What Makes a Good Professor?

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weheartit.com

Whether or not you’ve been at UTM for a while, you’re bound to have a favourite and least favourite professor. I know I do! In my experience, a professor can make or break your interest in a subject.

About a year ago, I wrote a post about a professor that I did not get along with. This professor was inconsiderate, pompous, and patronizing, but they also had some good qualities, like their presentation skills and overall knowledge about the subject. Ever since then, I’ve been hyper-conscious about “good” and “bad” professors. So, why do some profs appeal to us more than others?

1) Engagement and interactivity

I had a professor in summer school after my second year who made an effort to create a community within the classroom. There were about 30 to 40 students in the lecture and it was only a half credit, but this professor made an effort to know everyone’s names. I had her again last semester, and she did the same thing. Most of her classes were discussion-based, and she was really good at facilitating learning through different activities instead of just a solid lecture. I find that a professor who makes an effort to engage with students is better than a professor who talks to everyone like they are a number instead of a person.

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A Quick Note about the Bigger Picture

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bulltalkstrios

 

My Midterm Mantra: “This is nothing in the grand scheme of things.”

A lot of the time, it’s easy to think that a certain test or assignment will define your education. But it’s important to remember that one bad test will not change who you are or drastically change your life. During midterms, I put in 100% effort, but what I see on the faces of my fellow students is, for the most part, not determination or the acceptance that their best is going to be good enough. What I see instead is usually a mix of fear, stress, and anxiety. Remember that that all-important test or assignment is not what defines your education. Celebrate your successes and learn from your failures. Because really, in the grand scheme of things, that test is a miniscule challenge on one day of one month of one year, and you will get past it.