Reply #10: I can only give my own experience [View All]

[exboyfil]

You sound like a wonderful teacher, but my Calculus I and II and Chemistry I and II courses at Purdue were some of the finest courses which I ever took. While we were packed into large lecture halls, the professors lecturing were masters - some of the best teachers I have ever had. Since Chemistry cost me a 4.0 both semesters, it is not that I hold any particular allegiance to that subject so my opinion is based on what I saw. The Teaching Assistants were good to excellent as well, and lots of help was made available to us struggling Freshman (I actually tutored for dollars as an upperclassmen in Mechanical Engineering classes using this same model).

I took five Junior College classes as a High School student, and none came close to matching the expectation which I received in my Honors English, Chemistry, or Physics classes (let alone AP classes which I never had). It may be the classes which I selected (Biology I, Physical Science, World History I, FORTRAN, and Business Law), but that was my experience. The talent pool was shallow, and I set the curve along with my Honors High School classmates.

I have been involved in education for quite some time (a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering, a MBA, all coursework completed towards a PhD in Engineering, and some post-MBA business courses). I have also been involved closely in my daughters' Middle and High School education (through 9th grade to this point).