Raise your hand if you are reading this column right now because you are bored in class.
Wait, don't actually, because the teacher might call on you.
Now that it's that time of year again when our ACES bookbags are open for a new season of academic goodness, I have finally decided that I am sick and tired of taking mediocre classes with mediocre professors.
I have spent three years at Duke and countless hours logged on ACES agonizing over questions such as: Is it possible to arrange a four-day weekend? Will I ever wake up for an 8:30 on Monday? And why the hell are there classes in Trent?
I have at last come to the realization that only one criterion really matters in class selection-the teacher.
There is nothing worse than dropping $100 on textbooks and showing up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to an exciting new course only to find that you have an absolute dud of a professor.
The sad part is that out of 23 instructors I have had at Duke, I can probably count on one hand the number who were actually engaging and outstanding enough to warrant the $45,000 spent on tuition.
Granted, part of the problem might be the departments I am in or the professors I have chosen. I know there are many fine professors at Duke. But I also know that in any given semester, everyone I talk to seems to have one or two awesome teachers, and the rest are mediocre at best.
You know the type. They do the absolute bare minimum required to constitute the label of professor. They read off slides filled with notes straight from the readings, they make every class exactly the same and they don't engage the students in any way. They are just plain mediocre.
To professors who are reading this, perhaps you are thinking, "No, not me!" Take a look around your classroom. If half the students only show up on test days, and if the half who are actually there are either typing on their laptops or reading this column in The Chronicle, you might want to rethink your methods.
Coming from a very respected public high school with excellent teachers, I have been somewhat disappointed by the faculty here. The problem is that there is a big difference between high school and college teachers. Teachers in high school are generally there because they love to teach. Professors in college are generally there because they love their particular subject. While this means the professor may be an expert in their field, they don't realize that students may not share their enthusiasm for the subject.
In addition, professors have little incentive to teach well. As long as they teach a minimum amount of classes with a minimum amount of effort, they can still get the research grants they desire.
Furthermore, I have found that experience often has nothing to do with how good a teacher is. Some of my best have been grad students, and some of my worst have been tenured professors. And when the teacher is bad, it doesn't matter how interesting the subject is. Nothing is accomplished, nothing is learned and it is a big waste of everyone's time.
It has been said before, and I'll say it again: Duke needs to step it up with instructor accountability. We need the type of "shopping period" universities such as Harvard and Yale have adopted, where instructors must basically audition if they want to keep students in their classes. We need more clear and updated evaluations on ACES. And we need much better academic advising, especially from peers who have taken the classes.
But beyond that, better instruction starts with the individual teachers, each and every one of them.
So now I make a plea to the professors of Duke (not all, just some): Take a look around your classroom. Do your students look excited, interested and engaged? Or do they look like they are about to pass out in a puddle of their own drool? And most of all, would YOU enjoy being a student in your class?
Be bold. Shake things up. Remind yourself what it was like to be a student, and why you are a professor. You have been given some of the brightest minds in the country. Excite them! Make them love the subjects you are obviously passionate about yourselves. Make an active decision to be the best teacher you can be, not just to get through the semester.
In the words of William Ward, "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
Duke demands greatness of its students. And now, we demand greatness of our professors.
Stacy Chudwin is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Thursday.
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