THE PERFECT PROFESSOR AND THE PERFECT STUDENT
A simple survey offers two schools of thought on teaching and learning at Dartmouth.
Is there a perfect professor? Most of us,iF we are lucky, can remember a few great professors those dedicated men and women who reached out and pulled us in as students, made learning fun, piqued a previously unknown intellectual interest, forced us to really think and challenged our world view. These great stick out in our minds. But is there such a thing as the perfect professor? Dartmouth students were more than happy to weigh in:
"A great professor is interesting, perceptive, organized, available and receptive; a perfect one is all those things, but also funny, inspiring and intriguing in a quirky sense. Being attractive doesn't hurt either." Matt Hill '08
"A perfect professor is one who is extremely passionate about what he or she teaches yet is someone who isn't too self important to learn from his or her own students." Asia Baker '07
"I think the absolute key to being a 'perfect' prof is caring about your students and being accessible to them." Cate Birtley '06
"I like professors who challenge me and try to push me to be better, write better and think better." Kristen Wong '06
"Perfect professors are engaging and lead classes that are interactive. It si lot easier to learn if you're not just sitting and being spoken at." —Joe Kardon '09
"A perfect prof can cater to degrees of ability, so that the class is challenging to all and overwhelming to none." Rose McClendon '06
"A perfect professor can keep his or her own views and politics out of the classroom and is someone you can openly disagree with and still be respected by." Nate Hamilton '06
"I don't think there's a 'perfect professor.' At this level, all of the professors are accomplished. To a certain extent you get out of a class what you put into it, regardless of how good or bad a professor is." Gahl Rinat '09
i Likewise, is there such a thing as the perfect student? Most professors were reluctant to use the word "perfect," but they were quite willing to share what sets a great student apart from the pack:
"To my way of thinking, the perfect student will be the one who harnesses intelligence to open-mindedness, authentic curiosity and, perhaps most important of all, passion." Edward Bradley, classics
"To me the most important quality to be desired in a student is the ability to imagine!" Lee Witters, biology
"Brilliance absent earnestness is a tragic waste. Some of the most rewarding times teaching occur at the beginning of a class when a student will begin a question with the observation, 'Professor, something you said last class is really puzzling me, and I've been thinking about it ever since then.'" Allan Stam, government
"Great students are able to construct their own robustly supported arguments, not just reprocess or recycle the arguments he or she reads or hears from professors or the text. Also, a great student knows not only what he or she knows, but also what he or she doesn't know. In other words, the student should have a sense of the limits of his or her knowledge, and thus be aware what gaps need to be filled in." Leslie Sonder, earth sciences
"My favorite students are the ones who throw themselves into the work with a sense of adventure, generous amounts of time and an open mind. They work hard and dare much." Louise Hamlin, studio art
"The best students are inquisitive, looking beyond the need to learn and understand the material and show a sense of wonder and excitement about the subject. When they speak up, asking questions in class or visiting me later, their questions always lead me to think about my own field in new ways." David Kotz '86, computer science
FOR PROFESSORS FROM STUDENTS "Please be sensitive to the fact that some of us are balancing school, sports, clubs and jobs, not to mention social lives." "It helps when you return graded material in a timely manner." "it's nice to know where you stand going into a final exam. There's a chance we might use this information and adjust our study time and stress levels accordingly." "If your class is before noon on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, there's a good chance at least some of us are hungover." "We're almost adults too. Try to relax and be comfortable with us. Sometimes professors seem scared to be personable."
FREE ADVICE FOR STUDENTS FROM PROFESSORS "Stop procrastinating. Now. Trust us, you'll be better off in the long run." "Showing up for class makes a difference. It's already paid for, you might as well come. Even if you haven't done the reading, you can still learn something." "We mean it when we say, 'Stop by for office hours.' We don't bite." "Don't choose classes based on what time of day they are offered. Look for classes that interest you, even if it means getting up before noon a couple of days a week."
