What to do if some teacher is giving wrong instructions during his/her class ?

That's what's great about online communities. There are many ways of sharing opinions, thoughts, and perspectives with others. If there is a teacher that you don't agree with, you can provide appropriate and respectful feedback immediately after the class, send an email, or place a comment in the class page. The teachers who are not prepared to receive such feedback (whether it comes from teachers or students) are really not prepared to teach online. I think this is why many teachers are so reluctant to pursue this type of transparent teaching/learning. Once teachers realize that it's not about making mistakes but learning from them, will they then see the potential of how one can really grow as a person.

That's what's great about online communities. There are many ways of sharing opinions, thoughts, and perspectives with others. If there is a teacher that you don't agree with, you can provide appropriate and respectful feedback immediately after the class, send an email, or place a comment in the class page. The teachers who are not prepared to receive such feedback (whether it comes from teachers or students) are really not prepared to teach online. I think this is why many teachers are so reluctant to pursue this type of transparent teaching/learning. Once teachers realize that it's not about making mistakes but learning from them, will they then see the potential of how one can really grow as a person.

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Out of respect for the teacher, I would not post anything here. Those who saw or will see the class can judge for themselves. It is not about convincing others what's "good" or "bad" teaching.

Out of respect for the teacher, I would not post anything here. Those who saw or will see the class can judge for themselves. It is not about convincing others what's "good" or "bad" teaching.

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Marian says, "I would first address this to the teacher in private and only if he/she will not see the problem, then I believe it must be discussed in public"

This is a different notion that saying, "I would suggest that you post the topic here in the discussion" (made from an earlier post), without knowing whether or not anyone has even discussed this with the teacher. This is my fear is that the community "jumps the gun" by making someone's efforts public discourse.

When you say, "This WizIQ system is not regulated in terms of quality assurance, so the community must take care about quality by itself", it's my belief that providing feedback in private or within the class page (which is public) is justifiable if done in a respectful way. And this is a productive way to provide quality assurance within the community.

However, discussing a teacher's performance in a forum such as this is totally inappropriate, regardless of the tone.

I agree that at times, students are unaware of the quality of information they are receiving. But students are learning quickly that they must be more critical of what they see and hear online. This will continue to be the case as students begin to make a more informed decision as to which teacher they choose to spend time with (or pay money for).

Marian says, "I would first address this to the teacher in private and only if he/she will not see the problem, then I believe it must be discussed in public" This is a different notion that saying, "I would suggest that you post the topic here in the discussion" (made from an earlier post), without knowing whether or not anyone has even discussed this with the teacher. This is my fear is that the community "jumps the gun" by making someone's efforts public discourse. When you say, "This WizIQ system is not regulated in terms of quality assurance, so the community must take care about quality by itself", it's my belief that providing feedback in private or within the class page (which is public) is justifiable if done in a respectful way. And this is a productive way to provide quality assurance within the community. However, discussing a teacher's performance in a forum such as this is totally inappropriate, regardless of the tone. I agree that at times, students are unaware of the quality of information they are receiving. But students are learning quickly that they must be more critical of what they see and hear online. This will continue to be the case as students begin to make a more informed decision as to which teacher they choose to spend time with (or pay money for).

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Hi Rad,

I would suggest that you post the topic here in the discussion. As a student I would like to know who this teacher is and what he/she is teaching. I also would like what was the fact that was taught wrong and if there is a recording of the class, where I could find the recording to have a look on my own.

If I see this from the perspective of a student, I'd really appreciate all this information, since I do not want to attend a class (neither free or paid) if I know that the teacher is telling wrong information and won't consider to correct himself if somebody point that out in class.

On the other hand, you need to be very sure that you are really right and that you can prove it (maybe by listing some reliable sources where you have found the correct information). Are you really sure you were right, or was it just your personal opinion or that you have heard the information from some other teacher different. I can't tell until I know all the details but if you post them here, some other people can agree or disagree with you, so we can start a discussion.

