Reply to If you think it matters that your kid's classes be taught by a professor: Why?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just because you have a Ph.D. doesn't make you a good teacher, especially at research institutions. [b]The focus is on research and research dollars, teaching is just a requirement.[/b] They have zero training in developing or delivery curriculum - they have zero incentive to do it well. Some will but many have to ensure they are bringing in the funds for the department. For my kids I want to make sure they being taught the topic by someone who is knowledgeable and committed to education. That is easier said than done. [/quote]

This has been changing--there is more emphasis on evidence that you are a decent teacher in hiring now, even at research institutions, and even at research institutions about[b] 30-40% of your evaluation[/b] is based on your teaching.[/quote]
This is BS. I am a tenured prof at an R1 who has sat on many promotion and tenure committees. A brilliant tenure-line assistant professor, well published/funded is going to get tenure despite mediocre teaching, whereas as fantastic, knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark teacher who is a tenure-line assistant professor with few publications will not get tenure. 
The unfortunate reality is that students' best bet at a strong letter of recommendation for an internship, work or graduate school is going to come from a full-time professor, even if the professor is not the best teacher simply because the professor will likely still be at that institution for a while. Adjuncts come and go.
And by the way, adjuncts are not guaranteed to be great teachers either. They have zero incentive to be demanding because they'll get burned by low evals. Students might like them because they are easy graders (and this is why Rate My Professor is junk - the scores correlate highly to grades), but in the end, adjuncts are cheap labor.
If a student is going to take a class with an adjunct, it should ideally be for a special "adjunct" who is often invited by a university to teach for a semester or a year as a teaching fellow of some sort because they have some unusual work experience or very high profile position. That can be a really unique experience for a student and is worth it.[/quote]

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