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Originally Posted by smartdude1212
I feel as if this especially applies to university professors, who can be so learned in their subject that every elementary problem seems easy to them. I have a few professors who are excellent at assuming that I know how to start a problem, and that my issues just arise in the process of solving said problem. In reality, sometimes I just plain don't know where to begin. It can also be intimidating when they ask "okay, how far did you get with the problem?" and I respond with "nowhere," and this can turn me off from asking them anything until I make progress.
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That was also one of my big gripes with uni profs. Always upset me when they'd call something "trivial" when it obviously wasn't trivial to anyone who hadn't spent their entire adult working career in that field.
Or if your answer was "I haven't gotten anywhere so far," they assume it's because you must be lazy, when really it's because you legitimately
have no effing clue how to get started. Some profs are nice about telling you how to begin, while others just try to ego-browbeat you into feeling like a moron.
Of course, sometimes time is an issue. Most students have to grapple with a few classes at once and can't devote every waking moment to any one particular course. It was also hard for me since I also worked full-time to make ends meet financially, and it always pissed me off when professors would basically tell me to "just read the entire book" or something similar when I went to office hours. Yes, I've already read the damn book/section and still have a question. I'm paying a fuckload of money to be here. The least you could do is spend 10 seconds to answer a 2-second question instead of treat me like I'm some lazy kid who's partying my weekends away.
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Originally Posted by smartdude1212
Also very true. Even during a lecture a professor may say "are there any questions/issues?" and get no response, but if I'm confused about something that has just been taught, it can be especially difficult to phrase the question within five seconds before they move on to something else.
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I always dreaded asking questions in lecture/class because 1. it might be wasting everyone else's time, 2. I didn't want to look stupid for asking a "dumb question," or 3. I just didn't want to attract any attention to myself.
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Originally Posted by smartdude1212
I blame my dislike for statistics on having a sub-par statistics professor.
Interestingly enough, I have two incredibly difficult classes this semester. One is difficult because of the professor (second course in complex analysis ugh) and the prior knowledge that is assumed, while the other is difficult simply because of the material (algebraic graph theory, yowza). In fact, I'm fairly sure I'd be failing algebraic graph theory if it were taught by a different professor, because the one that I have now understands the difficulties that students have. Shocking!
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Yeah, IMO there's a world of difference. Someone can be the best in the world at a particular subject but completely fail at teaching others. Even worse if there's ego involved -- a sort of "I'm the best in the world, who are you to challenge my methods?" thing.
I had one prof, during my freshman year, outright tell me to drop the class because of a "dumb question" I asked. I wound up having like the second or third highest grade in the course in the end -- fuck that guy.