Just my 2cents

Hi Rad, I would suggest that you post the topic here in the discussion. As a student I would like to know who this teacher is and what he/she is teaching. I also would like what was the fact that was taught wrong and if there is a recording of the class, where I could find the recording to have a look on my own. If I see this from the perspective of a student, I'd really appreciate all this information, since I do not want to attend a class (neither free or paid) if I know that the teacher is telling wrong information and won't consider to correct himself if somebody point that out in class. On the other hand, you need to be very sure that you are really right and that you can prove it (maybe by listing some reliable sources where you have found the correct information). Are you really sure you were right, or was it just your personal opinion or that you have heard the information from some other teacher different. I can't tell until I know all the details but if you post them here, some other people can agree or disagree with you, so we can start a discussion. Just my 2cents

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I disagree with Benjamin. We have some young people here in the community and they would not benefit from teachers who teach wrong facts. And they can't judge by themselves, otherwise they would not come to learn from the teacher if they would already know the stuff. They have tests to pass and their education is at stake. I believe it's common practice on the Internet that students (as well as customers if they buy commercial products) bring their issues to the public.

If a teacher don't want to discuss problems in public, they should not do public classes. If a student has real issues (I mean like things definitively being taught wrong) then we should all be comfortable by respectfully warning other potential students if the teacher does not see the problem.

What I don't like to see is a community that is no longer trusted because people are too shy to point out problems or mistakes. I would first address this to the teacher in private and only if he/she will not see the problem, then I believe it must be discussed in public.

If you would have this in a "real" school, you would go to the principal and the teacher would face disciplinary action from the school administration. This WizIQ system is not regulated in terms of quality assurance, so the community must take care about quality by itself.

If we don't do that, the whole WizIQ platform may get known as the "place where the poor teachers hang out" and we will never get a reputation for the learning community. I have seen this happen in the past with the old "skypecast" platform.

Anyway, I'm not as good in math so that I can verify who is right with these complex numbers, but I'm sure we have some math-geeks here who can give radhika a confirmation that his assumptions are correct (or if not, give another source or reference book).

I disagree with Benjamin. We have some young people here in the community and they would not benefit from teachers who teach wrong facts. And they can't judge by themselves, otherwise they would not come to learn from the teacher if they would already know the stuff. They have tests to pass and their education is at stake. I believe it's common practice on the Internet that students (as well as customers if they buy commercial products) bring their issues to the public. If a teacher don't want to discuss problems in public, they should not do public classes. If a student has real issues (I mean like things definitively being taught wrong) then we should all be comfortable by respectfully warning other potential students if the teacher does not see the problem. What I don't like to see is a community that is no longer trusted because people are too shy to point out problems or mistakes. I would first address this to the teacher in private and only if he/she will not see the problem, then I believe it must be discussed in public. If you would have this in a "real" school, you would go to the principal and the teacher would face disciplinary action from the school administration. This WizIQ system is not regulated in terms of quality assurance, so the community must take care about quality by itself. If we don't do that, the whole WizIQ platform may get known as the "place where the poor teachers hang out" and we will never get a reputation for the learning community. I have seen this happen in the past with the old "skypecast" platform. Anyway, I'm not as good in math so that I can verify who is right with these complex numbers, but I'm sure we have some math-geeks here who can give radhika a confirmation that his assumptions are correct (or if not, give another source or reference book).

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We are learners first and then teachers. It is a known fact that one learns better when one teaches a student or a goroup of students who are both inquisitive and receptive. Feedbacks/responses in or after the class are important and help us (Teachers) to improve in content and presentation.I would feel oblidged to whosoever it may be to send suggestions for my improvement both in content and presentation.
BLRaina

We are learners first and then teachers. It is a known fact that one learns better when one teaches a student or a goroup of students who are both inquisitive and receptive. Feedbacks/responses in or after the class are important and help us (Teachers) to improve in content and presentation.I would feel oblidged to whosoever it may be to send suggestions for my improvement both in content and presentation. BLRaina

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@ George
I am glad that you and Ben agreed not to name anyone . It then would discourage new teachers from teaching . But I do believe you would have wanted to be direct (my guess !!).

