<p>Bc,
I’m afraid it is you who doesn’t get it. I think you are blinded by your proximity to academia and lack an understanding of the world outside of academia. Your celebration of those in the academic community who do research is understandable and I fully agree that there is much to praise, but knowledge doesn’t originate solely from collegiate faculty. Nor does an interest and ability in research spontaneously translate into effective teaching. </p>
<p>A professor might develop deep knowledge of a subject, but can he/she effectively communicate that knowledge and more importantly, teach others to apply that knowledge in world-changing, genius ways? In my book, it is applied knowledge that matters and I consider this to be the main purview of those outside of the academic world. </p>
<p>IMO the most effective faculty are those who instruct young people into HOW to think, how to attack a problem critically, how to consider a variety of perspectives and how to incorporate those ideas into finding a solution. </p>
<p>The key factor in a great college class is NOT the subject-it is the teacher who has knowledge and can make that knowledge come alive and can engage the student (singular and collective) to stretch and bend and react and consider and grow in ways that the student never expected. The topic could be science or engineering (which is where most of the focus is in these CC debates), but IMO could just as easily be topics like accounting or economics or something obscure like medieval history or…well, just about anything. Teachers who can do this are the folks who inspired me and likely millions of others as well. One might be impressed by the research of a teacher, but IMO his/her words and his/her personal, direct actions will have a far greater, far more valuable and much longer-lasting impact on the student. </p>
<p>And very, very little of this (if any) is captured in the PA score.</p>