Teaching styles

One of the professors in my department was recently asked by a student if she was using a European teaching style. The prof had no idea what the student meant, so she asked for clarification. The student apparently found it strange that he was expected to read a book.

Comments

[Nitish]

That's hilarious.

And thanks, Jeff.

[Suresh]

Ha ! What about this:

The professor gave out an assignment. A student came to their office hours in some puzzlement.

"So I was wondering if there was some kind of solution key for this assignment" ?

"No, not really."

"You mean, there is no set of methods we should apply for this problem?"

"Well you should apply what you learnt in class".

"You mean we actually have to THINK up a solution?"

lightly modified, but essentially the same exchange. The class is an algorithms class.

[didier]

This professor must be very good. In my department, it was an implicit assumption that going to lectures was a waste of your time and that you'd be better off reading books and lecture notes for the class yourself.

The professor should be flattered :)

[HH]

Having students read books as such does not constitute a European teaching style.

You have a European teaching style when you have the students read books in one or two foreign languages which, formally, the student is not expected to know.