And ya good detective work . You might have found 1 class for sure . I would like to discuss a few things with you later . Don't know when I will be able to chat next . Have those exams which I talked about..So hope to talk to you after 25th April.
Also all the very best for Karaoke ESL !! Hope the class rocks :D

@ all
Thanks a lot for replying.Your comments were really helpful in sorting out the confusion in my mind . Thanks again :D

@ George I am glad that you and Ben agreed not to name anyone . It then would discourage new teachers from teaching . But I do believe you would have wanted to be direct (my guess !!). And ya good detective work . You might have found 1 class for sure . I would like to discuss a few things with you later . Don't know when I will be able to chat next . Have those exams which I talked about..So hope to talk to you after 25th April. Also all the very best for Karaoke ESL !! Hope the class rocks :D @ all Thanks a lot for replying.Your comments were really helpful in sorting out the confusion in my mind . Thanks again :D

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Thanks a lot for helping me out again guys !!

Now I know exactly what to do . The example given by you George was fabulous(except the part where Rads was making trite things on the board ;-) ). Thanks for that . It shows a perfect way of politely bringing out your point without hurting others feelings .

I have to say that I agree with both Benjamin and Marian where they talk about students. I agree with Benjamin that students are getting wiser day by day when it comes to choosing the content from the net , but Marian is even right in saying that students don't know a lot of things and that's why they are here to learn . I would just like to share my personal experience relating to this .

I am high school student ( just given the exams..) . I too am preparing for various competitive exams like AIEEE and IITJEE which are about to be held soon. So I had thought that maybe Wiziq could help me out with some classes on these topics . But after the last 2 classes I have decided not to take anymore Wiziq classes for these exams unless they are being given by the teacher's I know .( Just 2 teachers infact for that matter : Professor Raina and Mr Dey ) I don't know why but after an unpleasant experience ,it just becomes our general tendency to try avoid such things in the future . Might be I am not right in taking this decision but that's how I feel ! I have decided it's better to watch a lecture from MIT site for an hour than spend time here .(Bit harsh maybe but that's my decision .)

That's my experience and maybe some other students might feel the same way , and I guess that's why I brought this topic up !! I love the Wiziq community and want it to be the best !!! :D

So in future if we ever face such a situation I do hope we can discuss and find a solution to it . But first and foremost it is important to let the teacher know in private . And if the bad teaching continues, we can discuss it in a polite manner . We are all learners and have to learn new things .
So just hope, that in future , we feel free enough to talk about our flaws and improve upon them .

Thanks a lot for helping me out again guys !! Now I know exactly what to do . The example given by you George was fabulous(except the part where Rads was making trite things on the board ;-) ). Thanks for that . It shows a perfect way of politely bringing out your point without hurting others feelings . I have to say that I agree with both Benjamin and Marian where they talk about students. I agree with Benjamin that students are getting wiser day by day when it comes to choosing the content from the net , but Marian is even right in saying that students don't know a lot of things and that's why they are here to learn . I would just like to share my personal experience relating to this . I am high school student ( just given the exams..) . I too am preparing for various competitive exams like AIEEE and IITJEE which are about to be held soon. So I had thought that maybe Wiziq could help me out with some classes on these topics . But after the last 2 classes I have decided not to take anymore Wiziq classes for these exams unless they are being given by the teacher's I know .( Just 2 teachers infact for that matter : Professor Raina and Mr Dey ) I don't know why but after an unpleasant experience ,it just becomes our general tendency to try avoid such things in the future . Might be I am not right in taking this decision but that's how I feel ! I have decided it's better to watch a lecture from MIT site for an hour than spend time here .(Bit harsh maybe but that's my decision .) That's my experience and maybe some other students might feel the same way , and I guess that's why I brought this topic up !! I love the Wiziq community and want it to be the best !!! :D So in future if we ever face such a situation I do hope we can discuss and find a solution to it . But first and foremost it is important to let the teacher know in private . And if the bad teaching continues, we can discuss it in a polite manner . We are all learners and have to learn new things . So just hope, that in future , we feel free enough to talk about our flaws and improve upon them .

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Thanks a lot for replying guys .

