[–] [deleted] 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
[–] SoloPoloVision 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago (edited ago)
Universities are lowering, and even sometimes abolishing, the most basic requirements to get in and to stay in.
Of course they are, students are now customers who pay thousands of dollars per year to be there. It's in Universities' rational self interest to shovel as many students through as possible.
[–] worthlesshope 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
only if you're not white, if you're white they make it very difficult to get in
[–] Plant_Boy 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
You get a mix of lecturers. Some enjoy teaching while others prefer only research. Ones that prefer research tend to put little to no effort into teaching.
In order to also keep a good level of passing students they simplify the exam and lower the pass rate. I'm studying a PhD and I'm friends with some of the lecturers. They say that the questions are tame compared to what they uses to be like.
Maybe they're looking through else tinted glasses.
Well, where I went the professors would throw together shittily thought out exam questions (I don't even know how they're getting some of those question - some of the exams are just asinine and idiotic with the questions); then somehow Fs in the classes wind up being curved up to As and Bs....
Let me ask you: what's wrong with a system like I just mentioned? Or what's right with it?
yeah, more than any other responses in this thread, its that most money brought into uni now is via research grants, so profs focus on their research rather than teaching. But yeah, I also think in general, school is easier so more pass so the school can also keep getting $$$ from more and more tuition.
[–] daskapitalist ago
It's because the quality of students has nosedived as attendance has increased. As a result, most college teachers who actually care become jaded after beating their head against endless waves of moronic students who put in no effort, expect good grades for no reason, and have the intellectual capacity of a kumqat.
It's like asking "Why do primary school teachers in inner city schools stop caring". Look at the "we wuz kangs" students who suck the enthusiasm out of them.
It's because the quality of students has nosedived as attendance has increased. As a result, most college teachers who actually care become jaded after beating their head against endless waves of moronic students who put in no effort, expect good grades for no reason, and have the intellectual capacity of a kumqat.
That's a cop out excuse used by professors. You must be a professor or someone trying to be a professor.
The university I went to had pretty much all smart, driven people, at least in my area. I didn't do jokey classes.
[–] daskapitalist ago
I have several friends who teach. The ones at private institutions tend to be pretty impressed with their students. The ones at public institutions tend to be horrified by the droves of students there on athletic or diversity scholarships who don't grasp basic concepts like plagiarism, attending class, or completing homework.
[–] murraryrothbard ago
No, I don't think the tail wags the dog. The corruption of the US education system is due to govt taking over student loans and using the loans to force the colleges to change to match policy or go away. That policy being the worship of govt and the left, diversity is promoted to replace the white middle class voters.
[–] hairytale 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
"diversity" is not the reason it is the result. Education sucks because federal and state governments have too much control over it. They impose retarded standardized tests, common core, leftist initiatives such as NCLB, R2T, affirmative action. Education is NOT government's business. Like many other things education always turns into shit while in the hands of government.
[–] SoloPoloVision ago
Since 2011 colleges have received the majority of their funding from tuition fees, so far from being controlled by government colleges now must treat their students as customers. That means from a right-wing Randian perspective it is in colleges' rational self-interest to make it as easy as possible for students to enter and for students to stay on as long as possible.
Depends on the teacher, but I suspect the trend is downwards overall.
Years ago when I was in college, I had a physics teacher who was so lazy that literally all exams were scantron true/false (not even multiple choice).
Physics. It's not a subject about just getting the right answer, but the thought process towards getting to that answer. As someone with a PhD in physics, he had to have known that, but he just didn't give a f.
Years ago when I was in college, I had a physics teacher who was so lazy that literally all exams were scantron true/false (not even multiple choice).
That is stunningly lazy.
As someone with a PhD in physics, he had to have known that, but he just didn't give a f.
Can't explain this. They just need to be given the boot, that's all
[–] analfaveto 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
If you give a sociology professor the boot, there'll be a thousand more waiting to fill his position. If you give a Ph.D. in physics the boot, he probably has better things to do than teach and you're going to struggle to find somebody to replace him.
[–] SOULESS 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
Computer Science major here.
I cannot understand two of my professors (one is a lab instructor) in the slightest. One is this little Asian woman who has a very thick accent and whispers into the chalkboard each class. It's supposed to be an object orientated programming class, but she's done NOTHING but go over diagrams. Class diagrams. Sequence diagrams. Diagram this. Diagram that. I've seen code TWO TIMES in the class. That's it. So luckily, it's not detrimental that I can't hear a damn word she's said all semester.
The lab instructor is an Indian grad student who I cannot understand in the slightest. He has a thick accent and there is a language barrier so trying to get help or an explanation is impossible. All the students hate the labs. They're pointless and we don't learn anything. They're incredibly frustrating. Getting help from the person hired to help us just isn't an option. We spend the lab texting each other and trying to work out what the fuck we're meant to be doing instead.
[–] Anson [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
That really makes me sad.
make sure to write that shit on their evaluations though. one thing i foudn that professors do is act nice right before giving evaluations and kids totally bail on writing down their complaints. I only did that twice (fuck me, i fell for the niceness trick)
by doing this you're sending a little bomb to the innermost areas of their evil lairs
Evaluations are never read unless they are looking for a reason to fire the professor (which normally, they aren't).
I was friends with the head of my department back when I was still in community college. He told me they reviews are worthless... Which is another problem. OLD PROFESSORS WHO DO NOT KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TECHNOLOGY DRIVE ME FUCKING MAD. THERE COMES A POINT WHEN THEY NEED TO BE FIRED.
Last semester I had this ancient piece of shit who didn't even know slip screen is a thing now. Once a professor has tenure they're almost impossible to get rid of.
[–] JamesMatthewsBand ago
We're going to find out that the information era teachers like khanacademy.com and codeacademy.com are going to produce not only better instructors for students, it's going to completely revolutionize the economy as well.
It is not affordable to hope for good teachers especially since we're learning that college students, throughout their time, only get 2 - 3 good teachers. There's also no way to fire the bad teachers.
It's way more productive to spend that time and money creating a digital interactive teacher that uses the best teaching techniques there are. Then of course you can give that teacher to both kids and adults, save a ton of money and not have to worry about the bullshit teachers are teaching your kids, because adults will use the same digital teacher as well.
Best part is students can learn at their own pace, geniuses will be able to learn very quickly. The retards will be able to take their time without hampering the other students and the teacher.
[–] [deleted] 1 point 12 points 13 points (+13|-1) ago
[–] CapinBoredface ago
I want to add that theres also the glaring issue of no longer teaching people to be smarter. Most schools, including Universities, only teach people how to pass. Lists of facts and formulas. It is rare to find a curriculum that actually focuses on concepts instead of just drilling for tests.
[–] Plavonica 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Depends on the classes taken, area of degree, and of course, the university you choose to attend. In my experience most instructors are just phoning it in every day collecting a paycheck. In 5 years I've met around 4-5 who actually gave enough of a shit to bother to learn any sort of teaching method. Keep in mind this is in math/cs/eng classes. Of particular note is a seriously butch-dike math prof who, even when Trump won, only said maybe one or two sentences (strictly outside of class time as well) about her beliefs. And even then it was in a respectful and intelligent manner.
Of the other classes I've taken, I met exactly one, an English prof of all things, who actually put forth an effort. And I think 2-3 who had an agenda to teach.
I imagine things are different for LA students.
[–] Anson [S] ago
too much money perhaps?
[–] Le_Squish ago
Truth, mang. I meet kids from all sorts or educational, economic and racial backgrounds and the universally don't know shit.