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Well, the book fits the professor, and unfortunately, at the time I registered, he was the only instructor so there wasn't much choice. I think he grades according to what he agrees with rather than the quality of the paper. So far this is the worst professor I've had and a very disappointing class. I was hoping to learn much, much more but with only two weeks left, I doubt I will. He's not demanding, he's just unfocused and unclear as to what he wants. I just have this feeeling I can write the same thing one week and get an A, and then get a C on the same thing the next week. We had two short analysis paper (2-3 pages) assignments where it is imposssible to go into much depth the principles he wants in those 2-3 pages. He complained I didn't expand on a few things. (ironically, it was something about Augustine. If I did what he wanted, instead of briefly covering them, the paper would have been 8-10 pages. What do you want here, professor?!? I feel like responding to him and telling him to read my last paper and the last 3 discussion assignments because they were about Augustine! Apparently I understand the concept since you gave me an A last time) But I'll wait until the end before I complain because I have a feeling he'll probably judge me and grade my paper and final based on my complaining. The last day of class he's going to know how I feel. I think I'm going to suffer my first B and hopefully no less than that because who knows what he's going to do with my research paper and the final. I was expecting and hoping to cover more medieval warfare and other things besides Augustine's “City of God” but this professor just stays on that topic every week. I know Augustine's principles are important, but to harp on it during the whole duration of the class when there's SO much more to cover is ridiculous. And maybe I'm wrong here, but could someone please tell me why the relationship between Abelard and Heloise is more important than the Norman Invasions? I ask, because the professor decided to focus more on the former. And this is after the professor told me, after I asked if I could do a paper on the Norman Invasions, that I need to be more focused, because the Norman Invasion was one of the most significant “history changing” (his words) events of the Middle Ages. After he said that, I figured we'd be covering it in class, but we did not other than very briefly. Even the Crusudes were glossed over weakly. The 566 page book only skims the topic (which was a surprise), we had no assignments about it, and the professor provided only two primary sources. I hope and am pretty certain I'll learn more about the Middle Ages in Carey's Ancient Medieval Warfare class and I'm seriously thinking of taking another Middle Ages course at URI or PC and transfer it as an elective. OK, I vented and feel better. Don't ask me what I learned though. The only concept I feel solid about has to do with the City of God because that's the only thing we covered in any depth. I know nothing new of the Crusades which I didn't already know before (I learned more about it in Intro to Western Civ, HIST121) nor can I comfortably say I know anything about any of the dozens of major wars. Busek is his name, and AMU should dismiss him and hire a real professor.
He's not demanding, he's just unfocused and unclear as to what he wants. I just have this feeeling I can write the same thing one week and get an A, and then get a C on the same thing the next week.
I share your feelings – I can't stand it when I don't know what the professor is expecting. I prefer professors who lay down in clear terms what they want from the student. But I think it just comes with the territory of education; you're bound to have a few professors who you really don't mesh with at all.Also, I would be somewhat careful when giving your professor evaluation, and be sure to mention specifics of what he did wrong rather than just general gripes that make you sound like a slacker student who wants the professor to serve As to all students on a silver platter. You might need this professor for a required class in the future, or for a recommendation, or for a potential networking opportunity in the future (e.g. you never know if he's best buddies with a graduate professor you have). And it sounds like the class covered quite a bit – from Augustine through the Crusades – so I imagine there's only so much time to devote to each. It's a fascinating time period…if you ever teach the class in the future, you'll have a better idea of how you would do things differently.
I probably won't give too much criticism, I'm just going by how I feel now. As of now, he doesn't teach any of my future classes, but of course this could change so I don't want to say anything I'll regret. There is a survey at the end of every course, so I will use that along with some brief explanation. We are encouraged to use the website ratemyprofessor.com, so I will give a brief warning there without trying to sound like a loser. I figure if I make mention of my GPA and all A's so far, as well as my previous high interest in the subject, perhaps it may show I am being legitimate rather than just complaining. This particular professor doesn't have many reviews yet, but the ones he has are all negative.
I prefer professors who lay down in clear terms what they want from the student.