@Marian
I am sorry (and glad too) that the class was not recorded else many more people would learn wrong things. If it would have been recorded I might have sent you the link . I am not too comfortable in posting the link here as Benjamin also said.And ya I did check the thing taught by the teacher twice(though I was 100% sure ) from 2 of my text books . They had to do with complex numbers and Area of triangles. The teacher went about solving long questions with wrong assumptions and kept on assuming till he reached the ans . If you are familiar with complex numbers you would know that z.z(bar) [where z is complex number x iy] s given by mod(z)^2 or simply x^2 y^2.The teacher went on taking it as x^2-y^2 and made many more wrong assumptions in further solving of the question. The teacher even went on to say that Area of triangle can not be determined by determinants and gave his own trick ( which didn't work in half the cases )for finding the Area out . You can find this in any standard AP maths book or NCERT books for grade 12th .

After all that technical stuff I would like to add something .

I tend to be pretty direct and confrontational when I know someone well , family , friends etc. But when it comes to elders or people I don't know well I tend to be more on the silent side and don't like confronting them specially if they are elder to me. I kind of feel weird telling someone more experienced - You are wrong . It just feels weird even if it may be an online classes. Like maybe ,now that I know George and his ways ,if he goes wrong I would point out but I don't think I would be able to do the same for Benjamin or Marian or anyone else for that matter( this is purely hypothetical. I know you guys won't make mistakes and even if you do I am pretty sure I won't be able to catch them :P ).

I wanted to know how everyone felt about discussing this on Wiziq i.e you are ready to discuss or not . After reading the first 4 responses I had decided to let the teacher know once after class if he makes a mistake and see his reaction . And if that person continues to make mistakes and teach wrong things I would have posted the link for others to check . But again after Benjamin's last comment I am confused if I should actually post the links here in future . So help me out guys .

PS : I do hope I don't have to face such classes anymore. It's not the best experience .

Thanks a lot for replying guys . @Marian I am sorry (and glad too) that the class was not recorded else many more people would learn wrong things. If it would have been recorded I might have sent you the link . I am not too comfortable in posting the link here as Benjamin also said.And ya I did check the thing taught by the teacher twice(though I was 100% sure ) from 2 of my text books . They had to do with complex numbers and Area of triangles. The teacher went about solving long questions with wrong assumptions and kept on assuming till he reached the ans . If you are familiar with complex numbers you would know that z.z(bar) [where z is complex number x iy] s given by mod(z)^2 or simply x^2 y^2.The teacher went on taking it as x^2-y^2 and made many more wrong assumptions in further solving of the question. The teacher even went on to say that Area of triangle can not be determined by determinants and gave his own trick ( which didn't work in half the cases )for finding the Area out . You can find this in any standard AP maths book or NCERT books for grade 12th . After all that technical stuff I would like to add something . I tend to be pretty direct and confrontational when I know someone well , family , friends etc. But when it comes to elders or people I don't know well I tend to be more on the silent side and don't like confronting them specially if they are elder to me. I kind of feel weird telling someone more experienced - You are wrong . It just feels weird even if it may be an online classes. Like maybe ,now that I know George and his ways ,if he goes wrong I would point out but I don't think I would be able to do the same for Benjamin or Marian or anyone else for that matter( this is purely hypothetical. I know you guys won't make mistakes and even if you do I am pretty sure I won't be able to catch them :P ). I wanted to know how everyone felt about discussing this on Wiziq i.e you are ready to discuss or not . After reading the first 4 responses I had decided to let the teacher know once after class if he makes a mistake and see his reaction . And if that person continues to make mistakes and teach wrong things I would have posted the link for others to check . But again after Benjamin's last comment I am confused if I should actually post the links here in future . So help me out guys . PS : I do hope I don't have to face such classes anymore. It's not the best experience .

