LCC students share what makes someone a bad professor

By Karina Hartley
Staff Reporter

It’s a common student experience: a student signs up for a class that they are excited to take, and the professor teaching the class sours the experience. The Lookout wanted to hear about some of those experiences from students. Here’s what they had to say.

“Something specifically that stands out to me about a bad professor is someone who doesn't understand the power dynamic that they have,” Li Han said. Han shared that some professors who treat students more like peers and lack understanding of the role they play negatively impacts how those students interact with the class. “They have the power over students' grades, they have power over the content that students are learning.” Han said. Han noted that a bad professor may take advantage of this power. “Students then will come into class scared, don't know how to approach the professor, don't know how to ask questions.”

 

AJ Bunker noted the experience of professors struggling to address the nuances of young students who are adults, but not quite fully independently functioning in society yet. Bunker recalled a specific instance of a professor that would lock students out of the classroom if they arrived late, and would try to stop them from leaving to use the restroom. Bunker highlighted the contradiction of telling students, “You’re adults and need to manage your time better,” and then, “I don't trust you as adults to know whether or not you have to use the bathroom." Bunker elaborated on the relationship between student and professor: “You would think that they would learn the ins and outs and idiosyncrasies of interacting with a person, and when they don't and they just show up and treat you anonymously all the time, that's sort of an indicator [that they are a bad professor.]”

 

“Someone who's not understanding.” Niyokwizera Claudine said. “Because you are a student, but you're also a human being, you go through stuff.” Niyokwizera shared that she appreciated when professors consider those struggles before minimizing a grade. “Someone who just piles on assignments as if you don't have any other classes to do,” she said, is also part of the recipe for a bad professor.

 

“What makes somebody a bad professor more than anything is lack of clarity and communication,” Corey Oswald said. Oswald shared that adapting to different teaching styles is possible, but professors have to make the effort to be clear. “If you can't communicate well with students, if you can't communicate well with others, how are you going to teach somebody a subject they've never learned before?” Oswald said.

 

“With a lot of teachers, it's a bad experience,” Lavern Douglas-Haskins said. Douglas-Haskins elaborated that “a lack of cohesion” throughout the course makes for a negative experience. Douglas-Haskins does not want to feel lost, or like the professor lacks control over how the class is progressing. “They just don't have the understanding of how to keep things on track with even their own notes or their lectures or even running in-person lectures. They just don't have that organization that keeps things well understood.” Douglas-Haskins said.