# Poor Instructional Technique **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621 "2015-06-15T21:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/21 "2015-06-17T17:39:27Z")
I had a teacher (American History, high school) that copied her notes out onto the board while standing in front of whatever she was writing. She didn’t immediately erase what she had just written, but because she stood in front of what she was writing, you couldn’t copy it until she moved. When she moved out of the way, she erased it. I never had this type of teacher, but heard many horror stories about the college professor who told each of his classes the first day, “There will be no A’s in this class. If you knew enuogh to get an A, you wouldn’t need this class.” Umm, aren’t you there to _teach_ the class what they don’t already know? If you can’t teach them what they need to know to pass the test, it’s not the students’ faults. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/22 "2015-06-17T18:20:47Z")
[QUOTE= BrotherCadfael] I had one that would write on the board with one hand, erasing with the other, lecturing about what was in between, conveniently hidden behind his head. [/QUOTE] You aren’t a veterinarian, are you? My father said he had this guy in vet school. I had a professor in whose class the seats in the front row were at a premium, because he delivered his entire lecture looking at his shoes, in a language about midway between English and Dutch. If you were in front, and waved your hand enthusiastically enought, he _might_ notice you out of the tops of his eyes and answer your question. But it was 50-50 at best. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/23 "2015-06-17T19:07:35Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I had a professor who had an incomprehensible Polish accent, but made up for it by having indecipherable handwriting on the chalkboards. > > I dropped the class after 2 weeks and was shocked that anyone stayed in it. I think I had this guy for a Calculus class in college. He would also get about 3/4 of the way across the board while working on a problem, stop and take a step back when it wasn’t working out right, then go back and erase about half of his work and start again. Which sure made taking notes interesting! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/24 "2015-06-17T19:45:38Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I had a professor who had an incomprehensible Polish accent, but made up for it by having indecipherable handwriting on the chalkboards. I had a guy who I think was Polish (name) but he steadfastly refused to answer _anything_ about his background. He was proud of his strictness. I added the class the second day and learned he didn’t bother to show up the first day. When it came down the the very last withdraw day, he intentionally showed up late and there was a stack of withdraw slips in the room (not sure if he or a student brought them). I stuck it out, think I got a “B.” But at least 2/3 of the class didn’t. > [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > It’s a little more complicated than simply the slides aren’t part of a canned lecture. We’re supposed to be building computer models and and third of the slides are for a different piece of software than the one used in class, and the instructor has little experience with it, hasn’t taught the course in two years, and didn’t review the workbook before the class, so when he gets to a point where he wants to use a slide he flips back and forth until he finds one that’ll do. Thanks. I cringe whenever I see “copyright 20XX PublisherName” on the bottom of every slide. > [@Senegoid](#): > > So how did he pronounce ħ ? Etch-bar? Is that a bar full of guys who invite you to come up and see their etchings? ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/25 "2015-06-17T20:23:58Z")
Develop an illogical, unappealable test scoring system that ensures most students get C’s. I had an electronics instructor who was generally an arrogant, nasty mouthed jerk in class that wrote tests with “A problems”, “B problems”, “C problems”, and “D problems”. Despite any curve, one HAD to get all the A-problems right to get an A; you could miss C and D-Problems and STILL get an A! Plus in that case there was some component of actual percentage score averaged in. This was in the early days of personal computers and I think he was enamored with his self-written grade analysis program. Out of ~ 25 students I think most got C’s except 2-3 electrical geniuses with A’s for their perfect test scores. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/26 "2015-06-17T21:50:36Z")
Use every econometrics class to talk about your wine predictions newsletter. Oh, except the one class **gigi** skipped when she couldn’t take it anymore, during which you teach the semester’s worth of material. My bad. I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/27 "2015-06-17T23:59:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If h is etch, then H is ETCH. Planck’s constant is denoted by _h_ . > > So how did he pronounce ħ ? Scratch, I’d imagine: A reduced kind of etch. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621/28 "2015-06-18T00:30:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You aren’t a veterinarian, are you? My father said he had this guy in vet school. Actually, it was a stat class when I was getting my master’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poor-instructional-technique/722621.md?page=1)