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Radhika, I completely agree! No teacher should ever be like that to their student and taking advantage of their superiority as such. You are very true in saying that teachers should always ignite young minds and help them to succeed in later topics, such as exams. If we can get rid of these teachers who are just using the platform for their own gain, then it would be a better online learning platform. :)

Radhika, I completely agree! No teacher should ever be like that to their student and taking advantage of their superiority as such. You are very true in saying that teachers should always ignite young minds and help them to succeed in later topics, such as exams. If we can get rid of these teachers who are just using the platform for their own gain, then it would be a better online learning platform. :)

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you have two resources currently



1 in the feedback you can give one star, I think this is untouchable by the teacher whereas negative feedback can be deleted by a teacher



2 you can share publicly (my preference) by sharing as politely as possible for a passionate young person and name them (or give the class link) here. This allows for a public debate about the situation. You may find that the teacher can be converted by some kind but specific critical review amongst our community. There may be information that you are not privy to that might come to light.





I am the exception as I tend to be confrontational by nature. This is good and bad. When I become overly abrasive it tends to prevent an amicable discussion. It is very hard to do the "constructive criticism" thing. A peacemaker is not that good of a thing in my mind as in today's world it means compromising your values and being too accommodating. It becomes the PC (politically correct) way of living in our world.



Whether you can be appropriate in the way you criticize is not as important as the learning opportunity for developing a habit and skill in public discourse. We will not be a functional community if we only discuss and argue with people who agree with us. We will become a dynamic and great community if we can discover a way for all to freely share our opinions and disagreements in a RESPECTFUL way.



ALL of us must continually challenge ourselves to grow and evolve in this new ONLINE world. I am sure of one thing... if we do not find a way to disagree in this community then it will simply be another dysfunctional learning/teaching paradigm like the one we have fled from. And, this online world will simply be a new and cooler false community rather than a true community of souls touching souls and growing into something new and better.



Or, I could be mistaken and we just start a big row with Harman having to come down from his pearly office to put out the fires we start ;-)



PS I am OK with some people being overly dictatorial in their classes. There are many teachers who are the exact opposite of me. I would not attend their classes but some students do and thrive under their tutelage. I would simply advise my students that if they like me they might not like that teacher. Even if the teacher is wrong, I would want you to tell me (as a fellow student) but I say wrong things all the time. Sometimes I even am bull headed enough to stick to my position when someone proves me wrong. That is a human thing, albeit stupid but human. I, for one, have the great hope that the open market will weed out the truly bad teachers. If we must make WIZIQ a policeman, then we give up our choice and ability to censure through the open forum. I like Harman and the team at WIZIQ but I would not trust even him to do the best thing for me. Sorry Rad's, it will be slower and uglier but the open forum of public discourse is the better way to censure most problematic voices.

you have two resources currently 1 in the feedback you can give one star, I think this is untouchable by the teacher whereas negative feedback can be deleted by a teacher 2 you can share publicly (my preference) by sharing as politely as possible for a passionate young person and name them (or give the class link) here. This allows for a public debate about the situation. You may find that the teacher can be converted by some kind but specific critical review amongst our community. There may be information that you are not privy to that might come to light. I am the exception as I tend to be confrontational by nature. This is good and bad. When I become overly abrasive it tends to prevent an amicable discussion. It is very hard to do the "constructive criticism" thing. A peacemaker is not that good of a thing in my mind as in today's world it means compromising your values and being too accommodating. It becomes the PC (politically correct) way of living in our world. Whether you can be appropriate in the way you criticize is not as important as the learning opportunity for developing a habit and skill in public discourse. We will not be a functional community if we only discuss and argue with people who agree with us. We will become a dynamic and great community if we can discover a way for all to freely share our opinions and disagreements in a RESPECTFUL way. ALL of us must continually challenge ourselves to grow and evolve in this new ONLINE world. I am sure of one thing... if we do not find a way to disagree in this community then it will simply be another dysfunctional learning/teaching paradigm like the one we have fled from. And, this online world will simply be a new and cooler false community rather than a true community of souls touching souls and growing into something new and better. Or, I could be mistaken and we just start a big row with Harman having to come down from his pearly office to put out the fires we start ;-) PS I am OK with some people being overly dictatorial in their classes. There are many teachers who are the exact opposite of me. I would not attend their classes but some students do and thrive under their tutelage. I would simply advise my students that if they like me they might not like that teacher. Even if the teacher is wrong, I would want you to tell me (as a fellow student) but I say wrong things all the time. Sometimes I even am bull headed enough to stick to my position when someone proves me wrong. That is a human thing, albeit stupid but human. I, for one, have the great hope that the open market will weed out the truly bad teachers. If we must make WIZIQ a policeman, then we give up our choice and ability to censure through the open forum. I like Harman and the team at WIZIQ but I would not trust even him to do the best thing for me. Sorry Rad's, it will be slower and uglier but the open forum of public discourse is the better way to censure most problematic voices.

