<p>I am concerned about a class that my daughter has and more specifically the teacher, and I would love to share my concern with the administration but am not sure how or even if I should. My daughter is a freshman at UD, and she has struggled with this class all semester, and tells me she pretty much doesn't understand a word the professor says (not an accent issue--a teaching issue). She has averaged around a 55 on all the tests, and after taking her final the other day, tells me she didn't know anything on it and even if she passes the class she doesn't feel like she really learned anything from this professor. Normally I would say this is an issue with her, but I am not so sure in this case. In spite of her 55 average on tests, she is doing better than any of the other girls in her dorm that she knows in the class, and they actually come to her for help. I was on the phone with DD the other day and actually heard a girl excitedly tell my D she got a 40 on the last test and thanks so much for my D's help. Granted this is my first in college so maybe this is just how college goes, but I think that if most the students are failing a professor's tests, then there is an issue either with the teaching or the tests. My daughter attended classes, did homework, hired a tutor (helped a lot but can't reteach everything in an hour a week), studied, and tried to go to office hours (line always too long and literally once had door shut in her face as she was next in line when the office hours ended). I looked this professor up on rate my professor, and it seems everything my daugher tells me is actually true. Most people say instructor doesn't teach well, is confusing, doesn't follow lecture notes, moves too fast, etc. but you can fail every test and still get a C with the curve. If an instructor has to curve that much, then something is wrong! My D knows another student that had to switch to this instructor from a different one in the middle of the semester, and this student went from understanding the material taught and doing pretty well with her previous instructor, to not getting it at all and failing after the switch.</p>
<p>My daughter is frustrated and is just hoping she gets that C and is ready to move on, but since her major calls for her to take more advanced classes in this area of study, she is already mentioning having to retake this course over the summer at a local CC just so she is not lost as she moves up. Plus the C will ruin her GPA for Grad school (required for desired field of work). I am not at all satisfied with that as I am paying full price out of state tuition and I feel that the students should be provided with an instructor that is able to teach the material in a way that most of the class can understand.</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter says the school is aware that there may be a problem d/t complaints from students and parents, and they are at this point watching to see how the semester finishes up. Don't know if that is true or rumor. But assuming it is true, I want to also express my concern--the more voices they hear the more seriously they may take this.</p>
<p>Any advice from you seasoned college parents?</p>
<p>Many times when there is a bad teacher, the student just needs to bury themselves in the textbook to understand it. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for every subject. </p>
<p>There may also be opportunities to sit in during the classes of another instructor of the same material, even if you can’t transfer to that other instructor’s class. </p>
<p>After the course is over, the students should ask for a meeting with the head of the department and explain their concerns. Everyone should also encouraged to fill out the evaluation forms.</p>
<p>However, any complaints will be more effective if they come from an organized group of students, than from one parent. This should be a learning experience for the students.</p>
<p>I generally agree with the comments from charlieschm. It would be nice for the students in the class to address this problem but all too often students are in a rush to complete their final exams, return home for 7-8 weeks, and often are just too willing to take the “C” grade and leave the course behind them rather than to take any action. I do feel a little differently about parents taking some action to address the problem. College is not HS. People are paying big bucks for a product/service to be provided and I don’t see anything inappropriate about writing a “letter of concern” to the Department Head including all the comments you made in your post. I suspect that this will not be the first letter the Department Head has gotten regarding concerns about the teaching qualities of the course Professor; and even if it is, so what? Actually University Administrations, including Department Heads, have been becoming increasingly concerned with the issue of consumer relations (if you have not gotten them already you will soon be getting calls/letters soliciting donations to the school). Having been a university faculty member for many years in the past (not at UD) I can pretty much assure you that your letter would not be totally ignored. And it may just be another “piece” to help change the situation for future students. I do believe however, that it would be a good idea to get your D’s agreement before sending the letter. You need to be united on taking this action as both the receiver of the service and the payer for the service. This does appear to be an exteme case and needs to be addressed. Just my perspective. Others might feel differently.</p>
