More on The Atlantic’s Article on Teaching Math

(The article is here http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/the-stereotypes-about-math-that-hold-americans-back/281303/#disqus_thread )

There were some interesting replies to my comment on the article.  I am posting my response to this one because it might be informative for some readers of this blog.  It states my view, and probably the view of many others, of two of the problems facing professors now.  The first one is obvious, but the second might not be so obvious to anyone who hasn’t taught.

“moleman” wrote”

“any student who complains that his professor’s test is too hard is a little b*tch. any parent who writes to their ADULT child’s school’s administration is a little b*tch helicopter parent.
i am shocked and appalled any student or parent would do such a thing.  you have my sympathy.”

and I responded,

”

“I appreciate your comment. Let me add a couple of thoughts.

First and foremost, I hold a university’s administration responsible for an appropriate response to those letters. In this case, I think “looking into the matter” and reporting back, as the parent requested, rather than pressuring me to make it a “cookbook” course, would have been better for the parent, that student, and all of the other students.

Second, we have an educational culture problem that I don’t blame the students for. My foreign TA put it well. He said that when students from his country don’t understand something in a lecture, they think, “I better go learn that.”; when American students don’t understand something, they say “That professor is bad”. As a professor, I try to empathize with that learned expectation. I don’t blame students for absorbing the educational culture around them. But note that I said I empathize with it; I don’t give in to it.

Of course, not everyone is nice, and not everyone is there to learn. But since I don’t know who is who in my class, I just assume they are all nice and extremely eager to learn math.:)”