What to do about problem professor?

[2ndave]

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I'm taking a summer math class (multivariable calculus), and the professor is turning out to be an absolute disaster. I thought I'd check to see if anyone around here had been in a similar situation and could give me some advice about what to do. My entire class is frustrated with this guy, so it isn't just me. A couple of us are thinking about complaining to the math department, but I'm just not sure how much help we can expect from them. We're in a sophomore level class at a huge state university. Our prof is treating it like a graduate level class--in fact he even claims that undergraduate calculus is so obvious we shouldn't need to go over much of it. His lectures are impossible to follow, and rather than talk about the stuff that's in our textbook or listed in the course description, he goes off on bewildering tangents--and then berates us when we try to follow by asking questions. He has entire problems memorized, and when he goes through them on the board, he'll skip maybe 5 or 10 steps at a time, so none of us understand how he got the answer. He also refuses to move aside from the chalkboard to let us see what he's written. Anyway, at least half the class dropped out during the first couple weeks. Now it's down to about 20 of us, shrinking more every day, and those of us still in the class are afraid we'll be punished with bad grades just for sticking it out.

Things might be tolerable if only his exams weren't also geared towards people with 20 years calculus experience and a host of other math classes behind them. One day he told us that we should be able to integrate faster than him because we're younger. Today we had our second midterm, which lasted 2 hours. The were 4 questions, each with several sub-questions. One of the sub-questions involved an integral so complicated that even if I'd had the answer printed right in front of me, simply copying the letters and numbers would have taken 45 minutes. Almost no one finished the exam, and since we had to hurry so much we had no time to check any of our work. Our prof says that people who make mistakes in derivatives or integrals should not be in his class, period, and he won't feel bad failing them. But there is no way NOT to make mistakes when you're rushing, and writing answers in a blue book where you have to start a new page every four lines. He also puts questions on the exams that have no analogies in our book or in his lectures.

I have no idea what to do. I'm following along in the book, and feel very comfortable with that material. I've always been a good math student and I'm working harder than ever for this class. I've tried practice exams from other schools, and can do them just fine. It's just our professor--he's SUCH a jerk. I'm taking this class as an elective, and I'm really worried about getting an unfair grade.

Anyone have any ideas about what I can do? Thanks in advance--I'd really appreciate ANY advice on this!

 

[Jillianrae]

In that situation, I would say that a meeting with the department head would be in order. I might first consider a meeting with one of the school counselors for reasons of confidentiality. See if they can make a recommendation on how best to handle the situation. It may be that the entire class will need to schedule a meeting with the department head and the dean of the division, but at a large university, this may be difficult.

Definitely ask for confidentiality during the meetings, and don't be afraid to be a little bit forceful. It may even be necessary to have the class draw up (and sign) a formal petition. Remember, if everything is well documented, you have recourse if the prof gets nasty about.

Good luck.

 

[Wilford Brimley]

Originally posted by 2ndave
I'm taking a summer math class (multivariable calculus), and the professor is turning out to be an absolute disaster. I thought I'd check to see if anyone around here had been in a similar situation and could give me some advice about what to do. My entire class is frustrated with this guy, so it isn't just me. A couple of us are thinking about complaining to the math department, but I'm just not sure how much help we can expect from them. We're in a sophomore level class at a huge state university. Our prof is treating it like a graduate level class--in fact he even claims that undergraduate calculus is so obvious we shouldn't need to go over much of it. His lectures are impossible to follow, and rather than talk about the stuff that's in our textbook or listed in the course description, he goes off on bewildering tangents--and then berates us when we try to follow by asking questions. He has entire problems memorized, and when he goes through them on the board, he'll skip maybe 5 or 10 steps at a time, so none of us understand how he got the answer. He also refuses to move aside from the chalkboard to let us see what he's written. Anyway, at least half the class dropped out during the first couple weeks. Now it's down to about 20 of us, shrinking more every day, and those of us still in the class are afraid we'll be punished with bad grades just for sticking it out.

Things might be tolerable if only his exams weren't also geared towards people with 20 years calculus experience and a host of other math classes behind them. One day he told us that we should be able to integrate faster than him because we're younger. Today we had our second midterm, which lasted 2 hours. The were 4 questions, each with several sub-questions. One of the sub-questions involved an integral so complicated that even if I'd had the answer printed right in front of me, simply copying the letters and numbers would have taken 45 minutes. Almost no one finished the exam, and since we had to hurry so much we had no time to check any of our work. Our prof says that people who make mistakes in derivatives or integrals should not be in his class, period, and he won't feel bad failing them. But there is no way NOT to make mistakes when you're rushing, and writing answers in a blue book where you have to start a new page every four lines. He also puts questions on the exams that have no analogies in our book or in his lectures.

