Engineering Professor Meme

[Jorpho]

Had I initially read this in private, I might first have cackled maniacally and then ended up curled in a fetal position whimpering. The memories!

http://www.geekosystem.com/engineering- ... or-meme/2/

[modularblues]

*Screams and runs away in absolute terror*

[Dobblesworth]

I think I've had my fair share of those over the past three years. Particularly the supervisions/tutorials classically scheduled to last an hour, which I've had overrunning by an hour plus without even fully covering the material.

[raike]

I see a lot of this from the math department... especially the unrelated examples and going over a ton. That said, I enjoy the material, so I can't really complain.

[Windmill]

That was good, I feel like a lot of those happen to me. Yay

[KestrelLowing]

Oh my goodness, I think all of those have happened to me - especially #22

Goes over solution in class, skips hardest step "should be obvious"

[achan1058]

I think some of these can be avoided by asking the prof to put stuff on their course outline/website. Then, if they fail to do it (say to provide a formula sheet and failing to do so), then you can hold them accountable.

The other parts, like not wanting to use PowerPoint/Beamer, isn't the prof's fault. It's time consuming to type up a set of nicely written notes.

[SSJ3 Mario Brothers]

Relevant:

http://fyeahengineeringprofessor.tumblr.com/

http://fyeahengineeringbat.tumblr.com/

http://fyeahsciencemajormouse.tumblr.com/

I freaking love these memes, they tend to be SO TRUE.

[engr]

^^ My engineering professors never did this particular thing, but I'm wondering if they should have. Sure, it would've sucked for us, but the guy on the picture kind of has a point.

[_Axle_]

I think it depends in what level of physics/engineering your are at. If you are making lots of assumptions in the beginning ( intro physics, frictionless vacuums ), then its more about the understanding and not the perfect output.

Though, the Engineering Major Bat is awesome.... its so true

[Robot_Raptor]

oh gods ... i've got 2 more years of this before i'm free.

[Tofer]

Thank God I'm graduating. I never want to see an engineering professor or engineering problem for the rest of my life. Reading through some of those actually made me feel a little sick.

[postaltubealex]

I think I've had my fair share of those over the past three years. Particularly the supervisions/tutorials classically scheduled to last an hour, which I've had overrunning by an hour plus without even fully covering the material.

What kind tutors you have! My tutors usually close their books on the hour and say, "That should give you a good enough of a grounding to complete the rest of the problems."

I found the last one the most relevant: one of my lecturers was well known for assigning 10-12 weekly assignments that took 2-3 hours each that were worth around 2% each.

[achan1058]

I found the last one the most relevant: one of my lecturers was well known for assigning 10-12 weekly assignments that took 2-3 hours each that were worth around 2% each.

That actually sounds reasonable, to be honest. Anyways, working on the assignment also prepares you for the midterm and the final, unless your prof is really mean.

[Nat]

I only had one class in my whole degree that used Powerpoint (and it was my intro to CS class, not a math class), and I never had a problem with it. what's wrong with good old chalkboards?

[Adacore]

Yeah - I recall 5 and/or 6 happening in almost every email discussion I've seen with a professor. And 19/22/23/24 were all common.

On the last one, I wouldn't generally put in the effort for assignments which were worth next to no marks unless it was actually interesting on its own merit.

[freakish777]

I think the worst was the Math professor I had for Multivar Calc and Matrix Algebra at RPI.

It would have read something like:


Forces Class To Use Matrix Algrebra book because he was credited by the authors as having proof-checked it for Errors.


EXAMPLES RIDDLED WITH ERRORS!




Goes through all steps, but can't read his scribbles. Ask for clarification.


MUMBLES UNINTELLIGENTLY AND MOVES ON.




The worst part about this class though wasn't him (as awful as he was of a teacher). It was having a particular other student in his class at the same time. ::shudders::

[gorcee]

I think the worst was the Math professor I had for Multivar Calc and Matrix Algebra at RPI.

I went there. Who'd you have?

I only ever went to three of my Multivar classes.

[EvanED]

I'm glad I haven't had too many of those.

Though there are two or three I don't find bad, at least if you reduce the intensity a bit. E.g. in upper division classes, I actually think #6 should be fairly common, provided that the grading is still fair.

[Jahoclave]

Hot damn, I'm a bad accent away from tenure!

Hell, half the time I can't even read my own writing.

