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]I know that sounds argumentative, and I don't mean it that way. I went to a SLAC, and having small classes with professors committed to teaching was great. But as a former TA, I know that completing a PhD doesn't make someone better at teaching or better informed about the subjects they're actually teaching, at least for 100- and 200-level classes.

When my kids applied to college, I wanted them to avoid places that used a lot of adjunct labor because I think adjuncts are usually exploited. I don't think that's most parents' concern, though.[/quote]

A full professor has decades more experience in the field than a TA, who might be teaching a class she took the year before. So they could be like one text/final ahead of the students. Still learning the subject, by definition.

Only a small minority of faculty members achieve tenure and professor rank, so baked into that title are years and years of positive grant reviews, research studies, conference presentations, papers accepted for publication, etc,

It does not mean they are good teachers, but it does mean they gave a deep foundation of understanding the subject matter that they can draw from in trying to explain concepts and answer questions. [/quote]
It just depends.  Many full professors in the sciences haven't worked in a lab since the 1970s or 1980s.  You're likely better off learning lab techniques from a TA or post doc lecturer than a full professor.  I wouldn't want a full professor teaching a lab course.[/quote]

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