i can't exactly say that this guy is a professor because he's not!
i'm currently taking stats for a summer 5-week course.
and i'm not completely terrible with math.
yet, i'm having the hardest time understanding stats.
i hate to blame the teacher.
but i think he's the main problem here.
you see, he makes everything so much more complicated than it has to be.
the way he talks doesn't make anything easier, either.
he jumbles his words a lot and sometimes doesn't even complete his sentences.
i spent $600+ for this class.
and i am not getting any solid knowledge out of it.
in fact, i'm learning more from youtube videos than i am from him.
1. his tests are terrible. questions are worded differently from the problems we have done in class. it's only 8 questions and our grade heavily depends on the 3 tests and 1 final that we take. so basically, if you get a few wrong, you're done.
2. he never answers his e-mails at a reasonable time! i'll send him an e-mail and he'll get back to me.. like 2 days later. and sometimes, never.
3. i'll ask him to explain something to me via e-mail. so i'll ask him if the answer is correct. he'll write "WHY" and "HOW CAN I HELP" and "YOUR ANSWER IS INCORRECT." and that's it. he won't try and help me figure out the right way of doing things.
4. he always goes off into these tangent rambles which have nothing to do with math. they're his life stories. sure, they're entertaining, but hey. i didn't pay $600+ to hear his stories.
5. even if i ask him to explain something again, it STILL won't make sense. he seems like a smart guy, but he is NOT put out for teaching. he just doesn't seem like he likes teaching people. i think he just does it get a few extra bucks.
plus, he was suppose to fax an important paper to me today. and it has yet to come. i e-mailed him twice along with other questions. he completely ignored the fax question and answered my other questions with "your answers are wrong."
and i've studied SO hard for this. and yet, i might end up getting a 'c' in the class. everyday after class, i go to the bookstore and study until 9pm. so that's 5 hours everyday. statistics is all that's on my brain right now. i don't even go out to hang out with friends.
so, i've kept with a 3.8 gpa. and i'm nearly done with the main pre-reqs. and along comes this guy. i know this class will ruin my gpa. and it sucks that bringing down a gpa is so much easier than bringing it back up. it's WAY too late to withdraw. i have my final this upcoming monday. and i really don't want to have to take this class again. spend another $600 all because of an incompetent person.
i'm on the verge of crying because.. ugh. i just feel so stressed out. and the teacher isn't helping at all. he's just an overall terrible teacher.
Might as well get used to it. In all my years of college (and there have been many, unfortunately!), I've had several teachers like you describe. Complaining does no good, neither does writing bad evaluations at the end of the semester.
Might as well get used to it. In all my years of college (and there have been many, unfortunately!), I've had several teachers like you describe. Complaining does no good, neither does writing bad evaluations at the end of the semester.
I had several instructors tell me that the evals are optional and they really dont care about them. The good teachers are already good and the bad ones dont care what they say.
I had several instructors tell me that the evals are optional and they really dont care about them. The good teachers are already good and the bad ones dont care what they say.
But aren't those evaluations also seen by the department administration? I've also had a few classes observed by some department head sitting in our class.
When I give feedback, I always offer suggestions as to how the class could have been better for me. I remind myself that my instructor is a human being with flaws, like we all have, and feelings -- so I don't bash, but I critique and offer suggestions for improvement.
So, OP -- tell how your final went. I hope you did better than you'd expected. :)
Some of those evals are a waste of time. The tenure teachers aren't worried about their jobs. The evals are optional with them. The only tenures who actually will request the students fill them out, use it as a means to be better teachers, not worrying one bit about their jobs being threatened.
The others that require the evals are the new teachers. I even spoke to a tenure teacher (who wasn't my teacher) that said they don't bother with them.
Some of those evals are a waste of time. The tenure teachers aren't worried about their jobs. The evals are optional with them. The only tenures who actually will request the students fill them out, use it as a means to be better teachers, not worrying one bit about their jobs being threatened.
The others that require the evals are the new teachers. I even spoke to a tenure teacher (who wasn't my teacher) that said they don't bother with them.
Really? Hmmm... I didn't know any of that. Well, I would hope that most teachers would take constructive criticism to heart and at least attempt to improve their method of teaching. (The goal i'd have in offering feedback wouldn't be to get a teacher fired, but to help them improve.)
I've been to three different colleges in my life. At those schools, tenure or not, the evaluations made no difference at all. Now, the instructors didn't have the option of not doing it or doing it but it didn't matter either way.
My junior year at university, we had a "teacher" they had basically hired off the streets, I guess. She was a nightmare. I'm told she cried when she read our evaluations but nope, didn't matter to the administration.
At a CC I attended, I encountered a teacher who spent the majority of the semester harrassing me and the guy who sat across the aisle from he. His comments were VERY inappropriate. Basically, accusing us of having an affair. I finally had had enough and went to the dean. I was told he would no longer be allowed to teach History? Teaching History had nothing to do with his behavior. He could just as easily harrassed someone in his computer courses. So, he's still there, teaching computer courses.