Ditto. I've had professors who gave a bad grade then clearly explain why. When I did their suggestions, I got a good grade next time. With this one, it doesn't matter because he's inconsistent. I did what he asked, but still got the same reponses.I may have been wrong about a few things here: 1) Since I already showed him that I knew a concept, I didn't get into deeply the next time. I made a short statement about it and then built on that. He said I should have explained it better. I ALREADY DID! It just seems like he either forgot or ignored my previous assignments. This wasn't a review paper or an exam, it was a new assignment. 2) Since he's the only one reading it, I assume him as the audience when writing. Every other professor I've had was that way, maybe he's not. And if he's not, he certainly didn't say anything about it. Why should I repeat something we've already learned and wrote about? Heck, if I knew he was going to do this, I would have just copied or reworded paragraphs from my other papers. But doing this would make me feel like I've short-changed myself or even cheated.
1- Keep head down.2- Do the work and try to avoid conflict.3- Get the grade.4- Squawk like hell to anyone that will listen (after getting out of the class and being sure this prof doesn't teach something else you need.[Really better if you can just drop the class early on]
4- Squawk like hell to anyone that will listen (after getting out of the class and being sure this prof doesn't teach something else you need.
Most likely scenario. But good thing the end of course survey and ratemyprofessor is anonymous. (where's the :evil grin: smiley?)
If you are getting a C or lower, you needed to have withdrawn if GPA is your end all be all. If not, just be yourself and write what you think is the case and argue it with obnoxiously great source material if you get my drift.
I would say grin and bear it unless the guy is being completely unfair. If he is, then I would go to the provost, but that should be an absolutely last resort option. I have had the same thing happen and I ended up getting a B but ripped the guy in the end of course survey which a Friend of mine who teaches at AMU assures is anonymous and where teachers do get the feedback. He also says that profs with consistently negative feedback get booted. I would caution you to be constructive in your criticism, something similar to your original post. Lastly, avoid the guy in the future if possible. I am doing that with my last formal class for my MA. It is only taught by two people, one of whom I had a very negative experience with, the other guy is an unknown but cannot be worse than Trogdon. I am actually going to graduate later than I wanted to avoid taking this clown's class.If you don't mind, who is the Professor?
Mentioned in the last sentence: Robert Busek. I doubt you'll see him in your MA program. Luckily, Brian Carey treaches the MH Medieval courses I have to take and it doesn't look like Busek teaches any other of my upcoming classes.
I personally refrain from giving negative feedback in comment sections of teacher evaluations if my problem is with the professor's teaching style. This is because I've got good relationships with my professors and I feel that they'd be able to identify my handwriting. I also normally get grades that are better than I think I should get, so I'm not going to complain much. But, if a poor teaching style ended up affecting my grades negatively, I think I'd be more inclined to mention it in the evaluations.
Just remember, like I said elsewhere, professors have copyright license to their course material and how they conduct their classes. You can go to the Ombudsman or equivalent if you have a legitimate gripe, but if it's because you don't think he is teaching something the way you think he should, you won't win that one. It is better that the school doesn't censor its faculty members, but instead offers a diverse faculty for students to pick and choose from. In the end, you can find what you need, but it is on the student to research their faculty better.
I'm not going the route of arguing with university officials unless really necessary, and so far I don't see it as necessary. I don't like the guy's style but more importantly, I don't think I'm learning all I could here in this class, but this is just my opinion. Giving negative feedback in anonymous yet official end of course surveys or anonymous professor rating cites is as far as I'll go. Now that I've calmed down a bit, my motivation in this is to warn other students. It is not to fight the system or get teh teacher fired (although there's be no sympathy here if that happened).
Every student runs into this at least once. It can be a very disturbing experience, and you are like me being a very conservative minded person in a liberal world so your chances of it happening again are very good.
It's not really a conservative vs liberal thing. I don't get that impression from him. It's more on being disappointed that I'm not learning anything new because we're not covering it. Let's see two weeks left, we're up to the 13-14th centuries, hmmm…still no Magna Carta. I guess it wasn't that important. ::) I'll just have to find a good book about it and learn it myself. Also would have loved to get more in depth into each phase of the Crusades or studied the wars between or within Germany, England, and France, but we didn't. It wasn't a total loss though. I did learn a lot about the development of religion during that time.
If I were you, I would look into some independent studies so you can bone up on the areas you really like. I assume you are eligible for some seminar oriented courses, and if so that would be a great way to satisfy your desire for more detail.
