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So I'm back in school and I am dealing with the worst professor I have ever had the displeasure of having to work with. The class is engineering economics, basically an engineering version of finance. I've studied this on my own, and I really liked it. And he is KILLING it for me.

I'll run down the issues:

1) He uses powerpoint and uses it poorly. I have nothing against powerpoint. I do have something against an engineering professor that never works his problems, and when he writes equations they look something like this: i=i/m. Or, one of my favorites: F equals = P(1+i)^n. He has repeatedly written completely incorrect equations in there as well and confuses his terminology constantly. The few times he does have a worked example he will either skip the slide, or he will not follow a consistent method to solve them from slide to slide (each one is done differently with different conventions)

2) We spent FOUR weeks on the first chapter. You know that first chapter that can be skipped in pretty much any textbook? Yeah we spent FOUR weeks on it.

3) He doesn't follow his own syllabus. He said there would be three tests. It is clear that is not even remotely correct (there will probably be 6).

4) He editorializes constantly. Engineering is about a methodical handling of complex problems, removing bias. He embraces this by starting his class and saying "looks like another bailout is coming, what's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome." or "You should never take out an adjustable rate mortgage", or "you should only invest in the stock market for the long term."

While I agree with all three statements to one degree or another, they are all VERY complex arguments, and making flippant comments on them is highly innapropriate for a discipline that is fundamentally founded in thorough and unbiased analyses.

It doesn't help that he has no understanding of basic economics though. He used recent changes in oil prices as an example of inflation, and then went on to say that inflation was caused by changes in supply, which would be sort of right if he was talking about the money supply, but he wasn't. How someone gets something THAT wrong teaching this class is beyond me.

5) He does multiple choice tests. This one is funny because in a previous class I considered this highly innapropriate for an engineering class. For this class....its the least of the problems, really its insignificant.

6) He likes trick questions, and he makes mistakes writing his tests. Of the 2 tests I have had so far there have been multiple mistakes on both of them, ommitted terms etc. Having this, alongside lateral thinking trick questions is a terrible combination. But what really makes it hard is:

7) He is incredibly rude. In both tests people have repeatedly gone up to the front and asked questions, because there are mistakes. He will cut them off before they can even finish their question and say that all the information is on the test. He doesn't even acknowledge them with eye contact. Then of course, 15 minutes later, he will point out the correction.

This is just the tip of the iceberg though.

-He used his own TAs personal mortgage information to make a point, basically saying her financing was dumb. Even if she agreed to this it is clearly a case of implicit coercion.

-He called a student stupid in class.

-He talks, rather loudly, during the tests.

-He would look over peoples tests as they turned them in and say things like "Wow for all that work you still didn't get it right" with a smirk.

See, I can deal with arrogance in a professor. It doesn't necessarily bother me, I mean its a personality flaw, but some of them deserve it. What I can NOT abide is someone who is arrogant and incompetent AND in a position of authority.

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I'm going to file an anonymous complaint with the dean at the end of the semester. But its tricky for me to do *anything* to get on this guys bad side because I am planning on applying to the graduate program, and he is the graduate advisor.

But.....I mean if this guy has any say in the graduate program I just lost a LOT of respect for it, and to be honest I want to get him fired.

Any suggestions?

Clearly murder is the only way here.

During one class, I was SO angry at what he was saying (and trying to keep quiet) that I pushed a mechanical pencil into my face so hard that it drew blood.

If he is THAT bad, you might as well submit anonymous complaint. Problem if the guy has tenure (probably does) and graduate adviser? man, good luck getting rid of him

Man, sounds pretty bad. I've written some pretty lengthy reviews on professors before on the class evals, but by the time you do that the class is over. Good luck man, whatever you end up doing.

Maybe consider putting all his desk supplies in Jello? It won't change the class but you will feel better when he pulls it out.

Necronic said:

During one class, I was SO angry at what he was saying (and trying to keep quiet) that I pushed a mechanical pencil into my face so hard that it drew blood.

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hahaha wow. I have visualized things like this, and certainly done my share of tongue-biting, but to literally have that happen... Dear god. GasBandit might be right.

I'll give you the same advice I gave Norris:

Drop trou and ask, "So, how about it?"

Wait no, hang on...

Your only problem is that he has such a large amount to do with the Graduate program. That changes everything. But he is just the graduate adviser, not a graduate professor. Are there any other graduate advisers? At my University there are several. Request one of them, citing irreconcilable differences. You have that right. If they refuse to do this, I'd suggest taking graduate classes at a different school, which is a pain in the ass. Or better yet, go to the dean of the college. Let them know your issues and your fears as to the consequences if you protest. If you feel you are getting the runaround, escalate it to the president of the college.

Directors, managers and deans look a LOT into the numbers. Speaking as someone who runs these reports every day, I know for a fact that each potential student is tracked from Inquiry to Attending, and graduate students that are threatening to drop are something NOBODY wants to see, especially in this down economy. Having students threaten to drop because of a teacher? Whoo boy! That teacher WILL hear about it!

Go over his head. Do NOT take it up with him. Go to the dean. When you are graduated and ready to go to graduate school, request a different adviser.

Profit.

What is this teachers name? Which school/state?

Why are you waiting to complain until the end? Stop 'toughing it out' and complain now. Schooling should not be a dictatorship.

