Maegan Carberry Carberry is a third-year
political science student. E-mail her at [email protected].
Click Here for more articles by Maegan Carberry
They may have degrees in astronuclearbiophysicism, but at UCLA
these days, some of our professors should be kept as far away from
a classroom as possible. In my three years at UCLA, I can count on
one hand the number of professors who have truly displayed what it
means to be a good teacher.
A good teacher is someone who takes an interest in student needs
and is willing to make class more than just an hour of note-taking
and more like quality time spent thinking and learning.
We are, however, a part of a research university, and certain
professors are obligated to conduct research and publish written
work. They have to be actively engaged in the current arguments
being made in their fields and bring new innovative ideas to those
discussions. This is what makes them so qualified to instruct us in
the first place.
But that in itself is a full-time job. So when professors must
also come lecture to the undergraduates a few hours a week to give
them the impression that their expensive educations are worthwhile,
a lot of potential zeal and enthusiasm from students is lost.
To all of the professors who care about us, I apologize for the
cheap shot. But have any of you powers that be sat through a
lecture recently? I’ll pay lip service to the notion that
professors are not hired to be entertainers, and that we students
have a responsibility to be diligent and pay attention to material
that is not always captivating. But the first rule of public
speaking is “know your audience.”
 Illustration by AMY HABER/Daily Bruin A professor’s
audience is a generation of kids who grew up on screens and
commercials. Every seven minutes we need a break to hear about new
Tide with bleach and hum along with the Home Grocer jingle. We are
used to being constantly entertained ““ and we’re only
the beginning. Future undergraduates of UCLA, who are now small
children, are even more screen-dependent and have shorter attention
spans.
Higher education has to change with that shift in audiences.
Standing in front of the class mumbling in a nasal, monotone voice
without allowing for any student-professor interaction is just not
going to cut it these days.
Yes, professors are entertainers to a degree because we are a
captive audience. I think that gives professors a unique
opportunity: to use their three or four hours a week to bring a
real message to students. If they want us to embrace learning their
subject matter, then they have to show an enthusiasm for it as well
and invite us to participate. Unfortunately, the importance of
invitations is often overlooked.
Getting to know your professor, in a lot of cases, is an
unrealistic goal. The quarter is incredibly short, and they are so
busy with research and publishing duties that you almost feel like
you’re inconveniencing them. I would guess that most
professors enjoy meeting students, and wish that more students
would take advantage of office hours. But I think that professors
need to do a better job of presenting an approachable image by
repeatedly extending invitations throughout the quarter (not just
on Day One, Week One).
I remember taking History 4 (on religion), and hearing Professor
Scott Bartchy say to the class that he recognized how busy we all
were, but that he would appreciate any time we could dedicate to
getting to know him. And he said it numerous times throughout the
quarter. Even that simple gesture of inviting us, recognizing that
a lot of students are busy, and continuing to mention it instead of
just making it a passing reference during Week One made him seem
like he cared.
As a professor, conveying the image that you care about students
may be the most important factor in determining how willing most of
us are to put in all the work it takes to understand your material.
The bottom line is, if you don’t care about our educations,
then we don’t really care about your class all that much. It
merely becomes four forgotten units on a long degree progress
report.
But there are also the Brian Walkers, Josh Muldavins and David
Ravages of the campus who are truly exceptional. In Political
Science 114B last quarter, Walker was so friendly and helpful to
students that during a special optional class meeting held weekly
(called the “Philosophy Ramble”), about 25 students
came regularly of their own accord just to be around him and learn.
A friend of mine also mentioned Professor James Tong, who took the
trouble to learn every single student’s name and made up a
song about them at the end of the quarter.
It’s the little things that make students feel valuable
here. A lot of us sacrificed the benefits of a small college, where
relationships with professors are more intimate, for the
prestigious degree we will graduate with. Yes, we came to a big
research university, but what are you doing as a professor to make
it more comfortable for students?
In turn, if we want to demand more from our faculty, I think
that students need to do their job as well. We can’t be so
blatantly disrespectful by packing up our bags with five minutes
left in the class, or showing up 15 minutes late to lecture. We
also have an opportunity to evaluate our professors every quarter,
and I see a lot of people just fill out the paperwork mechanically.
We owe it to professors to fill out our evaluations seriously and
make suggestions. It will also help us out in the long run, because
if we’re all giving valuable comments, we can help make the
class better for the next group who will take it.
I also feel that evaluations should be taken seriously by
departments. Students have very reliable accounts of what went on
it the class. Of course a few people will not put any effort into
the material and wish to blame their failure on the professor. But
for the most part I would have to say that students are truthful in
their thoughts.
If a faculty member continually receives bad evaluations from
students, some form of discipline should be applied. Likewise,
faculty members with continued positive remarks should be rewarded
for their efforts. I am not sure what each department does with our
evaluations, but it does not appear that they are taken very
seriously by anyone other than professors themselves.
Students should be able to read them online if they are thinking
about enrolling in that professor’s class, and teachers who
are horrible should have a dean sitting in their lecture hall with
a legal pad. Students need good professors and evaluations are an
effective and honest representation of how students feel.
I want to congratulate all of you professors who give us
everything you have, and still excel in your respective fields.
That is a true show of character and dedication. But for those of
you who just want to stand up in front of the class and mumble,
save us the trouble of walking to campus. We’ll just read
your book with the rest of the academic world and buy the lecture
notes.
If you want to know us, then get creative. Get interesting.
While you might spend the better part of your day peering into a
microscope or at your keyboard typing, for that one-hour lecture,
you are the sole person onstage. And we really need you.