Are you still teaching, where are you now?

That is how it always is at the larger universities. You're just a number on their balance sheets. I went to a smaller private school which has zero grad student taught classes. This doesn't mean that some of my prof's were not horrible teachers (a few were), but the majority were excellent at what they did, and almost all of them were at PhD level. I'd never go to a school with classes taught by a grad student. Yuck.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Yes. Red Rocks Community College.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

This is common in public colleges and universities. Oddly enough, the first time I took Sociology 101 I missed a lot of classes (due to illness) and ended up with c-. Since I was a double Major at the time, I decided to retake the class. The second time the class was taught by a grad student. She was much more animated, which kept the class more interesting. I got an A the 2nd time. Sociology 101 has a lot of curriculum and lots of new vocabulary, so many students find it difficult. For me it was harder than Psychology 101, I also took that the first quarter and managed to pull a B+, even though I missed the same amount of classes.

I had a math instructor who was a grad student from India. He could not relate to students who found math difficult. I was very motivated to succeed, so I tried my best. I ended up withdrawing because I could see the handwriting on the wall. I went to the head of the math department to complain and ask for tips before I withdrew. He said I wasn't the first one to complain, but they were understaffed, so I would either need to go to the math tutors or withdraw. He even wrote me a nice letter in an attempt to help me get some fees back, since the deadline for refunds had passed.

I had another Indian grad student teach my computer science class, and I thought he was a wonderful teacher. The main difference being that he cared about your success, and could put himself in your shoes.

I can also think of 2 professors nearing retirement who seemed to care about little, except getting paid. One taught Social Psychology, which I found quite interesting, so I still managed a C.

On average, the grad students are a little harder to listen too, Probably because they lack the teaching credentials. But bored old professors can be just as bad or worse.

Then there are the tenured professors who are more concerned about political indoctrination than actually teaching a useful skill. I took a class from one of those aging hippy, Marxist types, because everyone was telling me it was an easy A. The course title was "Sex, Drugs and Rock'n Roll". We were taught that it had all been good and shown how it had brought about a much improved society. A couple of religious, conservative types disagreed with a lot of the "Curiculum", and got bad grades. I got my easy A.

__________________
1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

I'll 2nd that conclusion. I've been at a CC and I have to say that they almost always have teachers who teach real world knowledge instead of useless copy and paste exercises.

__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Where I went to school, instructors were almost universally unable to relate to students who found their subjects difficult. Luckily, there were tutors available, at least for certain subjects.

I took a pretty interesting introductory CS class that involved lecture with the professor, plus practical applications with TA's, and a mandatory one on one meeting with another TA. The professor's lectures were generally pretty interesting, the lab section had two TA's, one of whom was a hot (hotter than hot) redhead. The one on ones (at the College of Computing or CoC for short) were with a fairly good looking chick as well. For some reason I paid more attention in that class than in most of my other classes

I only had two of those. One taught a topic based English class. The topic was the influence of race and gender in 19th century British culture. No, I was not aware of that before I signed up for the class. I made an A by basing my papers on the following assumptions:

1. Men bad, women good.
2. Whites bad, people of color good.

Of course, I don't actually hold these views, but I can pretend real good.

The other lefty prof taught a class called Ethics in International Affairs. I actually stuck to my own views on the subject, basically that the title of the course, much like term "Easter Bunny," refers to something that doesn't exist. I still managed a B.

Cool! Was there a lab/prac aps portion of the class?

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

There have been some studies which show that attractive teachers are rated as better teachers by students.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I can't imagine you're Harold.

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/gSearchResults.jsp?letter=red%20rocks%20community%20college%20philosophy

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

I wondered how long that would take. You didn't search deeply enough.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Looks like nobody has rated you yet, at least at red rocks.

*edit, meant to say commented.

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

So, what did you have to do to earn that "hot" rating?

I've wondered that same thing myself.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Yes, this is a good strategy. I looked up the professor I was talking about, and discovered he is still there spewing the same garbage, and giving easy A's to those who agree with his world view. If you aren't a Marxist atheist, watch out. He only approved of weird religions, like eastern philosophies. He hated Devout Mormons, and treated them like dirt, but if he thought you agreed with his views, you were treated like best buds. The main problem with hating Mormons at Utah State University is the fact that they make more than half the student population. I often wondered why he didn't move to the Bay Area, where there were more like minded individuals.

Here is his link on RMP
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=417405&all=1

Cool! Was there a lab/prac aps portion of the class?

Yes, it was much as you described, but the TA from India actually did 80% of the teaching. Since there were several lab times to choose from, there were also many lab assistants. The actual Professor was a 50 ish, former Apple employee. The introductory computing class was 90% Macintosh, with one week devoted to PCs, which were a pain in the ass at the time. (1992)

__________________
1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

This line from one of his reviews is hilarious:

"I'm saddened to see he is still indoctrinating the youth of Utah."

It reminds me of a comment by Terry Eagleton, the British Marxist literary critic who is an expert on ideology and who was invited to be a visiting professor at Brigham Young University. He was puzzled beyond belief why Mormons would need to learn anything more about ideology.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Yeah, what did you have to do? One student rates you top quality and HOT!

I'm going to assume you are a pretty good teach, since nobody else has rated you so far.

I didn't know about this website till tonight, and I've looked up several top quality professors I've had. Their ratings are still 3/4 negative comments.

That Dr. Jay Anderson I posted a link to, has the most schizophrenic comments I've seen. He's so political that liberals rate him excellent but conservatives aren't so kind. Calling him a Marxist is a dead giveaway. Students who are Marxists just say how great he is. No need to mention his political philosophy if it agrees with yours.

__________________
1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!