“I’m sorry, but you suck”
By guest writer Sush Gupta
Who sucks?
Hey. Have you been in class among 200 others while an uninteresting intellectual megaphone (I believe the technical term is "teacher") barked complicated terminology at you? While they drone on under the pretence of passing on knowledge, you start thinking about quitting your study because then at least you wouldn't have to come back. It’s not your fault. Most lecturers are trained (and paid) to be able to “teach”, but they suck. To quote the best writer of the 21st century: "Some suck a lot, some suck a little, but too many of them suck too much."
Ring a bell?
How do they suck?
Despite the fact that so many of them suck, most of them suck in the same way. They fail to consistently capture the interest of their audience, aka you. Math teachers know that people have a hard time with their content, but still use the same examples. Person A buys 80 X,...... Seriously? They have PhDs. The least they could do is come up with names to get me to care about equations. (“Andy buys 80 pills.” It’s not that hard.) Once you decide that it's boring and beyond your comprehension, you will probably give up and not even try anymore. Your brain tunes out.
Instead of adapting to your lethargy and changing their approach, most teachers just accept this reality and focus on students that engage in class. This makes sense in real life, but not in the classroom. Now, your teacher isn't just a bad teacher, they're also an asshole that doesn't care about you or your education. You don't perceive it, but your hate and boredom combined with our 80% attendance policy make you less likely to hold on to anything thrown at you. The longer this drags on, the less you will care.
Why it sucks for you?
This is a toughy. There are multiple reasons why teachers suck. Some of them admit they don't care about students that don't care about them. Teachers should cater to students that seem disinterested in class. Some students already care, a little more focused effort would only lead to more people caring. Some of them rise up to the challenge, but most of them stay stagnant because mutual ignorance is human nature. The format of the classroom influences the reasons for suckage. Big classrooms suck because too many people leads to no one paying attention and everyone being scared to talk.
Smaller classes should be more interesting, but can get boring if they're not managed well. Increased interaction should engage you, but if class gets side-tracked by someone getting off topic or confused, you begin to lose interest. Teachers usually try and shake you awake. Some of them use their bravado, intellect, or humour. Most use their (supposed) authority. These are all equally ineffective in practice and usually only work if the teacher is well liked. Both you and the teacher eventually decide on whether or not you care about each other, and this decision will make or break your experience.
Where does the suckage come from?
None of these problems are new. The system the university follows does ensure that teachers get the feedback they need (sort of). But, given that we still have a problem, it suffices to say that the RUG's current system incentivises lecturer's with the wrong criteria. Organisations care about results. In this case, that means getting people through the course with an above average grade. Even if the teachers did care about everyone learning and applying standard deviations to their life, that's not how ‘success’ is measured.
The university's feedback system is hilariously broken. In one of my courses, only 2/3 of class passed, and there was an average of 10% decrease in feedback ratings, with a 30% reduction in teaching quality. The coordinator’s response: "There are no issues.... Thank you for a great course". The problem here is that we are telling them that they are bad, but our own performance proves us wrong. Despite their suckery, we pass. Measures such as stress and satisfaction seem to be ignored or undervalued. How can you expect someone to fix something when you can't even convince them that it's broken?
What can you do to make it suck less?
If you're nodding your head while reading this, you're probably wondering what should be done differently so that your classes stop sucking. Well, I've not news for you: Yes, there's a lot of systematic changes that the university could implement that would improve the situation, but I doubt this article is gonna do any of that. But, there are things you could do as a student to try and improve your experience. Make sure you never stop complaining. Stuff will only stop sucking when everyone gets sick of it and realises its sucks.
Try and adapt to your courses. If lectures are always boring, try asking questions or starting discussions. Class should be a conversation, especially at the small-scale. Half of the experience is the hands of the people being taught (That’s you!). Talk to your teachers, tell them what you think about their teaching style. This might be weird, especially if you don't like them. Be detached and honest. They’re professionals, they should be used to feedback. Become a student representative and make your voice heard. You'll have the power and the responsibility to make the changes you want to see.
Just because we didn’t cause the problem, doesn’t mean we can’t come up with the solution.
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