[lemmings]

Professor R. is that you? Remember me in your Calc 1 class, well I remember it? We had students standing in the class throughout September, by the November drop date, it was down to 8. Five passed, I was one of them. That was Fall of 2008, I still hate you.

[Dopefish]

My Electrodynamics teacher was guilty of a ton of these, most noticeably the "class ended 5 minutes ago, time for one more example" one. Perhaps he teaches engineering folk too, instead of just physicists...

[Deep_Thought]

I once had a lecturer who gave out printed notes, one-sided. In the first lecture he said "Anything I write on the overhead you need to make a note of". Everyone in the lecture proceeded to do as he said. Except me, who flipped over to the next page in the notes, and discovered he was pretty much copying down what was there.

I saved a lot on ink during that course.

[freakish777]

I think the worst was the Math professor I had for Multivar Calc and Matrix Algebra at RPI.

I went there. Who'd you have?

I only ever went to three of my Multivar classes.

Isom Herron. No one can read his writing, and it was in (I think?? this was 7 years ago) Amos Eaton, the first large lecture room on the second floor. So in the winter, you couldn't hear his voice over the radiator, and in the spring, the windows would get opened, and you couldn't hear his voice over the birds/people outside.

If you're currently attending RPI (or planning on it) take every math class you can from Dave Schmidt.

The student I'm referring to was Yi Guo. So, not only were these tests more complicated then necessary but you also had an angry Chinese student yelling "INCONSISTENT!" every 20 minutes and then going out in the hall and arguing with the professor about every question on the test.

[gorcee]

I think the worst was the Math professor I had for Multivar Calc and Matrix Algebra at RPI.

I went there. Who'd you have?

I only ever went to three of my Multivar classes.

Isom Herron. No one can read his writing, and it was in (I think?? this was 7 years ago) Amos Eaton, the first large lecture room on the second floor. So in the winter, you couldn't hear his voice over the radiator, and in the spring, the windows would get opened, and you couldn't hear his voice over the birds/people outside.

If you're currently attending RPI (or planning on it) take every math class you can from Dave Schmidt.

The student I'm referring to was Yi Guo. So, not only were these tests more complicated then necessary but you also had an angry Chinese student yelling "INCONSISTENT!" every 20 minutes and then going out in the hall and arguing with the professor about every question on the test.

Oh come now, AE214 wasn't that bad. I have fond memories of my Aerodynamics I class in there. Sage 3510 is a MUCH worse lecture hall.

I'm not currently at RPI. I was class '04, but due to circumstances, took a 3 year break before I finished in Fall '07. I never had Herron.

I did have Zuker, which was the worst experience of my entire time there. Well, him, Scarton (from MEAE... or MANE now, I guess), and one other guy whose name I cannot remember from MANE (I don't think he's there anymore).

Anyhow, you were there probably around the same time I was. But I was in MEAE for my first 3.5 years, unofficially doubling in math, which I switched to when I returned because of course schedule changes.

[Jorpho]

Professor R. is that you? Remember me in your Calc 1 class, well I remember it? We had students standing in the class throughout September, by the November drop date, it was down to 8. Five passed, I was one of them. That was Fall of 2008, I still hate you.

Do you still wake up in the morning on some days with the horrible feeling you've got a test to take that you haven't studied for, before you slowly realize that you could not possibly be enrolled in any classes of that nature?

The student I'm referring to was Yi Guo. So, not only were these tests more complicated then necessary but you also had an angry Chinese student yelling "INCONSISTENT!" every 20 minutes and then going out in the hall and arguing with the professor about every question on the test.

This makes me sad. I'm guessing no one ever actually thought to try to talk to this young man about his behavior before turning him into a legend and spawning web sites about him everywhere.

Oh, thank mercy the Internet was not yet roaring twelve years ago...

[lemmings]

Professor R. is that you? Remember me in your Calc 1 class, well I remember it? We had students standing in the class throughout September, by the November drop date, it was down to 8. Five passed, I was one of them. That was Fall of 2008, I still hate you.

Do you still wake up in the morning on some days with the horrible feeling you've got a test to take that you haven't studied for, before you slowly realize that you could not possibly be enrolled in any classes of that nature?

Oh, I've got 2 more years to go and my most recent math class ended a week ago. At times like this when I am still waiting for grades to be posted any day now, that's when the dial goes up to 11.

