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Taylor Baron
A New and Necessary Approach
Target Audience: UC Davis Head of the Mathematics Department
UWP 1
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Dear Head of the UC Davis Mathematics Department,
I am well aware that UC Davis, a school of nearly 32,000 students, often
offers courses that contain one hundred or more people. In addition, because
science majors comprise most of the university, I understand that mathematics
classes are important prerequisites and are almost always completely full.
Consequentially, this makes teachers’ lives very hectic and busy, and their lessons
may be compromised unintentionally. While there is no doubt in my mind that the
mathematics department staff do their best to ensure the proper education be given
to their students, I cannot help but reflect on a few issues I came across while
enrolled in one of your professor’s courses. I am concerned that Professor Duane
Kouba’s teaching style impedes students’ potential to adequately understand
calculus. By no means am I trying to undermine Professor Kouba and his ability to
teach; I am simply proposing possible suggestions, from a student’s standpoint, on
how he could approach his instruction differently.
Lecturing and teaching lessons in front of hundreds of students is no easy
task. Granted, because thousands of students attend the university, there is not
much your department can do to change this. However, I feel there are more
effective ways Professor Kouba could go about teaching a class rather than writing
on a small chalkboard and yelling across the lecture hall. Several students, including
myself, found it difficult to take notes because Professor Kouba would talk only loud
enough for the first few rows to hear him. He would also erase his notes on the
chalkboard quickly after writing them, leaving little to no time for us to jot
everything down in our notebooks. Perhaps a simple microphone and overhead
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projector would add to the value of his lessons. Not only could he gain more
students’ attention that are stuck in the back of the classroom, but he could also
have the lessons prewritten on slides so that he could refer back to them if students
ever needed them.
I was told that a handful of students highly recommend Professor Kouba for
any math course offered here at UC Davis. While enrolled in his class, I got the sense
that he knew many people had given him good reviews. Not only did he frequently
gloat about how he knew everything there is to know about calculus, but he also
mentioned once that all his students should receive outstanding grades because he
is such a talented teacher. I can see how some college students find his comments
comical and humorous, but I took them as insulting and, frankly, unprofessional. If
all of Professor Kouba’s students had passed with flying colors, I would probably
refrain from discussing my concerns. However, many students in my class struggled
to learn the subject, and I believe that is not something to be overlooked.
UC Davis runs on a quarter system, so understandably, the lessons are taught
at a fast pace. Logically, it is not possible to tailor every lesson to every student’s
needs. That being said, if more than half of the students in a class score below a
50% on a midterm, I think it is reasonable to curve the tests. Instead of adjusting
test grades, Professor Kouba would constantly insist that we put at least 4-6 hours
into studying calculus daily – as college students with other classes and obligations,
this simply is not realistic. I consider myself a responsible student; I tried to utilize
all available resources I could to prepare for his class. I attended tutoring several
times each week, went to workshops, review sessions, discussions, and visited him
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during office hours. I specifically recall one meeting I had with him where he nearly
told me that even though I had qualified into the course through the math placement
test, I would have a difficult time succeeding in his class because I had no prior
calculus experience. As a studious person, I felt hopeless and unconfident about my
academic abilities. Discussions also proved unhelpful because my T.A.s used
different methods to solve problems, making it difficult to grasp the material
correctly. Furthermore, the T.A.s never stopped to see if the students actually
understood their reviews; they cared more about getting through the lesson and
less about the quality of it. I suggest that Professor Kouba and his teaching
assistants coordinate together more in order to teach the students more efficiently.
Professor Kouba goes about his teaching in a proud demeanor. Though this
is not entirely bad, it does have some negative effects on the students’ education. It
is in our nature to avoid admitting failure, but when many students show difficulties
in comprehending the subject, I believe it is necessary to reevaluate the situation
from all aspects. Take, for example, the case of failed midterms: just as there is a
possibility the students did not study enough, there is also the possibility that the
teacher did not sufficiently instruct his or her class. My advice, in order to gain a
better understanding of the students’ perspectives, is to have Professor Kouba read
and review the evaluation papers filled out by his students at the end of every
quarter. This may not guarantee changes in how he approaches his lessons, but
hopefully he will be more aware of some of the problems students endured. I want
to believe that Professor Kouba is an outstanding professor here at UC Davis. By the
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positive comments I have acquired from a few of his past students, I know he is
certainly capable.
Thank you for your time,
Taylor Baron