“Edjamahkateshun”

Understanding and learning go hand-in-hand. To learn, you need a certain degree of understanding. And when one understands, he/she tends to learn.

Today, a few friends and I had a conversation about college. We began reflecting on our college experiences and how different it is today..like pajama classes in the dorm, shuttle services to classes, or the absence of upperclassmen dorms. Do what? No more being tortured by mother nature or rushing to the dreaded 8:00 AM class when one awoke at 7:55 AM? No waiting in line for hours to register for a class only to have it be full by the time one makes it to the counter. Nope, it all seems like the land of milk and honey for today’s students.

Our talk turned to more specific classes and teachers. Or more specifically than that, we discussed some of our worst professors who should have been fired and was a disgrace to the teaching profession.

Mine was Dr. S. She taught freshman college algebra. As naive freshmeat, I didn’t know to avoid her class.

First, the class was taught in an auditorium of 300 students. There were no microphones, and she didn’t project her voice or repeat herself.  Her defenders would say: move to the front of the classroom. Well, not all 300 students could sit in the front row or cram into the first ten rows for that matter. Plus, there was a sitting assignment.

On the first day, she said to pick a seat, and that became one’s assigned seat for the rest of the year. For those who had a class across campus before hers, they were doomed for the rear.

Another thing was attendance didn’t count to improve a grade, but she lowered grades for nonattendance. The way she took roll was via two grad assistants who walked the outer aisles and marked if a warm body was in the desk. If a student came late or moved to another desk and the student’s assigned seat was empty, it counted as an absence. It also depended on when the grad assistants arrived. Sometimes, they came early, minutes before class was scheduled to begin. The took roll by going row by row. So, if they started early and passed the student’s row, oh well, too bad. They didn’t go back. Like a black mark on your permanent record–no do-overs.

Dr. S. would start the class by asking if there were questions about the homework assignments. Then, she randomly would pick three students (generally seated in the front} to answer. After that, no more questions, even if there were twenty more. She’d say, “We’ve got to move on.”

Then, for the best part. She’d start the day’s lesson by working problems on scrolling dry erase boards that went from the normal location of a chalkboard to the ceiling. Students in the rear usually couldn’t see the problems as she worked them and had to wait until she completed a board and rolled to the ceiling. Fun stuff there.

But the kicker was, she’d always say, “You should have learned this in high school.” Yeah, ok…well… The problem here was she said this each class from day one to day end about every assignment. So, if it was all a review, why wasn’t the class named High School Review Algebra instead of College Algebra? Or how about I’m Going To Stand Here And Get A Check For Doing Squat Algebra? Frustrated students would express their displeasure with not understanding and shout their questions. Of course, she ignored them or walked out and not return.

She didn’t teach. She worked a problem and students either got it or not. Talking to her after class was impossible, as there was a door on a stage. She could exit within seconds before any student got close. The door led into the hallway with the elevators…elevators that needed a key to operate. Guess who had those. And catching her doing her office hours was a joke. The university failed to address it… at first…kinda…

See, Dr. S’s husband also taught college algebra in the same manner. And combined, they taught the majority of algebra classes. College algebra was a university required course. Students were pretty much screwed unless they had a natural aptitude for math or got tutoring from a friend or the student center–a fresh can of worms altogether. Combined, the Drs. Ss taught over 80% of freshmen taking algebra in any given semester.

The year I took college algebra, the majority of the students (over 1500) failed the standardized final. The rumor had it that there were only three A’s. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do remember the grades being held up and a special meeting being called. It was the buzz of the campus. The university stepped in and curved the grades for the entire math department. But neither Drs. Ss. were terminated.

I finished the semester ill-equipped for higher mathematics and wondering if and any teacher would actually “teach”. And to this day, I have failed to understand why a university, an institution of higher learning, would allow that kind of nonsense.