Although I only attended a few of his classes, a certain professor at UCLA has made a permanent place for himself in my memory.
No, he didn’t inspire me to go to grad school and he didn’t give me invaluable life-changing advice ““ he stands out for being the worst instructor I have ever had in the history of my educational experience, which includes high school PE.
Professor X, as I will now refer to him, sat behind a podium and hid his face behind his laptop as he lectured. And by lectured, I mean read his PowerPoint presentations in a barely audible whisper.
I share this experience not to single anyone out for ridicule, but to highlight a problem encountered by most students at least once during our university education: some of our professors do not understand how to teach, and action should be taken to remedy this problem.
This phenomenon is hardly new. In 1986, Professor Paul Von Blum, a senior lecturer in both Afro-American Studies and Communication Studies, critiqued the quality of teaching at UCLA in his book “Stillborn Education.”
After relaying an anecdote about watching one of his colleagues “mumble with his back to the class” for several minutes during a lecture, Von Blum called the problem “ridiculous.”
“Everybody can be made into a competent teacher,” he said, adding that most instructional shortcomings can easily be remedied by professors simply making more eye contact or modulating their voices.
Other bad habits are less obvious. For instance, many professors use PowerPoint as a crutch ““ spending the entire class reading their slides out loud. Not only is this a waste of time, but it’s insulting. The ability to read was a requirement for admission into this fine institution ““ we can do it ourselves.
The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Tim Rice, stated that UCLA takes two primary steps to monitor the quality of teaching. Firstly, teaching quality is evaluated every two or three years when professors are eligible for merit increases; these increases can be withheld until needed improvements are made. Secondly, Department Chairs often refer professors with negative student evaluations to the Office of Instructional Development.
The Office of Instructional Development, which any faculty member may access, provides services such as sending observers to classes and giving feedback on instruction.
This oversight has obvious weaknesses. Students give evaluations at the end of the quarter; at this point, too much time has already been wasted by a potentially bad instructor. When the quality of my education decreases, my fees do not follow suit. If students are paying for a good education, it is up to the university to deliver it ““ every quarter, in every class.
The Office of Instructional Development should send observers to every class at least once a quarter, and more if an instructor is new to teaching. It does not take ten weeks to see if someone is a great instructor; I can often tell after the first class.
Rice also noted that many professors have been teaching assistants as graduate students and model their techniques after the professors they most enjoyed. Speaking to a class of 20, however, is much different than speaking to a class of 200, especially when you have to develop your own curriculum. As anyone who has taken a speech class will tell you, particularly if that class has utilized the wonder of video taping, the image you have of yourself while in front of an audience is often very different from the way you actually appear.
I agree with Von Blum’s suggestion that “every new faculty appointment should receive a teaching mentor (with) a strong record of instruction.” Mentors could offer guidance before bad teaching habits even have a chance to develop.
The problem, though, is deeper than UCLA. According to Von Blum, graduate programs do not generally include any instruction on teaching or course development. This must be changed, since many of the graduates of these programs go on to become the PowerPoint-dependent instructors we see in class.
The majority of my professors have been excellent and many of the problems I have encountered were minor. Yet, I see no reason to allow any student to suffer through subpar instruction when it is preventable.
I received a high grade in Professor X’s class even though I never attended. When students ditch class, it should be because they’re hungover or lazy, not because their professor is inept, or worst, unnecessary.
Tell Strickland your professor horror stories at kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.