Grad student filling in?
What is your school’s policy about syllabi, at the very least? Politely contact the head of the department to express your concerns about lack of preparation, difficult pronunciation, the abortion comment, and the general tenor of the instruction. Ask at the least for a syllabus, to know whether test answers supporting evolution will be graded down, and for an in-class observation by the head of the department.
Ok, I have to ask: how? Did they think carbon dating was just wrong or something?
I took a semester at UIC, some of the professors there were not all that impressive to me. Not believing in evolution is still a bit much, but it’s not like he normally teaches at the U of C or Northwestern.
It’s mind-boggling.
I recently learned that presidential candidate Ron Paul is an obstetrician and that he doesn’t believe in evolution.
That link is to a YouTube clip.
I can’t be 100% sure, of course, but I’m 98% sure. The thing is, despite all the obvious flaws, he and I got on fairly well. I was really able to cut him a lot of slack for the unpreparedness, under the assumption that he was called literally at the last minute with no prep time - the instructor’s name on my schedule wasn’t his, and I signed up for classes less than 2 weeks ago. As a person, I like him quite a bit.
You know when you just sort of have an instant rapport/attraction (not *that *way - gross!) with a teacher and lots of smiles and nods and checking in silently during the lecture goes on? There was lots of that - to the point where I did almost start to wonder if he was, in fact, attracted in *that *way. So I think I had a pretty good read on him and his sense of humor. There were just so many little subtle digs over six hours and then finally that whopper about 45 minutes before class ended…
I don’t know. It’s not like I know him know him, but I didn’t get the sense he was joking or even being cynically sarcastic (which, being my default mode of communication, I almost always pick up on.) If he was joking, he whooshed all of us!
He did say it’s his first time teaching *intro *bio, so maybe he just overestimated our class as a whole.
Yeah he claimed it was all wrong, also that plate tectonics were false.
To his credit, he actually kept to the accepted views of regular geology, but would then give his own view on the side. Every exam also consisted of an essay section wherein we had to pick one side and argue it.
It made for epic lulz.
Pausing to allow for a moment of being stunned. So are you planning on following up with the Administration? Given his general ineptitude PLUS this, what exactly would be learning from him? And I can’t imagine how he would be grading papers and exams.
Well, no, UIC isn’t a top tier university, but it’s a decent school. I wouldn’t expect a teacher there to necessarily be a shining star in his field, but I would expect him to have, you know, a rudimentary understanding of it.
Ah, right…gotcha.
I thought Power Point presentations only existed in the workplace. I am a big fan of the following definition:
The bleeding obvious reduced to dot points. A special kind of meeting where the keynote speaker turns out to be a laptop.
In the US, a lot of students will rate a professor down if there isn’t a PowerPoint.
As a wise person once said, “The trouble is, I just don’t feel that intelligently designed.”
If you can’t drop the class can you transfer to a different class?
I have to feel a little cynical at all the “report him to the administration” comments. I have never seen complaining about an instructor have any effect and I had a few rotten instructors over the years. My College Algebra instructor insisted on teaching us Advanced Calculus. I am not a math whiz by any means. I would have struggled in Algebra but he was teaching Calculus and none of it was in our books. I knew I’d never pass and I switched to audit in the hopes I might still pick up something for when I took the class over, but that didn’t work it was way over my head. At the end of that semester there were three people left in that class, the actual math whizzes. Everyone else had dropped out. I also happen to know that lots and lots of people complained about him but he had tenure so nothing was ever done. He was there for several more years until he retired. Not saying you shouldn’t complain, just be prepared for nothing to come of it.
I am old and crotchety now so I think if I went back to school and ran into an instructor like that I would stand up and say that there must have been some mistake I thought I had signed up for a science class and I’d walk out and find another class/instructor. Then again if I went back to school at this point in my life it would likely be for fun and I could afford to do that.
You’re surprised that a far right Republican doesn’t accept evolution? I’d be surprised if he did. And he understands economics about as well as he understands biology.
Really?
:dubious:
Is this only for certain departments, perhaps? Or is it an undergrad thing? I did my MA in humanities at an American school and never saw a PowerPoint presentation done by either professor or student.
Yup. It’s the expectation across subjects and degrees at a lot of universities these days. It makes sense for non-seminar classes–the instructor doesn’t write on the blackboard much and those without tenure can’t get away with droning along from a page of notes to a group of 30 or 300 students. I will say that it’s not as common in community colleges (yet), but I’ll bet it will be soon. It’s already clear that many CC students across majors are computer-literate and expect their instructors to be, too. There was an interesting article in the Chronicle a while ago about the effect of PowerPoint on students’ evaluations of instructors.
ETA: YMMV, of course.
Why Not
I sure as Hell would consider this pitworthy.
I am disgusted that this “creationism”, “intelligent design”, “it’s only a theory” bullshit has made as much headway into American society as it already has. Now it seems it is making its way into college level education. :mad:
For the many alleged “arguments” against evolution, he spouted the old standby “I haven’t noticed humans evolving”
What an astute scientific “observation”. Yes, the Universe was created just for that guy. So, if he hasn’t seen it, how can it possibly exist? Did he ever observe a supernova? Did he witness the meteorite crash that created the crater in Arizona? Has he seen a living dodo bird? Well if “he hasn’t seen it”, then those must be the contrivances of the elite secular humanists and their false Bible of scientific demagoguery.
I’d report that alleged “professor” to the administration immediately. You did mention that “If I drop this, I put myself back another year before I can apply for the nursing program, so I’m loathe to do that”.
You would have your career set back a year because of some idiot like this?
Let the college administration know about this clown immediately.
(Had this been put in the “Pit” my language would have been much harsher) 
I still don’t understand how a class could be six hours long. Could the OP elaborate?
I will admit right up front that I didn’t read a single word of this thread, but composed my response simply by the thread title, and that response is:
TRANSFER!!
I think these are weekend classes, designed for people who work full-time jobs or have other obligations that keep them from maintaining a regular class schedule.
I know I’ll probably be piled on for this, maybe even pitted (heaven forbid), but hey.
So are we saying then that in order to study life, creatures, the workings of the physical body, etc, one positively must believe that we descended from monkeys?
Or does he mean he doesn’t believe in evolution in any way, shape, or form?
Personally, I’m Christian, I believe in what I believe and also the young earth theory, that the earth hasn’t even hit the 1-million mark. Man was made and life went on from there.
Call me ignorant, stupid, whatever you please, but it’s what I believe, and if some people have a problem with that, well I can’t help that. I’m not trying to force my beliefs on anyone at all. The Dope is very diverse, and that’s awesome.
However, I also believe that creatures can and do go through changes over time and build up resistances or defenses against certain obstacles or stimuli within reason. I believe creatures can and do very well have minute changes or mutations that can be beneficial, such as viruses or bacterium becoming resistant to drugs or medications. It’s something we see even today, and it freaks doctors right the hell out for good reason.
Does that make me a hypocrite? I don’t know. I don’t think things have to be so black and white sometimes. Open-minded while keeping with one’s beliefs is important I think. I believe that evolution can and does happen in a more, (and I don’t know how else to put this), “subtle” sense.
Now if this guy things that animals or bacteria can’t change at all for whatever reason as time goes on, then he’s an idiot, I agree, and no need to pile on me like rabid wolves. I mean, we see lions with white fur & manes popping out on occasion, it happens. Mutations and adaptations are the norm. “Life will find a way” as it was said in Jurassic Park. And it does.