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@Ben, The only problem with your arguement on the class page is that the teacher can remove it and those comments are not truly in the public domain. What would happen then is that there would then be blogging elsewhere and unreviewed discourse outside of our perview. I would prefer that even stupid and self serving complaints be placed right here where anyone could view not only the complaint but also the open pro's and con's of the follow up comments.

@ everyone else
This is a paraphrase of some of the critical reactions to my class which could be posted here (and to some degree already has):



Dear E-teaching community,



I have recently attended a class given by George Machlan. Here is the recorded link: XXXXXXX.XXX At approximately minute 37 you will notice some comments from students that I will now recap:



A student asked the teacher to make the other students quit chatting so much in the chat box. There were also several students (I think one was named rad) was writing trite things on the whiteboard as well. The teacher (George) told them that he allowed them to do so and that he even encouraged them to do this.



This was a new student to WIZIQ and I was horrified that he so flippantly disregarded this student's request. How can we create a professional portal and draw both serious students and great teachers if we allow this type of teacher to continue?



At minute 43 you will also see that a student brought up a grammatical mistake by the teacher (George). Not only did he say he thought it was correct because that is the way he would say it, he actually further stated that he believes that grammar is "bad" for students learning English, especially spoken English.



I could not believe my ears! I tried to clarify but then he went beyond even that and actually made fun of conventional teachers who teach with grammar as the foundation of all language learning.



Please help me with your comments about this class and teacher at WIZIQ. I don't know how to convince him of the extreme harm he is doing to our community. I am not even sure of the grammar question which he refused to be corrected on. If no one can stop this evil behaviour, I must quit WIZIQ and warn others of how bad it is by letting such scoundrels purport themselves to be teachers and ruining good students with such garbage.



***** end of sample posting ******



Believe it or not all of the above has been said about me. I would be hurt to see it in print here but, I desperately need to hear and get feedback like this. I also need to see other's comments about the situation. It is the only way for me to find the happy middle ground from which to operate within this community.



Note that the sample posting did not make libelous claims which could be proven wrong. The poster simply stated the observations he made and shared his feelings/concerns. I think something like this (albeit extreme) is what I am thinking about for public discourse which can be healthy.



Hopefully someone would come to my defense. If not, maybe I do need to find another teaching platform (rhetorically speaking as I am not going anywhere ;-) In any case this would allow all to evaluate the situation and draw their own conclusions. As much as I dislike some of the teaching styles and methods here, I will defend their right to teach as much as I will defend your right to take issue with their (my) teaching style. Even being stupid.



Except for children, I think that we should not try to protect people. The best intended strictures on free expression, teaching methods and appropriate behavior have the unintended consequence of also restricting creativity, innovation and excellence. This is a new world we are building, no one KNOWS what is the best model for success.



