I also disagree that research does not help in teaching undergrad lectures because it is “too advanced”. In order to reach that level of advanced research, your understanding of the “basics” must be excellent. And I’d say an excellent understanding of “basic” concepts (which will be taught to undergrads) is helpful. And the comment of yours I find most offensive is that profs don’t give a damn about undergrads.

I feel sad that you must have had ALL the bad apples teach you. Obviously there will be some profs who, as you say, “don’t give a damn” about undergraduates. But as a double major in Biology and English, I have had only 1 professor in my entire university experience who gave me that impression. And they didn’t even have tenure… My honours supervisor has been instrumental in helping me with the graduate school process, spending hours with me talking pros and cons of different programs or job options, comforting me when I felt frustrated. He has also spent countless hours with me in the lab, explaining protocols and ensuring I felt confident. All of my professors have been delighted to help me either with course work, or in my general pursuit of knowledge. They may be gruff, or critical, but never did they give me the idea that they “didn’t give a damn”. I think it is grossly unfair to generalize all professors this negatively.

And you don’t believe that the compensation professors receive should reflect the fact that the path to get their is very difficult and risky?

Out of curiousity, how do you see this as different from, say, a medical doctor? Both are paid from public funds, both provide public services, both go through very difficult and extensive training programs (although becoming a tenured professor takes much longer), and both ultimately receive fairly good compensation at the end of it (although a doctor’s salary can top a professor’s by a factor of 5, depending on specialty).

“If these profs. are doing such a great job educating our students and helping them find good jobs, why would they even need gov’t funding? Tuition alone would pay for their salaries. Private loans would be easily available to poorer students.”

So you want higher tuition fees?

No, no, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me — I absolutely believe that it is the student’s choice whether or not to attend lectures, and I have always disagreed with mandatory attendance. I have missed many lectures myself over the course of my degree so far, and like you have still managed to get top marks. My point is that if you ARE in lecture, the least you can do is show some common courtesy towards both the professor and your fellow students by keeping the distractions to a minimum. This is just basic manners we’re talking about here, not about being “good little school girls [that] fold our hands over our crossed legs to be prim and proper”.

I’m afraid I don’t agree with your comment that the longest we can focus on a lecture is 20 minutes. That’s been “proven” by who, exactly? If 20 minutes is the longest someone can focus on someone else’s ideas and information, then we’re all in a lot of trouble — most meeting presentations and conferences in any field last for far longer than 20 minutes (and these can often feel like a lecture, format-wise).

“Really, if someone’s Facebook prevents you from focusing, you weren’t that interested to begin with.” Not true — it’s the sea of laptops all constantly flashing different graphics and colours at any given time that gets distracting. And for what it’s worth, I have been in lectures where the professor was forced to interrupt his/her lecture to ask someone to stop constantly fooling with their phone because it was a distraction even for them there at the front.

I completely agree with your sentiment of “It’s my life and my education”. All the power to you, Jason: go to class when/if you want to, and devote as much time and effort to your projects as you see fit. The professors aren’t there to hold your hand or boss you around, and neither am I or anyone else. All I ask is that when you’re in a learning environment, make the effort to learn instead of turning it into your own private computer lab, arcade, or texting session. There’s a time and a place for everything — that was my point, really.

Anyway, I did enjoy reading your response, and wish you luck in all your future endeavours.