Quote:
Originally Posted by lazyreadr
That is true not only in the USA, but likely almost everywhere. It is propelled by the hunt for scientific excellence.
Reason is that the main job of a university professor is research. They are selected on their research qualities, the scientific reputation they have and how much funds they bring in. Some full professors even do not do many lectures any more and hand it off to assistant professors etc. Giving lectures is a side-task for them.
No surprise that the teaching quality of some professors is a bit wanting therefore. I have made the same observation.
To be fair there is also a paradigm change between high school and universities. Students of a university are expected to learn in a different (more self reliant) way as preparation for their future career. The lectures are only meant as an additional help, not to be seen as formal "teaching". A university professor is a lecturer, not a teacher.
And this is even more pronounced in universities outside the USA, to some degree deliberately. I have seen students from the US having problems with it.
One can discuss quite long what the pro-/contra arguments are. But it is true that one will never get knowledge presented as nicely as it was in school.
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I wouldn't put all the blame on the instructors either though. When I was in college one of the teachers bemoaned the fact that his students didn't have the reading skills etc. that they should have. This was in college mind you. They hadn't learned proper reading comprehension back in grade school and therefore were not prepared to grasp concepts that should have been easy to grasp in the textbooks. I have to wonder how many students are passed along to the next grade in high school for example because they are good at a sport even though their academic abilities are lacking. An old problem I imagine.