I'm so tired of incompetant professors :|

[notfred]

Ok, so I have this Assembly language class. The professor is a grad student, and a crappy professor.

Today in class he decided to redistribute the way the class would be graded (it's about halfway through the semester). He made our labs worth less points overall, and our midterms will take up the slack.

He did this because (in his words): "you guys have been having trouble with the labs".

The reason we're having trouble with the labs is because he writes lab assignments that require libraries that dont work with the version of the assembler in the computer lab. This is entirely HIS fault for assigning assignments that we can't possibly do, and he blames it on US "having trouble".

His latest lab assignment didn't require any external libraries. It was basically "fix the code I give you so that it works correctly". So, he gave us some code, and it doesn't compile, which is expected. We have an hour and forty minute lab period. He gave us three programs to fix. After an hour, we had tried EVERYTHING to get the first of the three to run. There was a divide instruction that would crash the program whenever it ran. We weren't allowed to take it out. He said "It's not the divide instruction that's causing the problem, it's the line before it that is". Despite the fact that the code would run (with incorrect output) if you commented out the divide instruction. He later changed his story to say that "The divide is the problem, if I tell you how to fix it, I'd be giving you the answer". Well, his job is to TEACH. NOT, to laugh at students who can't absorb information from nowhere. If he doesn't tell us why it won't work, how the hell are we supposed to fix it?

After an hour and 40 minutes. not ONE person in the class was able to complete the first of 3 programs. We'll all be graded dwon for it.

Also, today in class, someone asked if assembly was done differently for unix than for dos/windows. He said "It should be the same unless maybe you're not using MS's assembler." To which the student replied "MS doesn't make an assembler for unix". He refused to believe that ms didn't realease a unix version of thier x86 assembler.

UGh....

Rant over.

 

Go to his boss and tell him whats going on. Show him what happened and tell the story. If nothing happens, break out the acid.

 

[Darien]

a GRAD student is teaching this class...?! wtf?

hmm...you can always bitch to the school of engineering that he's incompetent and give the examples you just gave us.

edit: spelling mistake -- thanks to amnesiac 2.0 for pointing it out

 

[MajesticMoose]

It's time to start bitching to the right people, the ones who can boot him in the ass. Keep going higher until someone starts listening

 

[amnesiac]

And WHY has no one brought this up to the attention of the dean?
Bitching here will get absolutely NOTHING done to help your problem.
I'm sure we all got a good pity laugh at your expense though.

Oh, and btw, it's incompetent.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Oh, and btw, it's incompetent.

LOL, kinda makes you look like an ass, doesnt it?

I know how you feel though. I'm having the exact same prob with one of my professors, although since he's not a grad student, not much we can do.

 

[nord1899]

Heh, just wait until you run into people like this in the real/job world.

 

[Spamela]

Somebody's gotta say it: St@b him.

 

[stonecold3169]

Well, that does sound horrible... if you'd prefer the older grading method, you should have no problem getting that reinstated. There have been court cases (successful ones) in which a professor change their grading method through the semester, and disgruntled students have protested it and won. That syllabus is a binding contract, and if you want it regraded in that manor you have a right to it.

 

[ElFenix]

go to the dean, supervisor, something.

 

[scorp00]

I'm pretty sure assembly is the same on a machine no matter what OS it has on it. We programmed on red hat 7.2 using just emacs and the terminal. Labs at my school are usually the easy A part of the class as long as you know what your doing. The tests make you feel like an idiot.

I hate crappy professors too. Luckily I have only had good professors for my in major classes. I have had some total idiots for other classes though. These professors weren't much smarter than most people that work in factories it seems. They'd get lost talking, confuse themselves in an example, and screw up problems that they had written out infront of them. Nothing is more annoying than someone who can't even answer a basic question about the subject.

 

[johnjohn320]

Um....unless I'm sorely mistaken, a grad student is not a professor. Yes, I know they teach classes a lot at universities, but that doesn't make them a professor. They're still a student.

But yes, technicalities aside, if you're dissatisfied with his work it's time to let someone know who can do something about it.

 

[LordSnailz]

on the good side, wouldn't the be really skewed, since his teaching is so bad, then the whole class would have a hard time in the class, therefore little studying will still get you the curve.

During my ugrad, in the EE "weeding out" class, the mean was in the teens, 13 or 15 out of 100. Don't get me wrong the prof. was one of the best, but the class was just so hard. So the curve definitely helped a lot of people, so you can study 10hrs or study 1hrs. and get the same grade. It was one of those classes where if you get an 'A' you get shirt =)

ls

 

[QTPie]

which school are you going to?

 

[XMan]

It must be something in the water at the colleges, I dunno. I'm working on a machine the other day, with about 75 components scattered around, hunched over peering inside the dark bowels with a flashlight, and a prof walks up behind me. He doesn't say anything for a moment, then he kinda shuffles his feet and says, "Can I get just one copy?"

 

[Dragnov]

Bitching to higher authorities isn't going to do much... I don't know why everyone is telling you that. It's not like they are going to remove him all of sudden and replace him. You might be able to do something w/ the grading but thats about it.

Admin doesn't care.. they are a whole different category form lecturers. Why do you think its a grad student? I'm pretty sure they have little funding.

 

[ErmanC]

I've been on both sides of the coin on this one... Just go talk to the guy, explain the problems you're having and help him figure out a way to help you. Unless this guys is one of those full tenured prof's (doesn't sound like he is since he's a grad student) then chances are about 100% that he has someone telling him to help you guys learn this topic or that topic or all the topics and that person is giving him very little (if any) instruction on how to do that. Worse yet, the guy probably is getting a lot of pressure to produce in research and perform in his own higher level classes, let alone the one he's supposed to be teaching/help teach. Cut the guy some slack, try to get him to help work it out, if he doesn't care or isn't willing to put forth the effort to make it better, then go tell the chair of the department or the dean or whoever it is he reports to.

