Joe Bruin sits in the back row of some tedious lecture,
agonizing over the day’s crossword puzzle while a couple
towards the front lacking such stringent academic discipline
decides to make a quick exit.
And at the front, the professor drones on, apparently oblivious
to everyone but the people in the first few rows, who scribble
furiously as he speaks.
Walk into a typical lecture hall at UCLA and this is the scene
that will greet you. Students bored by their professor’s
lecture, doing anything but paying attention and a professor who
either doesn’t notice the lack of enthusiasm or pretends not
to see it.
These are signs that there is a need for change in the way
classes are conducted, or at least, for the time being, an
improvement in the existing method of instruction.
Professors now care more about their most recent experiments or
studies than they do about educating students. And just because a
professor is a good researcher does not automatically mean he is a
good teacher; the two are very different professions and require
extremely different skills.
It is rare that a person would possess the qualities necessary
to be successful at both, and unfortunately professors at UCLA are
often hired for their research, not their teaching.
In such an environment, the discussion section has
become the preferred means to further the growth students should be
able to expect from a college class. But by forcing huge classes on
students and professors, it is unrealistic to expect any meaningful
discussion to take place.
Teaching Assistants, instead of making up for the large class
size and disconnected professors, usually become part of the
problem. In theory, it is a workable concept, but it doesn’t
usually turn out the way it was drawn up.
The discussion sections take on the same air that the lectures
do: students do not pay attention and TAs fail to care. TAs hold
office hours, but if a connection isn’t established
during section, the office time becomes intimidating and not at all
useful to the student. Students usually only visit office
hours”“if they attend at all”“when they are having
trouble with homework or a paper.
But TAs should be so much more than glorified homework helpers.
In the large lecture culture of UCLA, TAs should take the place of
professors in terms of personal discussions with students that both
challenge and motivate. Discussions with an authority on a subject
can foster a desire to learn like no other. A TA can make or break
a class for many students who rely on those types of interactions
to absorb material and commit information to memory.
But many TAs are no better than their students”“they just
go through the motions, reviewing what the professor taught in
class and answering a few questions. It is rare to find a TA that
takes a different approach from the professor or actively works to
engage students.
The new “Fiat Lux” seminars offered this year are an
excellent step in bringing this huge research university to a
level in which students”“especially new ones”“can
thrive. There will be about 15 students in each seminar, all 50 of
which cover broad topics in the College of Letters and Science. The
seminars will hopefully show both students and administrators alike
that discussion does foster more motivated students.
It is not enough, however, to put students in one class that
will aid in that endeavor while also placing them in 250 person
lectures where the same cycle will begin. At the very least,
discussion sections and TAs must be improved. And if the university
was interested in significantly altering its current course in
order to fully educate its students, it should make the
seminar-like class a common occurrence rather than an anomaly.