This is college?

By: Kara Caldwell

Posted: 8/27/07

Like most people during the first week of classes, I sized up my teachers.

Many of my instructors seem competent. I might actually learn something from them this year.

However, I have some professors who remind me of high school teachers. How can this possibly be college if university professors are acting like high school teachers?

I'm sure a lot of people have had a class where the teacher felt it necessary to read the syllabus to the class.

This is, after all, college.

If students aren't capable of reading for themselves, at least we have instructors who are willing to take 20 minutes out of class to read word for word what makes up class participation and how much tests count toward grades. A college student can't be expected to read the paper silently or on his or her own time.

These are the same instructors who assign reading a chapter Monday night, and then spend most of Wednesday's class reading the assignment aloud. I'm so glad I'm paying $235 per credit hour to be read to.

Perhaps the generational gap explains why instructors feel the need to read to their students. I have several professors who are old enough to be my grandparents. These are the professors who use Joseph McCarthy as an example in their classes.

How many 20 year olds know who McCarthy was or for what he is famous?

I've had to take a couple of film history classes. While I understand the importance of Charlie Chaplin in film history, I do not understand why the most recent film in the class is from 1991. I was six when these movies were released. How am I supposed to understand the moral or political importance of these films when I barely remember the year they were made? Why not use movies made in the last five years so I can relate to the movie and not laugh at the horrible special effects?

I'm lucky if I get to watch movies in class because many of my teachers don't know how to work the DVD player for us to watch them. I am amazed when a teacher takes 10 minutes trying to figure out how to use the computer before asking a student for help. Computers are a staple in universities. If professors can't figure out how to use one, they shouldn't be teaching at a university.

These days, almost all classes are linked to Blackboard. How can professors be expected to figure out Blackboard if they can't use a DVD player? My instructors who don't know how to use a DVD player don't even bother with Blackboard. Handouts and announcements are made in class, so if students miss one day, they are completely out of the loop.

I understand the value of older instructors and their experience. I just think it would be nice if they made more of an effort to relate to their students. If a student is in college and can't read the syllabus, he or she deserves to fail. If instructors can't figure out how to use a computer, they shouldn't play DVDs. This is not high school. Students deserve to be treated like college students.

kcaldwell@unews.com