Ask HN: Did universities forget how to teach science/engineering? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Did universities forget how to teach science/engineering?

2 pointsAnimalMuppet5 comments

I know two people who are going to public universities (different ones, 1500 miles apart). One was studying physics, the other is studying mechanical engineering. Both complain about teachers not actually teaching. The classes don't actually transfer information to the students. In one case, it's at least one class; in the other, it's definitely most/all of the classes.

Is this just random bad luck of getting bad professors, or was there some shift in educational philosophy or approach that ruined science and engineering teaching?

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I have had a positive experience so far at my school. The curriculum is coherent and the courses build onto each other nicely. It is challenging but the depth you get is well worth it IMO.

In fact, I was thinking the other day that my experience runs contrary to almost everything I read about the state of Computer science education online. Professors can show varying degree of commitment to the course but the baseline is quite high.

The majority of my instructors put more effort than they could get away with into the course: extra office-hours, staying late to answer questions, enriching material, original content, proactive on Piazza etc.

I found myself improving a lot as an engineer so here's a positive experience for you.

They force researchers to do teaching between writing another paper, reviewing other people papers or applying for the next grant. At the same time, professors have too little exposure to actual engineering. After few years they only have the outdated fundamental knowledge and a bit of specialization in super narrow and ofter useless discipline.

Teaching requires a different set of skills than research. Engineering is a more practical discipline than research. But because Universities treat all disciplines the same way, it all sucks. The US can attract people that are good in all three aspects but the rest of the world have professors that should be really doing one thing.

I went to the best school in the state (not saying much), and my professors didn't know what we covered in the previous classes. Or assumed we covered things which we didn't. Over the 4 years there, the same topic must have been repeated at least 4-5 times over. As in, long, fundamental topics. There was no steady progression of material, etc. When I went to take professional exams later on, I realized my education was a joke. Boohoo, but it really was a waste.

Most likely the courses are taught by graduate students who have little experience with teaching, no training in teaching effectively, and little incentive to do a good job of it.

I'm not sure I could pick my thesis advisor out of a lineup today, he was so good at avoiding his supposed students.

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