Am I being too sensitive or is this Organic Chem Professor Bullying Students?

College Majors Science Majors
1

I’ve never had a problem with professors until taking organic chemistry. The professor’s behavior is really concerning myself and other students. I’ve seen a lot of bullies in my life in the form of bosses, co-workers, and peers, and this guy’s behavior is eerily similar.

Full disclosure, I am a somewhat sensitive person and I’ve only been taking chemistry courses for the last year, so who knows, this could be the norm among chem professors. So, I’d appreciate some feedback on the situation to determine if I should speak with the department chair(who I have a good relationship with) about the bully professor.

Anyway, the guy is an adjunct and only teaches the lab section, so I guess he’s taken it upon himself to be ‘tough’ on students’ lab technique. But his criticism is incredibly harsh and he tends to throw out every insult in the book outside of legitimately cursing out students.

In response to legitimate student questions about lab procedures he’ll say things like, ‘You’ve got learn to use your brain.’ ‘How do you not understand this?’ ‘This is not good. This class worries me.’ And since he doesn’t want to answer questions constructively, students proceed with the lab without asking him crucial questions. This is so they can avoid dealing with him.

Being difficult in answering questions leads to student errors. This is when the bullying really comes out. He’ll yell, shout, and get in students’ faces. If a student messes something up, it becomes a spectacle for the whole class to watch. Then the student that made the error will become his target for that lab period and used as a spring board for mean/vindictive comments. I’ve been on the other end of his verbal attacks and it makes mentally difficult labs emotionally draining as well. It’s very upsetting.

As an example, in one lab we were greasing up 100mL flasks for a distillation. One flask slipped out of my hand, landed on my table at an odd angle, and cracked. I know it was clumsy of me, but the Professor reacted as if I started a fire. He ran towards me, got in my face, and shouted things like ‘This is unacceptable.’ I didn’t know I was teaching 3rd graders’ 'What were you thinking? ‘You never set up a flask without checking the utility clamps. What is wrong wit you?’ (I guess he thought I set something up wrong. He didn’t know it just dropped out of my hand)

Then, after the shouting, he started asking me questions from the lab safety quiz we took in week 1. Things like, ‘What should your reaction be when you break glassware?’ ‘Well I guess you weren’t paying attention then, huh?’ I was on his shit list for the rest of the lab and everything I did was heavily scrutinized and he spent most of his time trying to catch my lab group his mistakes. ‘The lab called for 3 boiling chips. Do I see 3 boiling chips?’ ‘This is at a bad angle. Set it up again.’ 'Not good guys, not good. I thought we were 2nd year chem students.'All of these critiques were made for the class to hear.

I’m not the only student that has taken up issue with him. Students have yelled back at him and filed complaints with student affairs, but I really don’t know how much that could do. The only person I could think of talking to is the department chair who is a wonderful person. But even then, what could I say? “Professor____is mean to me. I don’t agree with his teaching methods! Wah wah!”

So, is this just common place in Organic Chem lab? I gave him the benefit of the doubt because I know safety is important in these labs, but its gotten to the point where I don’t want to proceed with the simplest task out of fear of being called out in front of the whole class.

Anyway, thanks for hearing out the rant. Hopefully someone on here has had similar experiences.

2

Take advantage of today’s technology and videotape the guy. (try to get several examples) Then take it to multiple people in positions of authority.

3

I wouldn’t record the behavior–it may be against school policy and could make things worse. Instead, I think you and your classmates need to start documenting everything that happens. As soon as you leave lab, everyone should independently write down exactly what happened, making sure to date your notes (and have everyone do the same in their own notes). Make sure you each write your own account which I think should add credibility. I would document the incident you described above (just copy and paste the description of your experience when you broke the flask and paste it into a new file and date it). Then get a group of students together (after you have at least one set of documented notes), and set up a meeting with the chair of the department. Bring your documentation (and be prepared to leave it with the chair (or do it electronically so you can send a file)) and share that your lab instructor is behaving in a way that is causing the students concern. Emphasize the fact that students are afraid to ask questions for fear of being the target of abuse and that you have concerns that there could be serious problems if students fail to ask about something that could lead to a safety issue. Keep your cool and simply state facts–you don’t want it to look like you are ganging up on the lab instructor. Instead, you are sharing concerns about abusive, unprofessional behavior in the classroom. It sounds like you have the fear of retaliation if you approach the lab instructor; I would express that fear when you speak to the chair. If the chair says you need to have a meeting with the lab instructor before the chair can step in, then set up a meeting with the lab instructor. Write out your main points, keep your meeting brief, but state your concerns about how he is treating students during the lab. Remember that a meeting like that is often a formality so the chair can officially speak with the instructor, so don’t skip this step (if the chair tells you to do it). I had to do something like this in college and I survived it! I am now a chair so I appreciate it when students document and bring their concerns to me–I can’t do anything unless I receive official notification from a student. Good luck!

4

I agree with the advice to record him but I suggest that you check what the rules at your school are first. In my state, one party to a conversation can legally record it without the consent of anyone else.

When one of my sons was in middle school and was being tormented by his math teacher, we gave him a small recorder. That, along with statements of other students, helped us get his class changed. When S17 was being targeted by a teacher last year, he recorded their interactions and, again, we used it to get his class changed.

IF recording is permissible, get a couple of trusted students together and have more than one recording done. If this behavior is continuing and not a one off (as in, he had a bad day but is usually not the way you described), go to the department chair with the recordings.

5

I have a different take on this. This behavior sounds really out of line and inexcusable BUT I think that before you start recording (possibly against school rules) or report him to the department chair, you should first try to deal with it yourself. One of the issues with MANY professors, and in your case, adjuncts, is that they have never been taught how to teach and they are often not evaluated on this. They often get (and keep) their jobs based on research. This particularly adjunct may not know what you do and do not know – he’s dealing only with the lab – and he may have had the riot act read to him about safety, or breakage, or whatever. It is also possible that he has ZERO interest in this but has to do it to keep his stipend or whatever. Not that this should be your problem, but it seems to be affecting you and your classmates.

Try to go see him during his office hours and talk to him. Try to use “I” statements. Tell him, “I am relatively new to chemistry, and I really want to learn this material because xxx. I know that you want us to do the labs correctly and safely, but when you yell at me, it makes it really hard for me to focus/learn/etc. Here are a couple of questions that I have from the last lab. Can you help me with these? I would have liked to ask them during the lab, but I was feeling really intimidated.” The beauty of this approach is that you’re not putting him on the defensive – it’s about how you feel, and you’re asking for his help in resolving a problem. If your school has a “take a prof to lunch” program, think about inviting him and asking him about his interest in chemistry or just getting to know him. I know – eye roll! – but sometimes people who act like jerks are in fact redeemable!

I would guess that you have a 50/50 chance of having success with this approach. If you succeed, great. You’ll have connected on a human level and made helped him see that the way he’s conducting himself in the lab isn’t helping. If you don’t, you are now in a better position to escalate it because you have already done the adult thing and tried to resolve the issue yourself.

Part of the reason that I suggest this is that this is unlikely to be the last time in your life that you will have to deal with a difficult person in a position of authority. Coming up with a bag of tricks to deal with these folks will serve you well in the future, and here’s a chance to work on those.