“How will I be graded? then implicitly queries how comfortable and secure will my life be? Will an A in this course allow me to pay back my student loans?”

*slow clap*

Making the best out of life and opportunities requires one to practice mindfulness. The world is constantly changing and the methods of teaching must also be adjusted according! I believe, my study habits have decrease as well since being in graduate school. I attribute this bad habit to experiences with mindlessness learning. Things become so mundane and standardized, and I feel myself becoming burnt out…Maybe we have been professional students for far too long.

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Your post is exactly why I have pondered with the thought of becoming a professor. It comes with a lot of responsibilities, but also, a lot of power. I wonder how my abilities as an educator will change once I have some years of experience in the “real world industry.” I’m sure my experiences solving engineering problems will enhance the type of energy and lessons I can pass onto my students. I hope to one day, down the line, become a professor.

I totally agree with everything you’re saying about PDA. I often keep my academic work off social media because I do not want to bored my non-academic friends. I don’t ever want my followers to feel like I’m doing “too much” on social media. And often times, when I talk about my work, it may come across as “bragging.”

Brett, it makes sense that students are a product of the educational system, and I see this when occasionally I have a high school dual enrollment student in my class. Sometimes, but not always, this will be the student who asks obsessively what material will be covered on the exam, and how they should study. Perhaps the fact that most of the other (college) students tend to dwell less on these types of questions is an encouraging sign that higher education may be correcting some of the flaws in the students’ educations.

Thank you for sharing your insight. I also came to realize that the practice of mindfulness may be beneficial not only in reducing our stress but also in better achieving in the educational settings. The fact that we have limited time to finish a heavy work load pushes us to choose the easiest and rigid ways to handle our tasks. Yet taking the time to observe and reflect on our practices, we may come up with more creative, interesting and/or efficient solutions to our tasks.

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Thank you for sharing some updates on the NCLB and CCCS, I wasn’t aware of that until you mentioned. Indeed, there is no educational reform that has not a side of controversy but I consider Standardized very detrimental ti student’s learning as they encourage passive learning and plain rote culture.

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When I teach the introductory engineering class, I am mindful of what it means to be an engineer, and that engineers may look and think in ways that are not necessarily consistent with my idea of what engineers or engineering is. However, there are some universal characteristics, such as the need for engineers to be ethical. Some students strike me as not cut out for engineering. I reflect often on how to best serve these students. This is not the same as not being cut out for college, but that might be the case too. It’s not for me to decide who gets to be an engineer and who doesn’t. (Or is it? As a licensed professional engineer whose engineering practice is teaching new engineers, one may argue that I am obliged to “hold paramount safety and welfare of the public” by admitting only qualified members to the profession.) I don’t know the answer to the professor as gatekeeper issue. All I can do at the moment is avoid being judgmental, assess the students fairly, and have faith that it will sort itself out, with students who are not “cut out” for engineering arriving at their own conclusions and eventually finding their way along their educational and career path. Thank you for your thought provoking post.

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You are absolutely right to mention laughter! Laughter and Humor maintain students’ attention and help them memorize more the key content of the course. It also creates a great environment in which students are immediately comfortable to participate.

As for you grandmother, first of all; THANK YOU. I love the Moss Arts Center, it is one of those places that made Blacksburg so much more entertaining culturally speaking.

Indeed, professors can have a tremendous impact on their student if they interpret some difficulties as a potential to expand, grow and explore. They can change a lifetime through their dedication to students.

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It sounds like, until less focus is placed on standardized exams the focus of standing and delivering cannot be separated from the idea of teaching. When I read your sentences “…professors’ believe their job is to structure and deliver material..” I thought to myself do professors really think this or are they not bothered enough to actually facilitate learning. To me it seems that at the university level there is not much emphasis placed on teaching so professor tend to not care as much. For example my adviser always tells me that as long as you are doing research, graduating PhD students, and are not the absolute worst professor in the department when it comes to teaching than you are in a good position. That just sounds crazy to think that you could do a lousy job at teaching, but still be great professor.