<p>What is fairly common in non-math courses, though, (Bi1 does this a number of times during the course, and I've had it in a couple of my mechanical engineering classes) is having a guest lecturer. In Bi1, this tends to be for part of the class, rather than the whole thing, and in my other courses, it's preplanned and generally listed on the syllabus. ME 71 had a really nifty lecture yesterday from a JPL engineer about the Lemur IIa robot he designed. </p>
<p>Oh, I didn't mean that the TA (who is usually a grad student) was "subbing" for the professor. What happens is that the TA prepares material and lectures on it while the professor sits in the back of the room. It's actually part of the job description for being a TA. </p>
<p>I guess this is an example of the University of Chicago's emphasis on being able to teach well, I suppose.</p>
<p>It should be said in Chicago's favor that the one prof I've had who was a UChicago Ph.D. was an incredible teacher (just won a big teaching award).</p>
<p>Hehe... I think, having been on ASCIT BoD, we realize how easy or arbitrary our decisions are. Very rarely do we have controversial votes and awards are usually given based on who gets the most nominations.</p>
<p>It is good to hear, though, that the profs value it. As a member of BoC, it's not often that something I vote on is appreciated.</p>
<p>*Key: ASCIT: Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology (basically the entire undergrad student body); BoD: Board of Directors (basically the student government -- mainly votes on social issues, but is composed of the heads of other more weighty committees); BoC: Board of Control (handles every undergrad Honor System violation)</p>
<p>I know there are student nominations, but someone who knows should say how it gets decided.</p>
<p>btw, craig --
[quote]
On the other hand, the Feynmann Teaching Award is something very special, as it's a $3k gift, as well as a permanent $3k boost to one's salary.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>in fairness, that's probably not what makes the award a big deal, though... that's not exactly "real money" for professors, considering you can get that kind of salary boost by writing one grant a year.</p>
<p>That was a fun and interesting read, flierdeke. I felt sorry for the students in the 3.0-3.3 GPA bracket though - the 2.2-2.9 people were happier, worked less, had much more free time, and even felt smarter. :(</p>
<p>Can I just recommend the incredible book Stumbling</a> on Happiness, by Daniel Gilbert (a Harvard psychologist). This survey made me think about it a lot.</p>
<p>It's essentailly the Freakonomics of psychology. I don't much like psychology in general (flaky) and don't much like popularizations (flaky), but despite these aversions I am in love with this book. It explains everything you never knew about how happiness works and why we can be our future selves' worst enemy (while thinking we are doing all these things for their sake).</p>
<p>If you read it and like it too, I will go <em>bounce</em>.</p>
<p>Is this a reverse Lake Woebegone effect: The average student is below average?</p>
<p>I wonder if this result would be replicated (just this question) at other elite schools? Or is it a characteristic of tech/engineering or hard-grading schools?</p>
<p>For example it would be interesting to see the differences between a general Berkeley survey vs a Berkeley engineering survey.</p>
<p>I guess what people say about Caltech students being unusually humble is, at least to some extent, statistically true. (In the broad general population, as everyone knows, people all think they're in the top half.)</p>