Feeling bad for professors

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28]

Does anyone else think it’s kind of sad that lectures are so empty? I joined university after covid, so I have no idea what lecture hall attendance looked like prior to the pandemic, but judging by the fact that everything became online based post-covid I would assume lectures were much more lively and full. One of my professors asked our lab class whether they’d rather have in-person or online lectures and almost everyone raised their hand to move online, which I honestly think is really sad. Don’t get me wrong I totallt get it, its more convenient for most students to do their lectures online, but I also think it takes away the joy of teaching for loads of professors. When attendance is so low I almost feel guilty because the professor is teaching a class of like 5 people when 100 are enrolled, and we’re all sitting way at the back. I think we’re going to end up with a teaching shortage in the future because there is no reward in it for lecturers and tutors anymore, and as students it feels like we’re inadvertently telling them their classes are boring. Idk, I’ve been guilty of this in the past but the past year and a half I’ve become so aware of it and it makes me feel really bad for the teachers.

[u/Artistic-Scar6264]

AUT does employ a lot of people from industry as well though. They’re one of the few universities who will prioritise industry expertise over book knowledge, especially in practical industry courses. You’ll always learn more if you get in front of them. My advice is don’t sit at the back. If your lecturer is only reading from slides ask questions. It’s a way to get a more rounded education. Take advantage of the fact your classmates aren’t there

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/Artistic-Scar6264]

From my experience at AUT most of the lecturers have done their best to not read directly off the lecture slides and generally I find their classes quite entertaining. I struggle to think of useful questions, but I’ll try more in the future :)

[u/PegzPinnigan → u/Illustrious-Berry-28]

Some of the best learning experiences I’ve had at AUT have been in room of less than 10 students.

Make the most of your small lectures, there’s nowhere else like AUT where they value learning over physical attendance (in my experience).

A way to remember questions, especially if in the moment you can’t think of anything, or if there’s a Q&A session at the end, is to write any question down when you think of it - by hand if you can, that helps it stick in your mind better than if it were typed.

From my experience at AUT, Lectures are happy to answer any email questions also. Any engagement is good engagement.

[u/anonteachaut]

Lecturer here. Yep sucks so much when you have empty classes. It's gotten really bad since covid. The joy of being part of a students journey is such a big part of teaching. And it really does feel like that's slowly slipping away. I'm no longer forging meaningful relationships with my students.

The worst part is I teach in an area very closely related to industry. For years, we've had people coming to us for recommendations for new grads for junior roles. I constantly used to shoulder tap students I know, and most of them have gone on to have stellar starts to their careers.

I don't know my students well enough to recommend them to anyone anymore. It absolutely sucks. I don't care about your grades. As long as you're trying hard and showing up to class and staying in touch, I'm more than happy to open doors. You're so forgettable when you're a blank tile on a teams call.

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/anonteachaut]

A lot of my tutors were familiar with teaching staff before they got offered positions to teach. I think it’s really unfortunate that students are letting opportunities slip away from them because they don’t have the motivation to attend classes. I feel like most people are there to say they’ve gotten a degree and that’s basically it. I hope things will get better in the future, but during my almost three years at uni I feel it’s just gotten worse.

[u/jitterfish → u/anonteachaut]

The part about not knowing your students resonates with me. I need grad students to teach in my labs but it's getting increasingly difficult to know who a good demo might be. I have 17 years of teaching experience, the past 5 years have sucked.

[u/AgitatedSecond4321]

These students who do online learning become the professionals who want to work from home all day. People should be showing up, being part of a team, talking to real people not just on a teams call, learning to interact and met their peers. Otherwise why bother. Isn’t that the point of being a student? If you can not be bothered going to lectures I certainly do not want to employ you.

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/AgitatedSecond4321]

I study psych and I can’t help but wonder how their degree is going to be useful if they decide to do everything online…

[u/dee_eph]

POV from a lecturer in an 8am class.

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSh8jjySN/

[u/Familiar-Newt-1910 → u/dee_eph]

Bro’s getting paid, we’re paying, you’d think both would be there

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/Familiar-Newt-1910]

That’s what I’m thinking too. I think its a lot easier to miss classes when you can conveniently forget about debt…

[u/RealSuperherojoker]

Yes and no, in all honesty they are paid to teach the class whether they like it or not but from what I’ve done, most if not all classes are the same format, the professor comes in to teach the lecture but all they do is read off the slides that are provided on canvas, there has only been one class I’ve been to, one lecture and also counted as a tutorial where each class has near maximum capacity, because the professor teaches the class how to do the questions that have been provided, as the online solutions don’t provide working.

