[Physltest] [Phys-L] Re: Joe (was: Arizona State etc.)

[Gary Turner <turner@MORNINGSIDE.EDU>]

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 01:16:51 -0600, Frohne, Vickie <VFrohne@BEN.EDU> wrote:

Don't go Joe.  I've got a PhD but only 3 years of teaching experience.  I'm
sure you are better than me, and I'm not offended by that.  My PhD program
did not place a great emphasis on teaching skills.  I got to pick some up,
but only because I went out looking for them.
Then again, it didn't place a great emphasis on research skills either, but
that's another topic

> Don't go, Joe! There's no offense and no harm done. I agree with much of
what you say, having also witnessed plenty of examples of "how not to
teach."  Some of them were very instructive, at least in the art of "how not
to teach," and helped me improve my teaching by way of negative example.

I had to grin when I read this.  As a grad student, I quickly got disgusted
with the attitude at a certain large-ish university and decided to follow a
career path at a smaller college.  I observed a number of lecturers, not so
much to get good ideas, but to observe where students were falling asleep
and to pick up on things to avoid.
I agree with Joe, a PhD is not a license to teach.  Unfortunately, in an
environment where colleges and universities are competing for rankings, "95%
of faculty have the highest degrees in their field" looks better than "50%
of faculty have highest degrees and the other 50% are good teachers."  Until
we see a paradigm shift in how universities and colleges are evaluated by
the general public (through the mass media) administrators are going to be
tied to favoring the almighty PhD.
Another favorite is the faculty:student ratio, which doesn't mean much when
90% of faculty have 0 meaningful contact with students.

<rant mode off>




> So how about it, Phys-L friends?  What's your "take" on the high
school/community college job market?  What are your opinions about the odds
that a Ph.D. with college-level teaching experience could get a  job as high
school physics/math teacher?

Don't rule out the small 4-year college environment.  They will tend to take
a PhD (for reasons above), but one with teaching experience over grandiose
research plans.  Indeed, a research-heavy statement of interest can kill an
application.  Once there, there is opportunity to do research (usually with
students), but it is less important than at a research institution.
I gave up on the possibilities of high school teaching when I was told I
would have to take Freshman Comp and library tours over 1.5-2 years of gen
ed, in addition to the teaching coursework.
Interesting comparison - the public, in choosing a college, values the PhD
for something it doesn't provide, while Education department bureacrats
don't even recognize it as indicative of the ability to write an essay!

> Vickie Frohne
>
> ________________________________
>
> *snip*
> Farewell,
> Joe Heafner -- Astronomy/Physics Instructor
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