Thursday, April 9, 1992
Profs
There used to be a time
when the tough question was,
"what's the best college or
university?" Today it's,
"what's the worst colleges or
universities?"
A generation of hippies
and rebels and social outcasts
bent on making the world a
better place to live sold out
their values. Many of those
people are now more
concerned with the paycheck
than the quality the paycheck
buys. The situation has
reached the point where the
newest question is, "what's
wrong with modem education
and how do we fix it?"
Today's students are
more computcr-aided/graphic
oriented in their texts while
being less text and learning
oriented. Students are
distracted by theatrical
graphic presentations which
aide education, overpriced,
over-hyped texts, and the less
than inspiring teacher
presentations.
Today's teachers, many
of whom are of the Beat
and/or Hippy generations, are
more complacent in their
intellectual leanings. I'm
generalizing, but even if one
teacher is at fault, wish that
was true, then it still
represents hundreds, even
thousands of minds robbed of
some education - or worse,
improperly educated and
needlessly turned away from
a given subject. At today's
prices, and tomorrow's
lose audience
threats, this is an outrage!
If you were grading your
teachers, what would you
give them? Be honest. How
many professors and teachers
would need the support of the
bell curve?
Students could consider
grading their teachers: A, A-,
B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, [GIVE
UP!] Rather than giving the
grades to their peers where
undue hatred can easily ruin a
career, why not give the
grades to the teachers? Put the
grades on a piece of paper, all
paper uniform to protect
anonymity, and give the
bunch to the teacher sometime
around the second or third
week of classes long before
the semester is too old to
save.
I’m leaving next semester
after a very long stay at
Behrend. I've come to like
and admire many of the
people to whom I’ll be saying
goodbye, and those to whom
I've already said it. This place
holds many nice memories. I
like the idea of graduating
from a university that looked
and, for the most part, felt -
excuse me while I take a step
back - groovy, man!
I'd like to be able to look
back at Behrend and smile
with pride at having been a
part of it, but that depends on
the university and the people
who staff it.
I have time, while I'm
still 'on the inside', to focus
attention on the hidden issues:
The Collegian
Some teachers don't
follow their code of ethics or
honor. Money has become
the main motivator. Some
teachers have become sloppy
and lazy; many are
unprepared for classes, or
aren't properly prepared, and
it shows. Many students
follow their teachers'
examples. (Did you know:
teachers are considered by
many to be role models for
the people they teach? What a
concept!)
So, how to fix it? There
arc some basic truths that
need to be addressed:
Teachers should pull
together and be teachers.
They should also be judged in
areas such as,
communication, presentation,
development, and
organization.
How instructive is the
teacher? Are messages sent
effectively and efficiently?
Are overhead notes smeared?
Arc handouts legible, timely,
and relative to the discussion
at hand? Can people in the
back hear? Can people see the
overhead or the scribbling on
the chalkboard?
Are unknown phonetics
coming out of the erratically
moving, all too nervous
person facing you? Is the
hard copy on the overhead
projector positioned so the
screen receives the full image,
or the relevant section? Is the
projected image in focus?
Were the words on the hard
copy written with a marker
dark enough to be seen by the
entire class?
If you (teachers) are
using a text book and the
overhead notes are nearly or
completely verbatim from the
text, why are you teaching?
You might want to consider a
position as a radio announcer.
Or, perhaps you have but
were turned down because of
a boring presentation.
Do you know how much
you lose your audience when
you ask students to copy
notes from an overhead image
while you move to the
chalkboard to write down
tangential information
(sometimes irrelevant to the
main points, or not fully
explained, and often in
unreadable handwriting,) then
move back to the overhead
projector to replace hard
mmmmwmmm
Reed Building Wintergarden
Wednesday, April 15th 1992
All-Day Celebration Beginning at 11:00 a.m
Artists, Exhibits, Music, and Food
• African-American Cultural Center Dance Troupe
copies before students have a
chance to finish writing?
(Drop the useless tangents
and you'd have time to slow
down!)
A curse, of a wedgy
during a several hours long
presentation to your peers,
upon you! Cretins! Buffoons!
Dolts! Oafs! Morons! You’re
not stupid. You're just
intellectually lacking! Are you
trying to run a Gum Ball
Rally through your students'
minds?
Some teachers say
students are lazy, and many
are, but look at what their role
models are doing! ALL
teachers need to unite, not in
fear behind the 'green
machine,’ but in pride behind
education.
For those teachers who
still don't get it, let me
rephrase. Think of each class
day as a presentation and the
students as your audience and
approach it (teaching and
getting ideas across) as if it
was a speech communication
presentation. Be enthusiastic.
Know your subject. Know
your audience! l6iow your s-
Don't you, as teachers at
this fine institution, want to
look back someday and smile
with pride? Do you care?
Andrew Festa is a tenth
semester English major. His
column appears every other
week in The Collegian.
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