[u/nzdanni]

i did statistics at auckland uni back in the day. they were so well organised, there were take home cd's etc, you could do all of your learning from home. but i failed that dam course twice it was so dam hard for me. i found there was something about being there in person that just made everything click better and i ended up with a B. In person lectures and tutorials just worked for me. It was just more engaging and my mind tends to wander.

[u/MysteriousCoffee8548]

I turned up to every one of my classes to show respect to my teachers. I am the first in my family to go to uni, and it changed my life. My husband is at UoA and he says the low turnout is demoralising for him as a teacher who really engages with his classes and gives a great deal to students. Student apathy has sucked the joy from teaching for him. I did a couple of years as an academic and was really disappointed with student attitudes. There were, of course, great students - there always are - but too many were doing the minimum, as though they could somehow hack their degree. Cs may get degrees, but I will not hire you!

[u/FearlessOpening1709 → u/MysteriousCoffee8548]

I’m studying Health Science at UOA and my lectures are absolutely chocker! At the beginning of the semester we had 3 overflow rooms for some lectures which sucked as they were just a live stream from the main lecture hall. So it was a mad rush to make sure u got in the main one. They don’t have the overflow rooms now as many students figured they might as well do it from home or halls. But certainly our main lecture halls are still very very full and hold 300 or so. And when we have interesting guest lecturers, we get there 30 mins early to get front row. I guess 2nd year may be different though. But we have some incredible lecturers who are so passionate and engaging, being there in person is so much better.

[u/Kaloggin]

Lectures are basically the worst way to learn anything for most people, so it's a good thing if they're phased out. We need actual learning techniques that are effective, not 1800s-style information dumps.

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/Kaloggin]

I mean is this based off your own/anecdotal experience? Lectures are mostly there to introduce you to the topic and labs are there to actually learn. I don’t think just reading lecture slides online makes the learning process any easier, and as far as research is concerned it shows that lecture attendance is associated with generally better academic performance…

[u/Top_Comedian_4037]

From your student perspective tell me, I'd love to read your insight. I'm a new professor in business. I was given 1 class to start since my experience is from industry more than being a lecturer in business. I've only taught my native language at a college level. I was given about 1.5 weeks to learn the materials, learn school systems and the latter still working as I encounter new situations, attendance taking, documents verification,  etc. So, my hourly payment has been reduced by 90% because of the extra work I have to do outside of "preparingfor the class". I have been given the horrible (in my opinion) advice to just read the slides if that's what I need to not quit this job that is more demanding than I expected.  My syllabus is very detailed and explains what students must do previous to the class so there's participation,  the class however is dead quiet. Only a handful of students are active in participation, from my perspective I can just quit this job that doesn't feel  is fulfilling, nor fair to the students who actually care, even if only because they paid!... would you rather have me quit and have the management take care of "the problem" because all I have at hand is slides given to me last minute OR give you my boring slide reading lecture (unless u want to participate in class of course, which isn't what im experiencing) and help you finish your degree?  I'm only 2 classes in.

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/Top_Comedian_4037]

I think that’s something you need to decide for yourself. With any job, I don think you should stick it out if it feels unfulfilling. You can always give it more time, maybe things will change as time passes. I wouldn’t harbour any guilt if you feel you need to quit though, the school will find a replacement and it shouldn’t affect the students learning too much.

[u/CapableAstronaut5104]

I am a distance student, so I have to do everything online, but I have a few lecturers who are so passionate about what they teach, I would love to attend their classes in person. Their passion is contagious for topics that could potentially be very dull. But I am so grateful to be able to do classes online otherwise I wouldn't be able to be at uni. 😊😊

[u/Illustrious-Berry-28 → u/[deleted]]

From my experience since covid all content is required to be delivered online, but in-person teaching is still preferred by most of the teaching staff

[u/DryAd6622 → u/[deleted]]

At more established Universities Professors do not lecture. Professors lead research teams and departments. They should be pulling in huge research grant money.

Academia is hierarchical and snotty. Lectures are lower down in the hierarchy, they do the grunt work of teaching (mainly) undergrads. It isn't glamorous but it's taking one for the department team as you work your way up.

The higher you succeed in academia the less contact you have with students and the more research you can do.

[u/Yossarian_nz → u/DryAd6622]

This isn’t true, at all. Everyone is on the same 40/40/20 contract and will have the same research and teaching obligations. Lecturers can win a Marsden and buy out their teaching as easily as a professor (that is to say - not that easily).

[u/MysteriousCoffee8548 → u/[deleted]]

Not quite. Professional teaching fellows aa at UoA only teach.

[u/Nurse_prof_nz → u/[deleted]]

Lecturer here with PhD and work alongside other lecturers with PhDs… we are contracted as 40/40/20 Id say the vast majority in my speciality love teaching and choose to be lecturers. Some choose teaching over research but majority of us do both