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Comment by LTL_FTC | Hacker News Reader

Unless they were absolutely terrible, professors received a standing ovation at the end of the quarter. Feel like this is tradition, no?

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> Unless they were absolutely terrible, professors received a standing ovation at the end of the quarter.

I guess I'll be the first one to point out that I never witnessed anything like that.

At UChicago where I attend, most of my big lecture style classes give the prof a round of applause at the end of each quarter (except for one very bad physics lecturer I had once).

Thank you. Yes, this was at UCSD and most of my stem classes were pretty large. So many people on replying to my post seem to think I’ve made this up. Sad for them they never experienced how great it felt to complete a semester or quarter with a round of applause and a “good luck with finals!”

There's a world of difference between a round of applause and a standing ovation. It would appear you misused the term "standing ovation."

It was common at my university (US).

Which American university is it normal for students, as a group, to stand up and applaud the professor in a standing ovation at the end of each quarter unless the professor was absolutely terrible?

I've never seen that anywhere - across like 4 or 5 different universities and three countries. Even if it had happened why would it be at anything other than the end of the year or maybe semester for a single semester course?

I've seen it once (and well earned) - Imre Leader at the end of a one term course.

That's not a name I was expecting to see on HN! I haven't had the luck of taking one of his courses, but I discussed many interesting puzzles with him at a conference last year, great guy!

UCSD. Most of my professors received round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here. Mostly in my stem classes. Didn’t really happen in lower division general ed. When you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops, I suppose

As a student, I think I only saw this a few times. Maybe at the end of 6.001 with Abelson & Sussman? As a professor, no, I've never gotten any kind of applause, though some polite "thank you" is no uncommon (and very much appreciated).

One time a single student clapped a few times at the end of my one of my TA sessions, and it really made my day!

I was a TA for many classes during my Physics PhD program, and this bit of clapping was a singular occurrence, in the middle of the semester. I’ve never been a course lecturer though, that was always for faculty.

The great TA’s also got a round of applause during the last discussion section. I had a few TA’s that really saved my ass. Mine and most others in the class because the professor wasn’t so great. They’re the ones that received them.

I’m sure you were great but realize most of your student probably weren’t trying to major in physics? Maybe mostly engineering students and such who weren’t fond of the material or having to take it. I was experiencing this mostly in my upper division courses.

What school were you at when you experienced standing ovations for teachers? I never have and it also looks like many other commenters have not. I wonder if it is a cultural thing?

In Europe (or some countries in Europe) it's common to receive applause at the end of the semester but never in the US.

UCSD. Most of my professors received standing round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here

Either you are grossly exaggerating this phenomenon, or this is some cultural outcome that no one downstream seems to understand where it's from, regardless of university.

The OP at first glance seems to be pushing an incorrect assertion ("standing ovation common at end of quarter unless professor was terrible"). I am slightly amused that over half the current set of comments to this entire article is bewilderment and confusion caused by taking the OP seriously.

To add to my previous response: I witnessed this mostly in my stem courses and definitely in my upper division math courses. General coursework where students take those because they have to, maybe aren’t so keen to, but when a class has been grinding together for ten weeks with really tough material, a camaraderie develops, I suppose

If you are referring to MIT, I never observed this when I was there (mid 1980s).

The only professor I've seen get a standing ovation (not including retirement lectures) was Patrick Winston during one of the last lectures of Artificial Intelligence. Or, maybe How to Speak. Memory is a bit fuzzy.

UCSD. Most of my professors received a round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here. Mostly in my stem classes. Didn’t really happen in lower division general ed. When you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops, I suppose

At Brown it was common to applaud at the end of the last lecture of the semester, which I always thought was nice, but usually not a standing ovation. Haven't seen it elsewhere.

UCSD. Most of my professors received round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here as well. Mostly in my stem classes. Doesn’t really happen in lower division general ed. when you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops. Sometimes the applaud happened as students began to leave, and so the standing ovation before departure haha

One more n=1 anecdote: at my school (UNC Wilmington) I never saw this happen. I was there in the mid 1990's FWIW.

UCSD. Most of my professors received standing round of applause at the end of the final lecture. Pretty common practice here. Mostly in my stem classes. Doesn’t really really happen in lower division general ed. when you’ve been grinding through difficult math, computer science and other stem, a camaraderie develops

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