W10: Dear lecturers...

Yeo Ya Qi (1901604)

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.

Dear Lecturers,

Do you know that there's actually a famous saying among the students: 

Why do lecturers always expect the students to do well in all subjects when they can't even teach all the subjects?

Although to some extent, it is true that the students are underestimating the difficulty of teaching, the lecturers also play a part in this problem because most of them never really understand what the students need.  

To be very honest, as a student, I too, always put the blame for not scoring well on the lecturers, questioning their dedication and the way they teach. 

I always thought that teaching is easy, all you need is just to have a reference book, and you elaborate on your teaching content and that’s it.

But to my disappointment, some lecturers don't even bother to share their knowledge and decided to just read the given notes word by word. The lack of anticipation eventually stopped me from paying attention and slowly lose interest in that particular subject.

As a lecturer, you now may think that I am being ungrateful and indecent because I am actually neglecting the efforts made by the lecturers in preparing the teaching materials and adulterating their dedication to teach. 

HOWEVER, if no one raises their voice, there will be no changes. If the situation persists and students do not listen all the time, any sacrifice or efforts made by the lecturer will be in vain because no one is appreciating them.

Dear lecturers, 

Do you know that most students are not lazy, they are just not enjoying the classes due to the lame teaching method? It didn’t spark interest in how the knowledge was passed on to the students.

I've seen so many lecturers speaking monotonously throughout the whole class with all the students dozing off at the back.

Even if you cannot teach, do you mind changing your teaching tone whenever you see students yawning at the back? 

How I wish my lecturers will get this signal every time I am in my class.

I wished that you are not just capable of verbally reading aloud the lecture notes, but also paying more attention to non-verbal messages that your students are trying to send out. 

Your expectations for the students are simple. Lecturers always expect students to turn up to class, to do own revision, to complete our coursework on time, and to study throughout the semester rather than revise at the eleventh hour purely to pass.

But these simple expectations are so analogous to what we have of the lecturers. We want lecturers to inspire us and make us want to be in your class, to get feedback whenever we submit our work and to get help from lecturers in order for us to change to suit the world outside.

Other than the basic knowledge that we need before we step into the working environment, we also need something else that is not in the book. So please don't just read us books.

Since this is a letter dedicated to you, my lecturers, I would like to share a personal experience I had with a lecturer who taught her students in a smart and funny way so the students never fall asleep during her lessons.

She loves quizzes, and she always has a book of fun fact quizzes next to her teaching table. You never know when she will suddenly toss you a question like tossing a snowball. 

If you show signs of tiredness, you will be called to answer some random questions. You better pray for an easy question because if you don't get it, she will spray you with her mini water gun as soon as you answer it wrongly.

Interesting isn't it? 

Since no one wants to go home soaked wet, the only way they have is to pay full attention to the lectures and be prepared in case their name is being mentioned.

Years later as I reminisce about my early school days, I found out that I truly enjoyed every minute of her lecture and all the contents and concepts taught by her were still intact and fresh in my mind.

So why not considering to make the learning environment light and fun, and filling it with refreshing little games? Playing is not always a bad thing after all if this is the way that encourages the students to focus more in class.

I might not have the right to "teach" a teacher how to teach, but as a student who would love to learn, I think some random and interactive sessions are definitely giving me the motivation to continue the dull theoretical lessons.

Before I stop writing, I just want to remind all the lecturers that: as much as the lecturers expect us, students, to score well in every examination, students also have hopes for lecturers to teach them well in every class.  

Without a doubt, lecturers or teachers are the greatest exponents of learning. They are the make-or-break factor in society. 

A Japanese proverb goes as follows: “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.”.

Great teachers help to ignite the passion for learning new concepts and stimulate students to broaden their horizons. 

Simply put, a balance of both is required. It's the teacher's responsibility to convey the textbook knowledge in a manner that is helpful for students to reduce the effort we have to put in on our own, there is also our responsibility to keep the flame of our motivation lit.

Your student, 

Ya Qi