From: lal@cs.arizona.edu (The Morning Sun)
Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.bio,sci.chem,misc.education
Subject: Re: What can we have for an educational system?
Date: 12 Nov 92 14:40:32 GMT
Followup-To: sci.math
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson

In article <ARA.92Nov11034458@camelot.ai.mit.edu> ara@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Allan Adler) writes:
>
>
>As I have pointed out on other occasions, if they would improve the
>working conditions, they could have PhD's teaching in the public schools.
>I don't mean improve them a little. I mean offer working conditions that
>would make a PhD happy and the glut of unemployed and underemployed
>PhD's will beat down the doors of the schools trying to get in.
>
>The working conditions say most eloquently how little the public cares
>about education.
>
>Allan Adler
>ara@altdorf.ai.mit.edu

Having Ph.D's teach in public schools is not going to help.
A Person with a PhD, has done research in a particular area
which is probably totally irrevelant to his teaching.

Theorem : PhD implies good teacher

[thats your assumed theory]

one counter-example can destroy your theory and arguments,
I will however present several.

Empirical Data:

Case 1:
California State University Sacramento

PhD professor teaches class named, "C programming in UNIX environment"

Doesn't seem to know much about C.
First project is programming in Pascal,
We use Microsoft C in MS-DOS environment.

He informs us that during the last 2 (of 15) weeks of class
we will work in UNIX.
By copying the program to a UNIX environment and getting it to run.


Case 2:
Chabot College

PhD Electrical Engineering proffesor teaches differential equations.

Doesn't know differential equations.
Is totally lost if we ask him a question for a problem
he can't refer to his solutions manual for.


Case 3:
Chabot College

M.S./PhD <I'm not sure so this case may not be applicable> teaches chemistry.

Gives a homework assignment from the textbook. To calculate the mass of an atom.Later says that you can add the mass of electrons + protons + neutrons to get total mass.
I disagree, - you must subtract the binding energy <mass defect>. he doesn't seem to understand. I ask him is it negligible? He doesnt understand.

Two weeks later apologises to me in private after having refuted me in public.
Also he doesn't seem to understand that any chemical bonding will have an associated mass defect.

Thinks <Paul> Dirac, is Daric.

Case 4:
California State University Sacramento

Ph.D. proffesor insists that a shift register configured to detect a finite sequence is not a state machine.
Bassically didn't know what he was teaching in his course.



I believe I have given enough empirical evidence.

Recently I was told that I could not take a course at UA because it was PhD 
level <I'm a jr.>. I still haven't figured it out. I probably don't even need to take the course because I know most of the material <I read the text>.

I coul go on about the dismal state of university education, but I wont't. I
have ten more cases <involving M.S./PhD> which are just as bad or even worse.

High school can't be saved. It's gone.

Try to save the university. And not with mindless PhDs.

A.L.

P.S. If you understand this language PhD = Phirawa Dimak