Incomprehensible teacher: do I stay or switch out?

Quicksilvre · #1 09-01-2007, 05:37 PM

Cliffs at bottom:

Okay, so, one week down, and things aren't going too bad. I've been sick and I had my bi-annual "OMG IT'S SKOOL TIME AGAIN!!" panic, but I got over that. I think I'll do fine in Linear Algebra and Intro to Theoretical Physics, and with some work I ought to be able to push through Analysis I as well.

The beat: my ODE/Dynamics class.

To make a long story short: my professor speaks poor English with a stutter, making him completely incomprehensible. He makes several factual errors per class, meaning I can take a look at the overhead, feverishly take a quarter-page of notes to keep up, and look back up only to see he's scratched out what he wrote. The (optional) book I have is hardly any help. There is no TA.

I'm thinking of switching out and trying to get into another class. The dealine to do so is Friday.

Reasons in favor:
* All of the above
* I'm already involved in a tough semester, between my crappy health and a tough load. The recommended curriculum for my major/year is Analysis, another Math, a liberal arts class, and a free elective. I'm taking Analysis, two Maths, and a Physics class. I could drop down to a liberal arts class and still have a marginally-harder-than-normal schedule.
* I've only missed two classes of anything I enter.

Reasons against:
* One fewer math elective class I have to take later
* Homework looks mind-boggling, but within the realm of do-able (TY Dr. Khan, my Intro-to-Diff Eq professor)
* Quitting sucks
* Probably waking up at 8:30 four times a week, instead of 8:30 twice and 10:00 twice
* I will have missed two classes of anything I enter
* Target class may be full

So SLers, what would you do? Should I try and pick up some of the other optional books? Should I break on through to the other side? Or is it more trouble than it's worth?

Cliff notes: Tough semester made worse by ODE: professor speaks bad English, notes/book confusing as hell. Certain cons apply to leaving now.

edtost · #2 09-01-2007, 06:09 PM

switch out to an easy liberal arts class that meets at a good time, even if its not something interesting.

Misfire · #3 09-01-2007, 10:36 PM

In four years of college I never regretted dropping a class I didn't like or wasn't comfortable in.

NotFadeAway · #4 09-03-2007, 06:44 PM

It sounds like you are gonna be miserable in this class so why not drop it and take something better?

Quicksilvre · #5 09-03-2007, 08:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It sounds like you are gonna be miserable in this class so why not drop it and take something better?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, it certainly looks to be the case. That plus my health has gone downhill over the weekend ([censored] prednisone doesn't work).

I think I will be switching Tuesday, if possible. I have that math class as top choice, Sculpture as my second shot...and after that, I just drop the class and take an easy semester, which might be a good idea in my state.

Kimbell175113 · #6 09-03-2007, 10:00 PM

I have done a lot of suboptimal things wrt education, but dropping a bad class was always a good choice.

lastchance · #7 09-04-2007, 05:21 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I have done a lot of suboptimal things wrt education, but dropping a bad class was always a good choice.

[/ QUOTE ]
This feels like excellent advice.

Quicksilvre · #8 09-04-2007, 03:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I have done a lot of suboptimal things wrt education, but dropping a bad class was always a good choice.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, that's the thing: bad how? I don't want to leave for a bad reason, which is why I laid out the pros and cons to the move.

That said, I'm pretty sure I'm making the right move my switching out and taking my chances. I'll take one last look at the notes and see if I can decipher anything; if not, then it's off to either Sculpture or Foundations of Applied Math.