I have no idea what to do. I'm following along in the book, and feel very comfortable with that material. I've always been a good math student and I'm working harder than ever for this class. I've tried practice exams from other schools, and can do them just fine. It's just our professor--he's SUCH a jerk. I'm taking this class as an elective, and I'm really worried about getting an unfair grade.

Anyone have any ideas about what I can do? Thanks in advance--I'd really appreciate ANY advice on this!

If true, someone needs to know that the instructor can't teach well. Why not write what you just wrote (hopefully without the JERK part 😀) to the chairman of the department, you may wish to cc: it to the Dean of Faculty or an Ombudsman. It seems like this is a class problem, so it would help if you get signatures from some of your classmates as well.

At the very least, the instructor will have to show accountability and answer to someone. I would also ask if someone from the department could be a spectator in the classes to make sure that the students are being taught what is on the syllabus. You're the one paying the money for the course, you deserve to get the most out of it. Goodluck.

 

[Wilford Brimley]

Originally posted by Jillianrae
In that situation, I would say that a meeting with the department head would be in order. I might first consider a meeting with one of the school counselors for reasons of confidentiality. See if they can make a recommendation on how best to handle the situation. It may be that the entire class will need to schedule a meeting with the department head and the dean of the division, but at a large university, this may be difficult.

Definitely ask for confidentiality during the meetings, and don't be afraid to be a little bit forceful. It may even be necessary to have the class draw up (and sign) a formal petition. Remember, if everything is well documented, you have recourse if the prof gets nasty about.

Good luck.

I agree, confidentiality is important. It's best to do this all through an Ombudsman-like counselor.

 

[thackl]

My org 2 prof is on some sort of faculty discipline board and just mentioned something about a math prof yesterday to me. They did nothing until the 2nd and 3rd complaints came in. There should be a counselor or student ombudsman at you school. Take advantage.

If the material is in the course description and in the book, then you have no case. It sounds as if he is going outside the realm of the course (which is ok to an extent) and not explaining things well enough. Also, if a prof gives too many A's or F's they must defend it to the department head. The school is not worth a crap if they don't do this. It's not fair if you get a C busting your a$$ and some other chump breezes thru in another section with an A. This may sound cheesy, but I've been in academia for over a decade and taking the tougher prof's early on makes things easier down the road because you will have good fundamentals. I was an engineer before starting the medical thing and in my last couple years at RIT were full of graduate and upper lever courses that I found much easier having worked hard early.

Good luck with this.

 

[Columbia22]

shoot him in the foot

 

[Retro]

beat him up in the bathroom.

 

[beastmaster]

I've been in the situation before, except my professor was not so much as far beyond the scope of the class, but far below it, downright incompetent. It took many letters of complaints to the department head. But, since you're at a large university, see the head as a group -- INCESSANTLY, until you are assured that capabilities will be graded fairly within the context of what the class is supposed to be, not what the professor says it is.

I've also had a professor like you describe, teaching graduate level stuff to a class of mixed undergrad-grad students. His lectures were too hard even for the grads, the undergrads (including me) were so far behind that it was rather comical. But we were curved accordingly, in the typical graduate-course grading style (mediocre = A, lacking = B, dunce = C). So, do consider that fact.

If you simply strive to do better than the other students who are also having just as hard a time as you, you'll get away with a decent grade a nice story/experience. Remember, if he doesn't give any A's at all (and I've had profs like that, but they were tenured in a small school where no one really cared), you have a case. Likely, that won't happen, so just get your sh1t together and just compete with everyone else who is just as concerned as you.