<p>More than any time in the past, these young adults we are seending off are not fully developed individuals. Whether because we helicopter parented too much or they grew up in a tech laden world not allowing them to develop patience or adequate interpersonal skills, they still need some guidance from us, when it comes to issues that matter. We have to let them fall so they will learn how to get up but when there are potential lifelong ramifications they are too immature to grasp, it is appropriate for us to be a part, especially as we are the consumers.</p>
<p>Schools dont want to hear from us, but in this case, there is a problem that needs to be addressed and I dont ascribe to waiting to view the damage before acting. Go with your gut. You know what is best.</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions and I think I will encourage my daughter and her friends to contact the department head with their concerns as they were the ones involved, but as the one paying I will probably follow up with a letter myself (I’ll check with DD first to make sure she is ok with that.) </p>
<p>As far as just dealing with a bad teacher and having my D teach the material to herself by studying the textbook, $4000 is a lot to pay for a textbook. I paid that money for her to be taught, not teach herself. Maybe this professor really does teach well and my DD and her friends just don’t get the material, but my gut instinct tells me that is not the case and there are some issues with this professor that need to be addressed by administration. And the way I see it, administration can’t address the issue if they don’t know about it (though, rumor has it, they do know and are at least concerned).</p>
<p>I have one further suggestion should you procede with writing your “letter of concern”. I think it might be best to avoid including specific concerns about the grade your D will get in the course (and the negative effect this would have on her GPA). This might be perceived as a parent just complaining about the grade their child recieves in a course. I feel you need to focus on the apparent inadequacies of the teaching your D and other students received from the professor and the issue of your D feeling she may have to take the course again in order to learn the information she should have learned from the course. Just a suggestion. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for pointing that out. I actually had no intention of complaining about the grade and that is not my true concern. My concern is that my daughter doesn’t feel she really learned anything in that class and will probably affect her grades and her understanding of material in future classes in the same field. I understand that rate my professor is mostly going to get reviews from students that do not like a professor, but even the students that gave this particular professor good marks mostly did so because they got a C in the class in spite of not understanding anything and failing every test. Apparently the kids were just happy he didn’t fail them. Also, the students seem to think he is a genuinely nice guy, which he probably is, and that he really loves the material he teaches, which he probably does, but the general consensus seems to be he has trouble teaching the material in a way that most of the students can understand it.</p>
<p>I think you have received good suggestions. Just curious, what is the course? In the event my d registers for this, I would like to PM you to find out what instructor to avoid. For now, just knowing the ourse would be good…I hope you are willing to share.</p>
<p>I would prefer not to name the course because it would probably give away the professor, and I don’t want to malign anyone’s reputation when I don’t have all the facts. I have not sat in the class, nor do I know what percentage of his class actually passes his tests, etc., I just know what my daughter has told me and what I have read on rate my professor (which does support what my D has told me). For all I know this may be one of the best professors in the school, and my daughter and a few others just don’t “get” the material (which I know can be very difficult material no matter who is teaching it). This professor has taught at the school for some time – plenty of students have taken his class and he is still teaching so he must be doing something right. At this point I think it is best to just share my concerns with the administration and let them determine if there is a problem by evaluating the full class, not just a few students. I may be overreacting, and to be honest I knew my daughter was struggling with this class all semester, but just figured “Yeah, well college is hard, learn to deal” up until hearing that she planned on retaking the course with a different instructor over the summer. And then finding out that everyone DD knows in the class was struggling as much or more than she was (and these are all freshman–this isn’t advanced course work) I started to have some concerns. I would be happy to reply by PM if anyone has direct concerns about their student and this professor.</p>
<p>I too have a freshman daughter. She hasn’t been in the same boat as your child but she goes to a different school. That said, it’s quite frustrating if you have to pay the big bucks only to find out your child has to study all by herself or with her classmates and there is no knowledge transfer at all from the professor. How do you avoid this situation? There should be a money back guarantee. :D</p>
<p>I remember I had a grad school class with a prof who could not relate at all to the class. No one could understand what he was trying to say - and the prof was a native English-speaking American. </p>
<p>One day, a few students from the class were talking about how much they hated the prof. A student from Taiwan turns around and says “You mean you don’t understand him either?!!” There was such a look of relief on his face when he realized that it was not the fault of a language barrier - that the guy was just an awful prof.</p>