[gorcee]

Professor R. is that you? Remember me in your Calc 1 class, well I remember it? We had students standing in the class throughout September, by the November drop date, it was down to 8. Five passed, I was one of them. That was Fall of 2008, I still hate you.

Do you still wake up in the morning on some days with the horrible feeling you've got a test to take that you haven't studied for, before you slowly realize that you could not possibly be enrolled in any classes of that nature?

Yes. And I graduated a few years ago.

[freakish777]

Oh come now, AE214 wasn't that bad. I have fond memories of my Aerodynamics I class in there. Sage 3510 is a MUCH worse lecture hall.

I'm not currently at RPI. I was class '04, but due to circumstances, took a 3 year break before I finished in Fall '07. I never had Herron.

I did have Zuker, which was the worst experience of my entire time there. Well, him, Scarton (from MEAE... or MANE now, I guess), and one other guy whose name I cannot remember from MANE (I don't think he's there anymore).

Anyhow, you were there probably around the same time I was. But I was in MEAE for my first 3.5 years, unofficially doubling in math, which I switched to when I returned because of course schedule changes.

You're right, Sage was worse, I just distinctly remember thinking "Why can't I hear his voice over the radiator?" I graduated 2006 with a BS in CompSci, so yeah, roughly the same time frame.

I recall my friends that were a year ahead of me and engineers mentioning Scarton's name several times. Several of them were Mechanical/Aerospace.

This makes me sad. I'm guessing no one ever actually thought to try to talk to this young man about his behavior before turning him into a legend and spawning web sites about him everywhere.

No, this situation was pretty clearly unique.

Professors would talk to Yi about his behavior being inappropriate and distracting to other students, and his behavior didn't change. People that would talk to him after class and try to be helpful would quickly realize that:

• Once you initiated a conversation with him, you couldn't get away from him, even if you had another class you needed to get to. I did this once, he wanted to talk to me about Warcraft III for 30 minutes, despite the fact that I politely tried to end the conversation 2 or 3 times before saying "I have to go" and walking away.
• He probably had a very large sense of entitlement, which explained for some of how he acted.
• His grip on reality may have not been completely there.
• Calling him eccentric would be the understatement of the decade.
• Being a Chinese exchange student, there may or may not have been some cultural barriers, but I'll leaning towards that not being very relevant.

Two stories/rumors surrounding Yi involve (which could all in fact be made up just to make his personality even more absurd by mean spirited people, but they're all 100% believable if you'd met him) that I still remember are that he wore the same clothes and coat everyday (this was true for a year or two, we both started our Bachelors at the same time), someone claimed to ask him why and that his response was that he placed them in a box labeled "Yi Guo, RPI USA" back in China and then placed the box in the mail and didn't understand why they hadn't arrived at his dorm room. The other being, someone claimed to have overheard him talking to himself while walking in the rain, complaining about it, and then started devising plans for a big rubber bubble to cover all of the campus to keep the rain out. For the most part, I've actively tried to forget about this individual. He was in the Multivar Class I took, as well as the Intro to AI class I took, and probably one or two others, and he truly made trying to learn anything unbearable. The only thing to do was try and tune him out, as it was clear he wasn't going to change.

[podbaydoor]

My sister made a series of these things for one of her professors. She goes to Georgia Tech. I figured you guys would appreciate them.



More:

Spoiler:

[NotlimTheGreat]

I just began my second year of Computer Science. As i went down the list I was laughing, all the time in the back of my mind remembering about a third of those happening, and cringing at the realization some of my professors this year may do some of hese things. I think the 'spend hours on assignment' 'worth 1%' really hit home, i had a class where there were dozens of assignments like this. I still have no idea how i got an A in that class.

[Jorpho]

I still have no idea how i got an A in that class.

I believe that is referred to as a "curve".

[NotlimTheGreat]

I still have no idea how i got an A in that class.

I believe that is referred to as a "curve".

Oh i know there was a curve, but it must have been hefty. Had there been no curve I calculated I would get somewhere between 73 and 79 percent. I guess it did make sense though, that professor gave us some very in depth teaching on some things that other professors wouldn't have. I wish more did that - Pushing what we can learn to the limits while making sure it is still fair.

[Jorpho]

Oh look! He has another friend.
http://memebase.com/2011/09/06/memes-in ... e-teacher/