Ask HN: Would some professors rather quit than teach an elementary class?

2 points·amichail··5 comments

And if so, do you think this is rational behavior?

Are we talking a 10-student honors calculus section that the prof. has taught a dozen of times before, or a 600-student anthropology survey course, where the prof. would also have to supervise the dozen newbie TA's who lead the discussion sections? Is the elementary class in addition to the prof's normal teaching load? What social & career-track signals might be implied by the prof. teaching an elementary class...or not teaching the course one might otherwise expect him to?

Perhaps I would quit if things deteriorated to the point I was seriously considered the best option for such!

this sounds a bit like a leading question. what's the actual question you're wanting to ask?

I think it's strange to expect a professor to teach an elementary class.

I know a Nobel Prize winner who seemed to enjoy teaching an elementary physics class and had a great team that supported him in that.

On the other hand I know a professor at a small Christian college who got his PhD at a prestigious school who takes undergrad teaching very seriously. I asked him about a prof at the famous school who'd written more than one undergraduate textbook and said "doesn't that mean he takes undergraduate teaching seriously?" and he shook his head.

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