Qualities of an Effective College Professor Essay
We all know good professors when we see them, and bad professors too. At some point in time every one experiences good professor whether in a technical college or in the university.
While development of students to prepare them for future career is the vital role of a professor , many professors still do not create interest in students to develop and progress. The difference between a good professor and a bad professor is the teaching skills applied and perfected in college classrooms. I thought back over my good professors and why they were effective. To be effective, good professors re competent, are motivators and collaborate with students.
First, professors serve as mentors who guide students on a lifelong journey of growth and learning. To be effective guides on this journey, professors must be competent. They must stay current not only in their chosen profession, the profession of teaching, but also in the subject matter they teach. Competent professor can be described as an expert learner, then the students he or she teaches can be thought of as junior learners. Professionals are people who continue their involvement with the subject matter after the formal coursework ends.Competent professors encourage active learning, because active projects beyond lecturing instill a passion in students to continue to be involved beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Effective professors desire to succeed in every aspects of teaching.
Just as professors recognize students who really try to be good students, Students also recognize professors who really want to be good professors. Additionally, good professors are motivators. Good professors try to motivate students by working within their own incentive system. Professors who know their students likes, dislikes, roblems and personal issues are more likely to be able to “push the right button” and motivate students to learn. Every student has its own characteristics and unique incentive system.
The good professor stays aware of trends and uses this information to modify motivational techniques. For example, they are interested in more than just what students know. They are concerned about student beliefs, values and relationships. More-so, they bring books, films and articles about the subject into the classroom to help students think beyond the main aspect of the subject.Successful professors also give their students confidence. They realize that what the students learn is less important than the learning process itself. Learning instills confidence. Along with motivation, good professors collaborate and treat students as partners.
Students expect to be treated as adults. When they deal with clerks, bankers or coworkers, they expect a reciprocal relationship based on upon respect. Why should they expect anything less from a professor? Professors and students who enter into a partnership both benefit from the participatory environment.Collaborative teaching environment include the development of “learning contracts,” allow students to have a stake in the development and outcome of the coursework. An effective college Professors cares. Any human relationship, whether husband and wife, worker and supervisor, patient and health care provider or professor and student requires caring social interactions. If these interactions are not present, the students will try to create them. No matter how competent, creative or collaborative a professor is, learning seldom occurs unless the professor cares.
Part of caring is establishing and aintaining trust. For instance, effective college professors build trust by allowing students to get to know them.They share insights about themselves thereby giving students an appreciation for their knowledge, expertise and experiences. Furthermore, good professors are very opened in the classroom which is an effective way of letting students know that they are valued, respected and trusted by them. In addition to building trust, effective professors also express caring and improve classroom interactions within the professional community. Effective professors introduce students to other rofessionals, involve them in discussion groups and professional activities, and encourage them to network with each other and with practicing professionals. By bringing students into the professional arena, a good professor exhibits caring behavior and shows respect for his or her students.
Today, students continue to attend colleges and universities at a time when most books and journals as well as college courses are available online; interactive data files provide text, voice and images; and almost any information is available to anyone anytime through archived sources, newsgroups or e-mail.Does this mean that online learning will replace effective college professor? I personally do not think it will. Ultimately, there are certain fundamental interactions that effective professors and colleges facilitate that are very difficult to truly replicate online. It’s the personal nature of a good professor sitting next to you guiding you through a problem, or a lunch break with a fellow student, a class project in the library or an extra-curricular activity after school. But on the flip-side there are benefits to be gained online. The online initiatives offer a way for good professors and nstitutions to reach out to those who are unable to matriculate due to distance (students in Africa, China or India, for example).
Why shouldn’t you learn math from the greatest professors in the world? Why shouldn’t you hear literature taught by the most esteemed professors? Thus the computer will not replace the effective professors, but provide them with tools they could use to teach even students who were remote. Hence, I see a future where effective professors work harmoniously together, where my two year old son will grow up better educated, more literate and numerate, curious,and excited by the world, than my generation.
