2005.11.01 The Point of a University
For the most part, a university wouldn't exist without its students. They're the ones that pay the bills for the school. I attend a university that has no professors that perform research that is funded by the school. No other place could there be a finer example of a school that is entirely dependent on their students.
So far I have enjoyed the classes at this school. It's nice to have a place that is more focused on the students than on the professors. There isn't the burden of a bunch of crappy teachers that aren't being fired because they do AMAZING research, or anything like that. Since the classes are built to focus on the students, and I am a student, it's been very nice, up until now.
I now have an instructor who has switched things back to normal university style. He has made himself the focus of the class, instead of the student. Sure, I can understand that some people are a little picky when it comes to how papers are turned in. I can appreciate the need for uniformity in file formats, if papers are to be turned in electronically. I see no problem with providing challenges to the students in a new form. But I would also say that there is a fine line between having a personal preference, and taking something overboard.
This guy seems to have gone way overboard. Not only does he seem full of himself and his knowledge and money that he's earned, and his skills with foreign languages, but he's the most condescending teacher I've ever worked with… in 3 universities. His attempts to accommodate the student come across as insulting, and more appropriate for elementary school… maybe junior high. If in a 4 hour class, he spends an hour and half just covering his 16 page syllabus… he might be a little picky.
The class I'm currently taking is a programming class. It is the advanced class, which followed a previous class on the same language. Knowing that the classes are entirely about programming, then the subject matter should be all about that. If he feels that we may not have picked up on some of the finer points, then he should cover those points. But to make a class full of people feel like they wasted their time in the previous class is a little excessive.
The classes at this school are very short. Though I have only just begun the class, I cannot wait for it to be over. I'll cross my fingers that he doesn't teach another one of my classes.