Disclaimer: I did not finish university for some of the issues you are experiencing, complaining then failing to get resolution to said problems.

I'm probably going to talk to him about some specifics issues on the test when I get it back, I'm not going over his head first. I'm pretty sure he's going to react badly to me asking him about the test, but I feel it gives me far more cause for going over his head afterwards. I'm not going to provoke him or anything, just see if he will show me how to solve some of the test problems.

Any particular reasons to go directly over his head?

You're paying for these classes. When it comes to matters such as this, you are a customer. You wouldn't put up with this level of bad behavior in retail or service situations, so don't do it now. File a complaint, see you if you can change advisors, and if possible look into switching schools. As you mentioned, college students all experience shitty professors at one point or another... but this guy goes above and beyond what's tolerable.

You know, if this is the only class you have you with this guy you can just do what I did with my worst teacher. Do something else in the class. I was able to stay up on the reading and work and I either did other work during class or I skipped, then I reamed him out on the teacher eval.
If you can't do that and you have to pay attention then, yeah, talk to him first (he won't respond well, you already know this), THEN go over his head and let the administration know your very professional concerns.

Well, as one of the (former) professors here, I can tell you the worst thing you can do to him will be to give him a bad evaluation at the end of the course. It's easy to blow those things off, but the admins really do put a lot of stock in them. But that means you'll have to wait until the end of the class to strike back. And you'll want to conspire with classmates to get more than one negative review. It can mean his raise or promotion. It can also mean much worse, especially if he is still an assistant prof. Until then, I would suggest being blunt with him about it. It's unlikely it will affect your grade. It may surprise him to learn he is such a douche. I see profs get so into their work that they really lose touch with stuff like that. Talk to his department head, and if that doesn't help, the dean.

All that being said, he's pretty safe doing things like calling you stupid. Professors do have a special protection called academic freedom which allows them to say controversial things without danger of losing their jobs. The hardest part about complaining will be getting people to believe you. For the one legitimate complaint, there are 37 wieners complaining that Underwater Basket Weaving 101 is too hard, and the prof is being a meanie-weenie for making them take tests that actually make them think.

Also, I don't know how long you have been in engineering. I was an electrical engineering prof for 2 years, and let me tell you: get used to trick questions. Its part of the package. Also, get used to homework and test questions being 10% about what you covered in class, and 90% about how good you are at tricking the limits of an integral, or cleverly reparsing a derivative to get the answer the prof got.

I'd send him an anonymous internal letter from a printed source detailing in a very civil fashion how you feel about his course and how frustrated/disappointed you are to be in his class. Give point by point analyses (however, put yourself in their shoes to see how they'd feel about it before you do). Do not be aggressive nor whiny about it. Detail your concerns. State some reason about how your dad always told you to be "direct" with people but you'd rather do this anonymously as you're unsure how this would affect your grade (which obviously is very important for you) if you did.

I'd definitely try to discuss this with whoever handles teacher/student relations (the term escapes me now). I'd also discuss this with other students and maybe get something "productive" started.

I also would love to know his name and to check out how badly he's rated on ratemyteacher.

Muuuuuuuurrrrderrrrrrrrrrr.....

Never have I wished so hard that this proxy would let me use the like button. GasB, you are perfect, just the way you are. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

fade said:

Well, as one of the (former) professors here, I can tell you the worst thing you can do to him will be to give him a bad evaluation at the end of the course. It's easy to blow those things off, but the admins really do put a lot of stock in them. But that means you'll have to wait until the end of the class to strike back. And you'll want to conspire with classmates to get more than one negative review. It can mean his raise or promotion. It can also mean much worse, especially if he is still an assistant prof. Until then, I would suggest being blunt with him about it. It's unlikely it will affect your grade. It may surprise him to learn he is such a douche. I see profs get so into their work that they really lose touch with stuff like that. Talk to his department head, and if that doesn't help, the dean.

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Yeah I'm going to talk to him after I get the test back, in a civil way, just asking him to explain the questions.

For the one legitimate complaint, there are 37 wieners complaining that Underwater Basket Weaving 101 is too hard, and the prof is being a meanie-weenie for making them take tests that actually make them think.

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I couldn't agree more with this. My first degree is in a technical science and I've seen this many times before. Grade grubbers always made my skin crawl, trying to get that extra bit out of their tests that they didn't deserve through attrition on the professors patience/good will.

Also, I don't know how long you have been in engineering. I was an electrical engineering prof for 2 years, and let me tell you: get used to trick questions. Its part of the package. Also, get used to homework and test questions being 10% about what you covered in class, and 90% about how good you are at tricking the limits of an integral, or cleverly reparsing a derivative to get the answer the prof got.

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I seriously have nothing against trick questions, or even very difficult questions. My stats prof had us derive a point estimator on the final, which was something we only breifly touched on in class and, even if we had spent a lot of time on it, was the single most difficult thing we studied that semester. And I liked it.

I had an old p-chem professor that had this one word problem that seemed incredibly complex, but if you noticed this one comment in it, and what the question was asking for, you could quickly identify the system as adiabatic and solve it in 30 seconds.

But with both of these, either complex or tricky, there is a level of trust in the quality of the test that is necessary.

If I was taking a test on pre-history that was written by a creationist, how could I handle trick questions?