I know I got a little off on a tangent here but my point is, it doesn't seem like the administration cares what kind of instructors, teachers, or professors they have teaching.
I guess bad instructors are just a part of college.
Contact your dean and let them know you were less than thrilled with paying $600 for a teacher like him.
I KNOW where you're coming from. I barely got out of Microbiology with a C, I KNOW I deserved way better, and have yet to get an e-mail or phone call back from my teacher. My teacher NEVER EVER ONCE replied to an e-mail OR phone call, all semester long. Office hours? Right, she was never in her office! Her office was piled with books and papers so high you couldn't see the walls. The class was beyond frustrated with her, but guess what? Nothing was done. She got raving reviews on ratemyprofessor.com, because she didnt' care if you missed class, as long as you turned in work she didn't care whether or not you were there!!! 18 year old apparently love that, but not this 27 year old who paid a babysitter for her kids and took money away from her family to go to school!!! GRRRRRRR! Thanks for the vent. Good luck to you. Just tough it out the best you can.
You likely won't get anywhere with the dean. We have a notorious math teacher. If you ask him a question in class be prepared to be made a fool of. He has like 30 pages of horrible reviews on ratemyprofessors. He has been reported to the dean many times. He remains a full time faculty member. There is also a bad A&P teacher. The entire class went and reported her to the dean, she changed for 1 quarter and is back to her old self.
Also, 2 days later on an email response is not bad. Every teacher I have had stated they needed 24-48 hours within the business week to respond to emails or phone calls.
My previous math teacher flat out said she wasn't paid to tutor. She would answer questions in class, but that was it. I wouldn't say she's a bad teacher because of it.
If you ask him if a question is wrong and he responds back saying it is, I don't see how that is a problem. He also probably wants to know what specifically you are having a problem with. I'm sure you can't expect him to reteach all of the material.
You either need to find extra study material(try to find some online), a good tutor, or drop the class and find a teacher that better fits your learning style.
I currently have a teacher who goes off on tangents for like 30 minutes. And the class encourages it! It's very irritating. I don't mind them sharing 10 minutes of their life while they set up the powerpoints or pass things out, but 30 minutes is excessive. He's pretty scatterbrained.
You likely won't get anywhere with the dean. We have a notorious math teacher. If you ask him a question in class be prepared to be made a fool of. He has like 30 pages of horrible reviews on ratemyprofessors. He has been reported to the dean many times. He remains a full time faculty member. There is also a bad A&P teacher. The entire class went and reported her to the dean, she changed for 1 quarter and is back to her old self.
Also, 2 days later on an email response is not bad. Every teacher I have had stated they needed 24-48 hours within the business week to respond to emails or phone calls.
My previous math teacher flat out said she wasn't paid to tutor. She would answer questions in class, but that was it. I wouldn't say she's a bad teacher because of it.
If you ask him if a question is wrong and he responds back saying it is, I don't see how that is a problem. He also probably wants to know what specifically you are having a problem with. I'm sure you can't expect him to reteach all of the material.
You either need to find extra study material(try to find some online), a good tutor, or drop the class and find a teacher that better fits your learning style.
I currently have a teacher who goes off on tangents for like 30 minutes. And the class encourages it! It's very irritating. I don't mind them sharing 10 minutes of their life while they set up the powerpoints or pass things out, but 30 minutes is excessive. He's pretty scatterbrained.
You see, for me, 2 days later isn't SO bad either. Except for the fact that he said, "You know, when I go home, I do nothing. I have like... nothing to do." I'm not even making this up.
So, that's why it bothers me. -_-;;
I didn't just ask him if the question was wrong, I asked him to help me figure it out. I'm not asking for the answer. How am I suppose to answer a question if I don't even know how?! Haha.
And I've definitely been learning more from the internet. Plus, I've been going to the library from the moment class lets out. So from 4-9. Yes, I've been nerding it out hardcore. But it's all futile.
To everyone else, thanks. Sad to hear that terrible teachers get away. D:
And I know that bad professors will be at every college. Which is why I heavily rely on ratemyprofessor for ratings. So far, so great. This teacher, however, was NOT on the website. So I had to ask another person who's taken a class with him.
You see, for me, 2 days later isn't SO bad either. Except for the fact that he said, "You know, when I go home, I do nothing. I have like... nothing to do." I'm not even making this up.
So, that's why it bothers me. -_-;;
That's great. I wonder if he gets entertained by annoying students since he states he has no life.
.thumb.gif.557c5203bd6f06724ecab47703960500.gif){kind=small}
CrazierThanYou
1,917 Posts
Might as well get used to it. In all my years of college (and there have been many, unfortunately!), I've had several teachers like you describe. Complaining does no good, neither does writing bad evaluations at the end of the semester.