 

[lalee]

I just went through a similar situation! The professor taught well and was highly knowledgable in his field. However, when it came time for the tests...we all crapped our pants. He tested on material that wasn't even MENTIONED in lecture or even in the book. The class average on each test was between 45-60!!😱
I consistently scored 10-20 points ABOVE the average, but he tried to give me a C. Several of the students went to the dean after the 3rd test and he claimed he would not let him turn in that many Fs (about 1/3 of the class was failing). We were hoping he would curve...but the only thing he did was drop one test grade...didn't help much! So, after I fould out he gave me a C (the 1st C I've ever received...out of 160 semester hours!!) I happened to run in to the dean. He asked how I did in the class and I told him I was glad that I wasn't among the large group that would have to repeat the course, but felt I earned a higher grade for the tremendous effort I put forth. I studied more for that class than Organic Chem, I was able to get an A in that class...certainly I have the intellect and study skills to atleast get a B!! Well, he met with the professor that day!! I met back with the dean a few days later and he said I have a B. He also said that considering my standing in the class (5th highest) I should have gotten an A, but this was the best the professor would do.
So...to make a long story short...go to the dean along with as many fellow students as possible and voice your concerns! Your professor needs to be put in his place!

 

[canadagirl]

Personally, I would say.........if it's not too late to drop the course now, then drop it!! Part of being smart about grades is to talk to upper-year students, find out who the crummy profs are, and avoid them...!

The problem is that if the prof is tenured, there's virtually nothing they can do about it. He has to teach SOMETHING, they CAN'T fire him, and it's unlikely that they can do much to help him improve. You should be aware that the department almost certainly knows that the prof is awful! Bad teachers are legendary! But the departments are STUCK with them.

I'd agree with the posters above (assuming you can't drop it!) - make as much noise as possible, have as many fellow students as possible helping you out, and take it as far up as possible. The relevant administration probably just doesn't want to deal with you ... so make it very painful for them to ignore you, so that the path of least resistance for them, is a better grade, or whatever you want out of it! 🙂

 

[jennie 21]

My advice would be to drop the course if it's not too late, or failing that to change to pass/fail if that's an option, or audit. This prof sounds like an unfair jerk, but the administration may or may not want to listen to you about that. I don't think it's worth taking the chance of failing the course or getting a C or D, unless it's too late to drop and you have no choice.

If it is too late to drop, then talking to an ombudsman would be another good option.

Good luck.

 

[Kasey]

DROP, DROP, DROP!
I was in a situation last year with a teacher that wound up giving 1 person in the class a B-, one a C and everyone else D's. I tried to fight the department (this was an english class, subjective subects bite) and everyone ignored me. That was the guy's last semester teaching at the school so they just didn't care.
My point is, you don't know how this is all going to turn out in the end, whether he will grade fairly or not and trying to get that grade changed after the fact isn't a garuntee (sp?). And especially since this class is an elective, and you're probably not very happy in it, why risk it?
-Kasey

 

[All-Star14]

If you don't need the course, drop it. If you do need it, then suck it up. Bad professors are a part of everyone's college experience; you're certainly not immune to it. I just went through a similar experience; however, nothing could be done with the professor because (although he is a total jerk-off) he has tenure or some **** like that. But anyway, you only have two options: drop or stay...time's running out.

 

[spumoni620]

#1--Drop the class--it's an elective, you're good at math--you don't need this bad grade on your transcript unless you're absolutely fascinated by the subject material. this is crucial, b/c you want to avoid messing up a good GPA with a freak elective.

#2--get a bunch of students together and talk to the dean of students. this really does work as others have pointed out. in my school., it worked to change a terrible, dreaded pre-med physics class into a easily-understood and interesting one, taught by a better teacher. students do really count, even at big universities.


Best of luck. I really hope things work out for you!

 

[Zoobaby]

TP his house

 

[dumbest premed]

See him during office hours and make your case. If he is unresponsive just seduce him into submission.

 

[OrthoFixation]

With 210 hours, I have seen my share of bad prof's. I must admit that I always dropped and retook the class if a required. I have not heard this many success stories with going up the chain of command or I might have pursued it. Don't let that drop option pass you by, it may be your last option.

We had one particular geezer prof w/ tenure. He finally left the college after I graduated. He died. Everyone knew he sucked as a teacher, but he taught a required class...so we sucked it up and were thankful for a C.

good luck

 

[DoctorDee]

DROP DROP DROP DROP DROP!!!!

I did this with 2nd semester orgo over the summer. First semester I had all As, highest grade in the class, highest grade in lab. Second semester, getting a C after 2 quizzes and about to fail the first test. TAKE THE WITHDRAWL!!! The administration couldn't do anything about the guy b/c he was old, tenured and too much of a pain to deal with, but they DID notice that of the 45+ people in the class at the start of the semester (all of whom had just finished orgo 1 together), only 15 or so were still taking the class at the end. The next summer, a MUCH better teacher taught the class and did a GREAT job. She also mentioned that the entire department knew about what happened the summer before, so I guess a point was made.