primarily a Nursing school, they "outsource" the gen ed classes. Many people take the majority of those classes before even transferring into the program, now I know why. Had I been privy to the information that this course would not be up to par prior to starting, I would have made it a priority to take it ahead of time.

[doublehelix]

Honestly, your posts really doesn't share much information to be able to give much insight...

Personally, If I had felt something an instructor said was incorrect/I had a different view on it/studied or read about it elsewhere as being something completely different, I wait until after class to talk to the instructor one-on-one about it. Put yourself in that position, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be put on the spot in front of an entire class, and regardless if you think you are right or not I think it is just more respectful to wait and talk privately. again, you're not very specific as to what you said/how you corrected your teacher... But there's a huge difference between saying, "thats wrong, I know the correct answer is __" as opposed to "I read/elsewhere __, can you clarify this?"

Teachers are people too, and they don't know everything. Not just that, but you need to consider the different views and opinions on subjects..Maybe the teacher really didn't know much about the subject personally and is basing her information off textbook material and such, and would appreciate your input to improve her lecture. But I wouldn't say that everything has a "correct" answer..

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I agree with helix, their isn't really enough info to give good advice I don't think. Often times nothing in the medical field is black and white.

At least in Nursing classes from what I have seen, (even some of the pre nursing classes) a teacher will give the TYPICAL stuff you see, than a student jumps up to say "well my moms sisters friends aunt had this and that isn't how her symptoms were"

Well that's great, but the teacher is giving what you generally see. It's not black and white.

Another thing to keep in mind as far as nursing school (not sure if you are in or not yet since this is a non nursing class you are talking about, so just a heads up) the nursing side is usually different from the patient or family member side.

I have been a patient numerous times. Not only regular life stuff, but I have had a lot of medical problems and I am usually the asymptomatic person that the norms that you see didn't really pertain to me. Now I am on the other side of things and I see the nurses view and where they are coming from. So I can give a lot of suggestions or advice from a patient standpoint, which I have on some things when I see something being talked about, but I wouldn't presume to jump in and tell my instructor they are wrong about what they are saying when it's something not black and white and they are talking from a nursing standpoint.

Anyway, hopefully I made sense, It's been a long 3 days and I need to go to bed. LOL I am not saying this was the case in your particular story. I don't know the facts in it. I am just trying to give a heads up as far as nursing classes. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue from telling other students to just shut the heck up and let the teacher talk as they are always trying to interject their opinions as facts. One student actually said they only interrupt others when they are wrong. :rolleyes:

Another thing to remember, if this is something not most people know about, in school they try to cover basics, when you get into a specialized area you will learn a lot more in depth on the subjects, so someone that specializes on a Peds unit at childrens will be further trained on the in depth stuff of childhood diseases. In peds class they probably get a brief summary on the most common stuff. This is expected. Nursing school is short in the scheme of things. No way to cover in depth stuff on everything. The real learning comes when you are out in the thick of it all.

[CeilingCat, ASN, RN]

In my school, you might as well hang a target on your back for the rest of your time there. My instructors don't take kindly to corrections, especially when it's done in class or in front of others. They're the experts (and who cares if harms pt care later). Hopefully you're in a better school than I am.

If you are going to do it, if possible at do, do it outside of the classroom. It'll protect their ego. Maybe you can word it like "hey I loved your lecture on X and I know alot about X because a family member had it. Did you see the new studies about it ? Here are a few links I really enjoyed.... " That way it's not about CORRECTING them so much as sharing the cool new info you came across.