Not even me. :-(

@Ben, The only problem with your arguement on the class page is that the teacher can remove it and those comments are not truly in the public domain. What would happen then is that there would then be blogging elsewhere and unreviewed discourse outside of our perview. I would prefer that even stupid and self serving complaints be placed right here where anyone could view not only the complaint but also the open pro's and con's of the follow up comments. @ everyone else This is a paraphrase of some of the critical reactions to my class which could be posted here (and to some degree already has): Dear E-teaching community, I have recently attended a class given by George Machlan. Here is the recorded link: XXXXXXX.XXX At approximately minute 37 you will notice some comments from students that I will now recap: A student asked the teacher to make the other students quit chatting so much in the chat box. There were also several students (I think one was named rad) was writing trite things on the whiteboard as well. The teacher (George) told them that he allowed them to do so and that he even encouraged them to do this. This was a new student to WIZIQ and I was horrified that he so flippantly disregarded this student's request. How can we create a professional portal and draw both serious students and great teachers if we allow this type of teacher to continue? At minute 43 you will also see that a student brought up a grammatical mistake by the teacher (George). Not only did he say he thought it was correct because that is the way he would say it, he actually further stated that he believes that grammar is "bad" for students learning English, especially spoken English. I could not believe my ears! I tried to clarify but then he went beyond even that and actually made fun of conventional teachers who teach with grammar as the foundation of all language learning. Please help me with your comments about this class and teacher at WIZIQ. I don't know how to convince him of the extreme harm he is doing to our community. I am not even sure of the grammar question which he refused to be corrected on. If no one can stop this evil behaviour, I must quit WIZIQ and warn others of how bad it is by letting such scoundrels purport themselves to be teachers and ruining good students with such garbage. ***** end of sample posting ****** Believe it or not all of the above has been said about me. I would be hurt to see it in print here but, I desperately need to hear and get feedback like this. I also need to see other's comments about the situation. It is the only way for me to find the happy middle ground from which to operate within this community. Note that the sample posting did not make libelous claims which could be proven wrong. The poster simply stated the observations he made and shared his feelings/concerns. I think something like this (albeit extreme) is what I am thinking about for public discourse which can be healthy. Hopefully someone would come to my defense. If not, maybe I do need to find another teaching platform (rhetorically speaking as I am not going anywhere ;-) In any case this would allow all to evaluate the situation and draw their own conclusions. As much as I dislike some of the teaching styles and methods here, I will defend their right to teach as much as I will defend your right to take issue with their (my) teaching style. Even being stupid. Except for children, I think that we should not try to protect people. The best intended strictures on free expression, teaching methods and appropriate behavior have the unintended consequence of also restricting creativity, innovation and excellence. This is a new world we are building, no one KNOWS what is the best model for success. Not even me. :-(

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@ Rads, I have done some investigating and found the class of which you speak. If you would like to discuss my observations we can do so privately as this thread's context is in generalities and your further interest would be in the particulars.

Thanks so much for such a great topic.


@ everyone else,

Ben and I have had long discussion (OK an argument) about the topic. I think we came to an agreement one major issue. That being, we should not name names. While I would like this world to be able to frankly and openly discuss all things, this would be too extreme of exposure particularly due to an individuals feelings and unique sensibilities of propriety. Any situation should be re-framed as a hypothetical and kept as general as possible so as not to scare teachers and students away.

This is just Ben and my agreed compromise, it is not binding on anyone else's handling of a given situation per their heart's dictates.

@ Rads, I have done some investigating and found the class of which you speak. If you would like to discuss my observations we can do so privately as this thread's context is in generalities and your further interest would be in the particulars. Thanks so much for such a great topic. @ everyone else, Ben and I have had long discussion (OK an argument) about the topic. I think we came to an agreement one major issue. That being, we should not name names. While I would like this world to be able to frankly and openly discuss all things, this would be too extreme of exposure particularly due to an individuals feelings and unique sensibilities of propriety. Any situation should be re-framed as a hypothetical and kept as general as possible so as not to scare teachers and students away. This is just Ben and my agreed compromise, it is not binding on anyone else's handling of a given situation per their heart's dictates.

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I think when Prof. Raina says that it can be a good idea to check the consistency of results that that's a good practice.

Certainly |z|^2 doesn't equal real_part^2 - imaginary_part^2.

|z|^2 equals real_part^2 + imaginary_part^2 (that comes from the Pythagorean theorem)

It sounds like the teacher was just making stuff up to go with a printed answer.

David

I think when Prof. Raina says that it can be a good idea to check the consistency of results that that's a good practice. Certainly |z|^2 doesn't equal real_part^2 - imaginary_part^2. |z|^2 equals real_part^2 + imaginary_part^2 (that comes from the Pythagorean theorem) It sounds like the teacher was just making stuff up to go with a printed answer. David

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