How to recover from a miserable professor.

[mege]

She tenured? :P

I believe so.

My point is no sane person should take Physics courses in the summer semester. If you had taken it, you should not be surprised that some novice is practicing teaching skills on a minimum wage on you.

I think it's already been established that QC thinks the instructor is a Professor, not a part-time faculty. Besides, we don't even know what course it is - it could be http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/...90.html#s72846&title=Class_Underwater_Basket" and not a Physics course like all are presuming.

 

[HeLiXe]

I have a miserable professor. It's an easy lower level course. Half of the class has already dropped. I cannot afford that option, as it would put me under full time. I am essentially teaching myself the material with the help of some friends of mine who have taken it previously. I am not kidding when I say that she lectures through just the introductions of each chapter, spends the rest of the course talking about how important the chapter is, and then dismisses the course. She does not even cover the critical concepts in the chapters. It almost feels like she is disgruntled or something and not doing her job on purpose.

I'm basically going to teach myself for the remainder of the semester, and despite my answering every single question correctly, I will still end up with a B most likely. She posts example problems of the things we are supposed to know how to do, and about 30% of the problems have a fatal error that makes it unsolvable, typos, incorrect mathematics, that sort of thing. The other day we had a quiz that consisted of information that she specifically told us not to work on. Afterwards she said "well, it's in the syllabus so you all should know it". Seriously?

Is it even worth my time complaining to someone?

Is this for Physics I w/calculus? I wonder if we have the same prof... This is EXACTLY the scenario with my physics prof (with the exception of the errors). I thought I was going to love her, she is a theoretical physicist with 25 or so yrs of research, but she rushes through the lectures, they are quite messy and I have to teach myself everything which is annoying because I am wasting my time sitting in her class when I could just be teaching myself. They should have made this class a hybrid online class with a requirement to attend lab once a week. I have no problem teaching myself, but I am SO disappointed because I have looked forward to this class all of my life. The other day we had a quiz and the scenario was the same LOL. She is a bit of an elitist with physics and acts like this intro course is some high level stuff that is so advanced. She is also not open to questions OR she will give you a vague and misleading answer. I cannot afford to drop this class either as it will cost me another semester -_-

I was getting discouraged and wondering the same thing the other day, how can I recover from this miserable prof. I just decided to immerse myself in the material and abandon all of my social outlets. I am determined to master everything and work a few chapters ahead (which is something I usually do but have not been able to do in this class). We are using Serway Jewett, and I am going to get Halliday/Resnick to see if I work better with it. I've selected my courses for next semester and I selected a different prof for Physics II.

Hang in there is all I can say Charmer ;) You will get through this!

 

[Dickfore]

I think it's already been established that QC thinks the instructor is a Professor, not a part-time faculty. Besides, we don't even know what course it is - it could be http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/...90.html#s72846&title=Class_Underwater_Basket" and not a Physics course like all are presuming.

What the op thinks and what the facts are are two completely different things. But, you are right about the 'basket weaving' issue. The OP had never stated what kind of course they are enrolled in.

For the sake of not derailing the thread with people mindlessly trying to provide links without even reading through, I wish to retract my statement. This is my correction: Both the quality of teaching and the learning experience are drastically disparate between the regular semesters and the summer sessions. It is my belief that students who do enroll for physics in summer are usually people who had failed/dropped the course in a previous semester and are trying to get back on schedule. Well, Physics is not something you can squeeze in in summer. If you lag behind on Physics, I'm afraid you would have to spend an extra year in your Engineering/Science undergrad degree, or change the major to something that does not require this course. It requires 100% of your effort for good 11 weeks. Having a disorganized teacher does not help either. [/statement]

So, OP what kind of Physics course is this?

 

[HeLiXe]

It is my belief that students who do enroll for physics in summer are usually people who had failed/dropped the course in a previous semester and are trying to get back on schedule. Well, Physics is not something you can squeeze in in summer. If you lag behind on Physics, I'm afraid you would have to spend an extra year in your Engineering/Science undergrad degree, or change the major to something that does not require this course. It requires 100% of your effort for good 11 weeks. Having a disorganized teacher does not help either. [/statement]

I understand that this is your belief Dickfore, and you said usually which does not imply totally...but I have never taken/failed/dropped a physics course prior to this one. I expected to put forth more effort because it is a summer course, which I am doing since I have to teach myself, but having a prof like this can be quite discouraging.

Anyways not trying to hijack the thread or anything! Just passionate about this since I am also experiencing it.

 

[Dickfore]

I understand that this is your belief Dickfore, and you said usually which does not imply totally...but I have never taken/failed/dropped a physics course prior to this one.

First of all, I don't understand what 'prior to this one' is referring to since this is your first post in this thread. Secondly, since Summer session offers mostly Introductory Physics courses, there is a high probability that one taking a Physics course in the summer is taking a Physics course for the first time. So, I had never failed/dropped is not relevant in that case.

 

[HeLiXe]

First of all, I don't understand what 'prior to this one' is referring to since this is your first post in this thread.

That was actually my second post to this thread. Not a big deal anyways, I was just clarifying, but I understand now that you did not read or see my initial post. :)

 

[Dickfore]

That was actually my second post to this thread. Not a big deal anyways, I was just clarifying, but I understand now that you did not read or see my initial post. :)

I am sorry for not reading it. I must have missed it while typing my reply to mege. But, now that I have read it, it further corroborates my point. Namely, don't take Physics in summer if it is a core course for your curriculum.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

This isn't even a physics course lol.

 

[HeLiXe]

GAH scratch all of what I said...I couldn't deal! I just dropped her miserable @$$ class -_-

 

[rhody]

I think these guys are reputable, so I am told at least.
http://web.mit.edu/catalog/summer/course_08.html

I wish I were over exaggerating the severity of my circumstance, but sadly I am not. I have no problem teaching myself, though it is frustrating because you know, I am paying them!, but even self study leading to full knowledge of the material seems frustrating because of the phrasing of the test/quiz questions. There are always a few questions that do not come from the lecture (if you can call it that) or the book.

QC,

My two cents, for what it is worth, if this professor is really as bad as you say she/he is I would report him/her to the academic dean. If you are smart and lobby classmates who feel the same, who all agree on points that are beyond dispute, showing up in the Dean's office with a bunch of students with you on the same page will have an effect.

I did it on college, and they backed down on forcing requirements down our throats that we did not agree to when we signed on to the program. My situation did not involve a professor, it involved a committee, who upon review of the situation had to make an exception for those involved. The bottom line was we found the right person, with the right amount of power and influence, and we prevailed in the situation. I wish you well in yours.

Rhody...