Why do professors matter? Do professors really make a difference in learning? Is their job to facilitate?

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Oh, I am so going to use the share feature and send this to OH! .

Of course they make a difference, and they matter--unless they really don't teach their class at all and let a Graduate Assistant do it. Professors are just higher level teachers. How they present a subject and how they work with their students can make a difference.

But they can be limited in what they can and/or want to do by the number of students that they must have in their class (lecture type situations). They can be limited by what the university requires of them outside the classroom. But professors matter, and make a difference, yes.

The job of any faculty member at a college or university is to educate.....to impart in their students a desire to learn. Unfortunately for those of us who are in that field, it ain't all that easy these days. Students, for example, expect something for nothing.

They feel because they've paid for the class, they automatically deserve an "A" whether they've earned it or not. They feel that because they occupied a seat in the classroom most days with their computer turned on to Facebook (I've never seen one yet who comes to this site! ) they deserve an "A" no matter that the work they've done is "F" level work.(Yes, some classrooms have cameras in the back and when you turn them on, you can monitor what the students - and in some cases I use that term loosely - are doing on their computer and it certainly isn't taking notes.)That's why we have comprehensive final exams at the end of the semester, to see what they've learned - they think they're fooling us by pretending to take notes when they aren't - it all comes together in the end.

So if you take a class of mine, you aren't going to get some Multiple Choice final exam that a third grader could pass by guessing - you're going to get at least 50% essay where you're going to have to tell what you've learned and apply it.(And if we can't read your handwriting, you're screwed. ) You've either learned something or you haven't. If you're learned something, it's going to show, if you haven't, that's going to show as well.

The long and short of it all is, its the job of the faculty member to teach, so yes, we matter. It's the job of the student to make an attempt to learn, but sadly too many are just filling up seats....they don't care, they've been handed grades throughout the years and they expect something for nothing.My Inbox right now at the university currently has over 40 - yes, 40 - e-mails from people who received a "D" or "F" wanting to know why they got it, how could I make such a mistake and where's the "A" they were expecting? They made no attempt to learn.....they were too busy playing on Facebook and texting friends to even make an attempt to learn.

And to think - these are the leaders of tomorrow. That's scary as hell. So, despite the best efforts of the faculty to facilitate learning and to aid students in learning to think critically about issues and problems that may confront them, you can't force them to learn.

Far too many of the students who, on graduation day, don that cap and gown and walk across the stage are ill-prepared to go out into the world - not because the teacher failed, but because they failed, because they weren't taught basic learning skills in the lower grades. And yes, there are bad teachers - the ones who have no place in the classroom - the ones who are more interested in doing research than in teaching - the ones who, on the first day, meet with the class, then turn it over to a graduate student to actually teach the class for the semester, but fortunately, while there are a large number of them, they are fewer in number than the ones who actually go out and teach the class themselves. A faculty member is - by their training and experience - expected to be someone who is willing and able to impart knowledge and information on to their students - not by reading the book to them, but by passing on additional, new information not contained in the book.

Whether the student learns that information or not depends upon the skills they've learned over the years and their willingness to learn. Are they more interested in Facebook, or are they more interested in learning what someone who is older, wiser, and by virtue of their experience and training has to pass on to them? It's a two-way street.

Or, at least it should be..

A much longer, more comprehensive answer to this question was written, but because we're limited to 4000 characters, about 4 paragraphs were deleted.

I have had four teachers in my life (one in highschool, three in college) that changed my life. They imparted their knowledge, their enthusiasm and lit a fire under me for story which has become a passion all of my life and I owe it to them.

They loved their subject and made me love it. They were well versed in their subject and made me think that teaching was a noble vocation afterall. Everyone is excited about business and making money.

If it wasn't for teachers, our children wouldn't get the education they need and deserve. Not all teachers are inspirational, but the exceptional ones are. I was lucky to have known a few.

A professor's most important job is to inspire their students, to create a passion for learning. Once a student has that, the professor can facilitate the student's education.

Professors can inspire. Does fear motivate? GoldenLion 7 days ago .

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.