I wonder if my love of independent study and my interest in MOOCs is related to my having had more than my share of bad professors.  The “M” in MOOC stands for “massive” and there is no way a weak course or a weak professor are going to be successful as a MOOC.  That is why most MOOCs are good courses taught by an exceptional instructor and even improved over time.  So I would much rather take a MOOC than take a live course with a weak instructor.

After three bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree I have had more than my share of college professors, both good and bad.  Some of the bad ones were really bad.  In my opinion, the worst class/professor combination I ever had was my marketing class at Trenton State College while working on my masters degree. She was disorganized, the class requirements changed mid stream and there was little meaningful instruction.  Thankfully that professor was gone after one year.  I like to think that was partly due to the conversation I had with the dean after my class was over.

A few years later I was working for a hospital and was talking to one of my staff.  She was a very sharp older woman who was taking some night courses at a college in downtown Philadelphia.  She told me that she liked all of her classes but that she was struggling in her marketing class.  I commiserated, saying that the one class I had trouble with in graduate school was marketing, but only because I had an awful professor. I mentioned the professor’s name and was met with a stunned look.  The same professor was still teaching, just at a different school.