4 ms·
You're presenting a false dichotomy, and nobody with who thinks of students as "spotty-faced teens" should be allowed within miles of a college faculty position
by telemachos 16y ago
You're presenting a false dichotomy, and nobody with who thinks of students as "spotty-faced teens" should be allowed within miles of a college faculty position.
Andrew Hacker himself (one of the co-authors of the book under discussion) is a good counter-example. He was a longtime professor at a public college (Queens College). (Full disclosure: I was a student at QC from 1986-1992. I never took a full class with Professor Hacker, but I heard him lecture a few times.) His classes always filled up quickly despite their reputation as challenging, he won numerous teaching awards and he was near-universally regarded as an inspiring lecturer. Nevertheless, he was also a respected scholar who regularly published articles and books that nobody in his field could ignore. It doesn't have to be either/or.
- culled 16y agoAnother example would be Richard Feynman who was apparently a great teacher. He turned down an opportunity to work at the IAS because it didn't include teaching. He also won a Nobel Prize so he wasn't too bad as a researcher either.
- plorkyeran 16y agoGreat. Now find enough people like him to teach every single class. Obviously brilliant researchers who happen to also love to teach (and are good at it) are the ideal professors that every university should want, but merely wanting people good at all parts of being a professor does not make them exist in large quantities.
- ippisl 16y agoWith today's technology there are enough technologies to scale a great teacher. youtube(especially with it's minute by minute engagment measurement), stackoverflow (for questions and answers), and others. And you can see this happening, slowly.