Introduction
As a new student at a college or university, often containing entire departments of instructors and whole schools of disciplines, it is difficult to know whether one has been assigned to a quality teacher. Likewise, it is perhaps impossible for a student to expect a university to be able to hire only quality instructors to be part of their staff. This is a constantly changing scenario and, while one instructor may suit several students’ needs perfectly, he or she may be entirely unsuited to your particular learning styles.
Unfortunately, without knowing a teacher’s style previously to know whether to transfer out of the class at the opening of a new semester, students often don’t discover the failures of their instructors until too late in the semester to do anything so proactive. When this happens to you, and it will, there are three basic steps that you can take to help alleviate the problem and perhaps pass the class.
Main text
The first step is to inform the administration if or when there is a true problem. Before doing this, it is important to determine if the instructor’s teaching style simply is not compatible with your own or if it is actually of poor quality for the majority of students. If the problem is incompatible teaching/learning styles, there is little administration can do about the problem and they will begin to view you as a complainer. However, if the problem is a valid issue with the teaching quality of the instructor, the only way the administration will know oftentimes is through student feedback. Rather than blaming the university, you can help it improve its quality and take comfort in being a part of the process. While this might help the university and future students, it does little to help your own cause.
To help yourself, the second thing you can do in response to a poor instructor is to find a tutor in that subject. By working one-on-one with a tutor through the course textbook, you can help yourself to learn the important elements of the course. This not only helps you in passing this particular course, but it also helps you with future courses that may rely on your having gained this information during this phase of your educational path. Several universities offer low-cost or even free tutoring for students in the library.
If you cannot afford tutoring or your school doesn’t offer it, you can also form study groups from among your classmates. If the teacher is truly an ineffective teacher, it is conceivable that many of your classmates may be experiencing the same sort of problems you have been struggling with. By working together, you and your classmates may find it easier to interpret assignments, adequately cover the course material and learn the necessary skills required out of the course. There are several advantages to this approach in that it is free, again the library can help in providing a free space in which the group can study, and you have the advantage of working with other students who have had the same experience and know what the instructor has requested.
Conclusion
By taking these steps toward proactively managing your own student career, you will serve yourself much more than if you merely sat around and complained about the teacher or allowed yourself to fail the class. In reporting the teacher to administration, you are taking an active role within your university community. Working with a tutor will help you develop self-study habits that will serve you to a tremendous extent well into the future. Organizing a study group among your classmates also helps you learn the information you need now while involving you to an even greater extent in campus life. At the same time, this provides you with valuable experience to use in the working world regardless of your major.