Apologetic Professors

I have a professor this semester who is really nice and a great teacher, but he constantly apologizes for the work we have to do for his class. What is that about? The whole point of college is reading, writing, and going to class. That's what full-time students do.

That soft attitude that apologizes for giving work is exactly why students get away with not doing any work. You don't have to do the reading if you know the professor won't call on you unless you raise your hand. You don't have to worry about answering questions incorrectly if you know the professor will sugar-coat his correction and move on. ("Well, that's one way of thinking about it but does anyone have a different idea?") You can BS and the professor won't call you on it.

I've had moments when I considered a teaching career. Students would hate me for calling on them randomly and making sure they do their work, but I think I'd be a good teacher.  My Spanish teachers in high school were like that: they expected us to do a lot of work, they called on us on the spot, and they weren't always nice about correcting us. I hated it sometimes but I also learned a lot.

I know in college your work is your own responsibility, but I would be delighted if professors called out students for not doing their work.

"What do you mean you don't know the answer? Did you do the reading?"

"No..."

"Then see to it that you do for the next class." Then the professor randomly calls on someone else. Repeat until he finds someone who knows the correct answer.

Keep doing that to students and they'll learn to do their work so they're not embarrassed in front of the whole class. I know I'm a little old-fashioned in the way I think students and teachers should be, but this easy-going attitude drives me crazy. People wonder why the U.S. is falling behind other countries in education. The reason is we have this education system that doesn't hold students accountable. We're more concerned with pleasing people than making sure students learn.