PowerPoint Presentation

Having a job in addition to teaching can hinder the quality of the classAerospace Engineering Professors

Hello class. I am Paul Tong and Im going to present an issue about Aerospace Engineering professors. Many AeroE professors have an additional job other than teaching. This can cause distractions to teaching, but can also help professors teach better material. It is important that professors have up-to-date experience from additional jobs, although it is also important that professors have time and focus for students.

1More time for studentsMore attention during lectures

ConsBoredomTeaching the same material

Having only a teaching jobPros

Lets start with the pros and cons of having only a teaching job:A university professor will have more time for students. The time can be used to aid students that seek help outside of class. Having more time to interact with students will help the professor understand the needs of the students, therefore helping the professor understand what works and what doesnt work in the lectures. In addition, the professor can solely concentrate on teaching.

On the other hand, a professor may get bored of the repetitive lecture routine. A disinterested professor will begin to slack in the quality of work being done. Students will be neglected and classes will be poorly taught. In return students will neglect the teacher and lose interest also. Another issue within having only a teaching job has to do with the material taught. Material will change very frequently because Aerospace Engineering is fairly new and Up-to-date knowledge is achieved through research projects. Without the research job, the same material will be taught year after year.2Up-to-dateDirect understanding of how things workConsDistraction during lecturesResearch and projects my take up a lot of time.

Having an additional job/researchPros

Now I will talk about having an additional research job.

The benefits of having this additional job is that the professors knowledge can be up-to-date as stated in the previous slide. Through this job the professor will also have first-hand experience and have a stronger understanding of how things work. This will be useful, especially when students run into problems that the professor already figured out.

On the other hand, additional projects may pose a distraction on professors. The professor may have more focus on the research job because it could be either higher paying or simply because it is more interesting. This can lead to constantly thinking about the research job throughout the day. This distraction can take place during a class, leading to poor quality lectures. Additional work will take away time that can be used to help students. Out of class questions will have delayed answers while getting a hold of the professor may be difficult or even impossible.

In this picture we see a professor at iowa state studying a model of dragonfly and bat wings using a wind tunnel.3Logical FallaciesFor the most part issue has to do with the quality of the teacherFocused in classClasses reflect personalityNot difficult to balance priorities (students are always on top)University lectures in the U.S. are not set up to keep professors busy (Dayal)

Now there are a few issues with these two arguments.

For the most part, the quality of a lecture has more to do with the teacher. A good teacher will always enjoy teaching students. That being said, boredom is out of the question. This means the teacher will not be disinterested. Staying focus during class will not be a problem. A good teacher will have good charisma and will connect really well with the students. The classes and lectures will be designed to keep students attentive, because students that learn are the source of happiness for good teachers. Now Im just stating the obvious and Im sure you guys get the point. Good teacher = good class.

In regards to prioritizing, I am told that it is not hard to balance priorities. An aerospace engineering professor that I talked to told me that students will always be on the top of his priority list. He wants the additional research jobs so that he can impart cutting edge knowledge to his students, and said word for word that he will not have it any other way.

Additionally, he said that professors are not given a teaching load that will keep them busy for 8 hours a day. They do indeed have enough time to have additional research topics and jobs. That being said, a teacher will have enough time to use for students outside of the classroom, even with another job. However, this does not mean that they will.4ConclusionHaving addition job experience will be beneficial.It is important that teachers have up-to-date experiencesProfessors have enough to time to have addition researchQuality of the lectures come from quality of the teacher.

In conclusion,

The pros of having only a teaching job can still be present with additional jobs. Although having the additional job will have some effect to time management and prioritizing, most of the effect comes from the professors themselves. The issue that correlates directly to having only a teaching job is teaching obsolete material, so it is necessary to have this additional job where the knowledge can be obtained. The experience that a professor will obtain from addition research projects greatly outweighs the extra hours that the professor will have to put into the job.

Other than that,It is beneficial for professors to have additional jobs and research. Having updated experience is important in the Engineering Department, since new things are being discovered at a fast rate. Additionally, professors have enough time to have additional research jobs. As long as the professor isnt busy to the point where students and lectures are neglected, additional jobs cannot harm the class. In the case that the teachers work is poor, it will most likely have to do with the quality of the professor and not the additional job.

Here in this picture we see the Cydrone Project. This is the X-3 which is a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle designed to do civil tasks.5Works citedDayal, Vinay. Personal interview. 3 April. 2013.Elbert, Bob. 7NXK. Digital image. Iowa State University News Service. Iowa State University, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.GreatSchools. "What Makes a Great Teacher?" GreatSchools. Ed. Carol Lloyd. GreatSchools, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. Jiang, Angela. Ahmed017. Digital image. UTSC. University of Toronto Scarborough, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.Johnson, Lloyd. "The Six Human Needs." Web log post. Confident Future International The Six Human Needs. Confident Future, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2013. Rudolphi, Thomas. Personal interview. 1 April. 2013.Sherman, Peter. Personal interview. 4 April. 2013.UAV, Cydrone. X-3_0 Flight Test. Digital image. Cydrone. Google Sites, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 4 May 2013.