Also remember this, it took me several years before I understood that professors are not always there to teach. That's only a part of their jobs. Some of the worst teachers I've had have been great researchers and were working on cutting edge stuff that was really a worthy effort and would benefit many people. Others have been great teachers and have been ostracized because their research wasn't up to par with their colleagues. And of course there's a few who have tenure and could just care less either way.

Hope it helps.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Darien
a GRAD student is teaching this class...?! wtf?

hmm...you can always bitch to the school of engineering that he's incompetent and give the examples you just gave us.

edit: spelling mistake -- thanks to amnesiac 2.0 for pointing it out

my first year we had a grad student teaching integrals and basic calc. there were 3 classes. 2 with real profs with like 200 people in each class, and my class with like 30 people.


since our tests and course outline were all the same, and homework, we had like 80 people sitting in the grad students class, because the fob profs' teaching the other classes couldnt speak english, were retards, or boring.


i went to the other class once, and i was so confused, until i figured out that DIRT X ment delta x. hahahah L became an R.

 

[gwlam12]

Originally posted by: notfred
Ok, so I have this Assembly language class. The professor is a grad student, and a crappy professor.

Today in class he decided to redistribute the way the class would be graded (it's about halfway through the semester). He made our labs worth less points overall, and our midterms will take up the slack.

He did this because (in his words): "you guys have been having trouble with the labs".

The reason we're having trouble with the labs is because he writes lab assignments that require libraries that dont work with the version of the assembler in the computer lab. This is entirely HIS fault for assigning assignments that we can't possibly do, and he blames it on US "having trouble".

His latest lab assignment didn't require any external libraries. It was basically "fix the code I give you so that it works correctly". So, he gave us some code, and it doesn't compile, which is expected. We have an hour and forty minute lab period. He gave us three programs to fix. After an hour, we had tried EVERYTHING to get the first of the three to run. There was a divide instruction that would crash the program whenever it ran. We weren't allowed to take it out. He said "It's not the divide instruction that's causing the problem, it's the line before it that is". Despite the fact that the code would run (with incorrect output) if you commented out the divide instruction. He later changed his story to say that "The divide is the problem, if I tell you how to fix it, I'd be giving you the answer". Well, his job is to TEACH. NOT, to laugh at students who can't absorb information from nowhere. If he doesn't tell us why it won't work, how the hell are we supposed to fix it?

After an hour and 40 minutes. not ONE person in the class was able to complete the first of 3 programs. We'll all be graded dwon for it.

Also, today in class, someone asked if assembly was done differently for unix than for dos/windows. He said "It should be the same unless maybe you're not using MS's assembler." To which the student replied "MS doesn't make an assembler for unix". He refused to believe that ms didn't realease a unix version of thier x86 assembler.

UGh....

Rant over.

if he's a grad student, then i dont believe u call him a professor. therefore, hes an incompetent teacher but not a professor.

 

[Jfur]

Originally posted by: johnjohn320
Um....unless I'm sorely mistaken, a grad student is not a professor. Yes, I know they teach classes a lot at universities, but that doesn't make them a professor. They're still a student.

But yes, technicalities aside, if you're dissatisfied with his work it's time to let someone know who can do something about it.

Technically it's the *position* you are hired for. A Ph.D. can be an "instructor" or an M.S. a "professor". Typically, academic positions require the Ph.D. for hiring as an Asst. Prof., but some fields are more flexible or have terminal master's degrees. I know a full professor in her 60's who just completed the Ph.D. last year. She has been a full Professor for decades because her field (at the time she was hired) required a master's degree for that position.

Now in this case, it sounds like it is probably a MS TA who has no pedagogical theory or teaching experience. Sadly, a LOT of CS profs are like that, too. Going to conferences you can still see some "big names" stumbling through a simple presenation or using 8 point font on a weathered old transparency...

 

[KEV1N]

This is weird. This quarter I've noticed all of my teachers are totally incompetant, as well as the TAs. Is this a nationwide thing or what?

 

[Jfur]

Originally posted by: KEV1N
This is weird. This quarter I've noticed all of my teachers are totally incompetant, as well as the TAs. Is this a nationwide thing or what?

If you are in CS, most of the CS profs have sucked in the past and their mentees pick up their habits/lack of skills. True even for "good" schools, although that is starting to change.

 

[Kelvrick]

This quarter, I have 1 good professor, 1 good teacher, 2 ok professors, and one horrible TA. I can't complain about her english, but for a Poly Sci TA, she's way down there on the english scale. We were given a chart by the professor to fill out to help us study for the midterm and she said the first week that she'll give it to us the next week because we'll learn more if we fill it out ourselves, then correct. Anyway, the next week rolls around and now she won't give us a completed chart and I'm missing some data. Then, she cancels the next session and tells us to show up to one of the other sections because she's going ti Missouri the next Friday (when our session is) and coming back Sunday. Ok, thats not so bad, but then when we ask that she gives us the times of the other sessions, she tells us her busy schedule and tells us it wouldn't be too hard to look it up ourselves. Then, monday comes around and we have to hand in our assignments directly to our TA's before lecture starts and she isn't there. We're a bunch of losers holding papers until the Prof tells us she ain't here, put it in a pile over there.

Ok, so thats not so bad, but then everything she does just bothers me. Oh well, enough ranting and more sleep.

<== sleeping monkey dance