Why professors don teach

Meantime, what many of their students need most is remedial instruction in basic composition. But there's no future in that. The University of Manitoba, Prof.

You would think that as a large, second-tier, regional institution, its primary job is to deliver a decent postsecondary education to the masses. Yet it, too, is extraordinarily devoted to research. Its professors typically devote only 40 per cent of their time to teaching.

And the effectiveness, efficiency and productivity of that teaching are almost an afterthought. I've never heard of anyone being fired for teaching badly. Clifton believes funding and incentives need to change so that departments are rewarded for graduating students efficiently and fast. As it is, he does not believe that shovelling more money at universities will result in more students graduating with degrees. Richard Vedder emphatically agrees.

He argues that we should spend less time worrying about university access for all, and more time on the "scandal" of the billions we waste on unsuccessful efforts to educate students who fail to graduate. And that will never happen until students count for more than articles in unread quarterlies. Follow us on Twitter: globedebate Opens in a new window.

Report an error. Editorial code of conduct. Skip to main content. This sounds like an excellent idea to me. We'd get better teaching and less busy-work-caliber research that no one ever reads. Professor image by mischiru. She explains how families can make college more affordable through her website TheCollegeSolution. Lynn O'Shaughnessy. Special Projects. Terps Watch. Sponsored Articles. The Diamondback Store. Column Opinion Teaching takes more than knowledge. Professors need training.

Many of them have been there for a long time. They may not tolerate things that a younger teacher would. They decide whether you pass the class or not.

If your professor teaches well, the school would find it hard to take action on a difficult teacher. College classes are huge. The stress would result in him snapping. Unfortunately, your batch may be full of bad students. Maybe no one is prepared for lessons, so your professor gets angry and is rude. The most a professor would want would be his students doing well. Slacking off would make him upset. Do well in your studies and participate in class.

This would make your lecturer want to respect you. Go in with well thought out questions. Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor. Not only could you get advice on what to do, but the advisor might know your professor personally. As the semester progresses, he would ease up.