School Drama

So, I've been taking this "Computer Science" class....and it's been a DISASTER.
My last class was on Monday. I determined I couldn't take it anymore and had to get out of the class and see what I could do to utilize the money I've already put out on this class...
To give you the full picture the following is the letter I've written to the dean who handles the computer science classes:
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Dear Dean Waite:

I am writing to you as I find it very important to bring my recent experiences in a Computer Science class to your attention. As of today I am no longer enrolled in COMS 112-41, Fundamentals of Computer Science, and have had to change this class to COMS 110-43, Computer Concepts, as a direct result of the professor teaching the COMS 112-41 class. Unfortunately you were not on campus this week and I was not able to bring this information to you personally. I did, however, speak with both Mr. Vincent Poisella of the counseling center and Dean Peter Schoch to try to adjust my schedule as best as possible.

Mr. Karl Model is incompetent. He has no grasp of the subject matter and is completely incapable of teaching what he doesn’t know to his students. I have attended three classes with Mr. Model and was so completely outraged during the third session that I chose to leave the class at the break and immediately remove myself from the class permanently effective this morning. To help you to better understand what I am referring to, I have kept some notes on the various things that have happened during class time and would like to share my observations and experiences with you.

Our first class was on September 12. Mr. Model arrived to class late, stating that he’d been wrapped up with giving a presentation trying to “pitch” having a game programming class offered at the college. Upon his arrival, he had no idea of how to open the classroom door and had to find out what the combination was. He was completely disorganized and didn’t know how to so much as log into his computer. To add insult to injury, he was not even sure of which textbooks were required for the course. Approximately half of the class had purchased 4 textbooks including “COMS 112:C++ & EXCEL 2000 CUST TEXT/PKG W/ESS MS ACC 03 LEVI”, retailing at $67.00, and “COMPUTER SCI ILLUMINATED (SET:TXT/ST LECT COMP)(W/CD) (P)”, retailing at $104.50. After a considerable amount of time debating both with himself and the class as to whether or not the “COMS 112:C++ & EXCEL 2000 CUST TEXT/PKG W/ESS MS ACC 03 LEVI” book set was necessary, he gave the class a 30 minute break so he could “go take this up with the Dean” and recommended that those in the class who had not yet opened this book set use the break to return those books as this was the final day to return textbooks to the bookstore for a refund. He returned to the class without an answer and requested to borrow my “COMS 112:C++ & EXCEL 2000 CUST TEXT/PKG W/ESS MS ACC 03 LEVI” book set, as I’d already opened the set and could not return it, so he could determine for himself if he would want to use these books in class. He then stumbled through giving us an overview of the class and reviewing the syllabus. At the conclusion of this he connected his own personal computer to show us a video game that he’d created and to try to explain how this particular class was applicable to the video game. Mr. Model also explained that he was teaching this class with little notice as the original professor decided not to teach it at the last moment. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and consider that perhaps his lack of preparedness was a result of his jumping into this teaching assignment without much notice and hope that the next class would prove that he was more together than his initial impression gave.

The second class was on September 19. Mr. Model was on time for class, a good sign I thought, and returned my textbooks that he’d borrowed. He announced to the class that we did not need these books and he apologized to anyone who’d already opened the set and was now out the money for those books. My hopes of a turnaround in Mr. Model’s professionalism and preparedness was quickly quashed. During this class Mr. Model again brought out his personal computer to show us some short films that his previous students had made for him as a project. After which, he began to go through the PowerPoint slides for Chapter 2 and attempted to explain to the class how to do conversions between binary, hexadecimal, decimal and octal numbers. As he fumbled through the equations, he seemed to be completely confused and he was unable to apply the correct equations to the correct type of conversions. It got to the point where some of the students in the class, who’d had previous experience with these conversions, were telling him how to complete the problems. During this time he continuously said “I’m learning too !” and “I’m not very smart” or “I’m not very good at this.” It was blatantly obvious that he had no idea how to do these conversions and his feeble attempt to muddle through them did nothing but confuse the class and leave those of us without previous experience floundering to understand.

I, personally, am lucky enough to work in a company full of engineers and people with vast knowledge about computer science. I was speaking with a manager in my department about my experience in class and not understanding a thing the teacher was trying to do. The manager was kind enough to take the time to show me how to do these conversions and to explain to me how the systems work. Again, I’m very fortunate to have this resource available to me but please think of those students in this class who do not have such resources. They are left to try to figure it out for themselves based on the incoherent babble of an instructor without the knowledge base of the material plus a textbook which leaves a lot to be desired in terms of explaining such things.

The third class was last night, September 26. While waiting for Mr. Model to arrive, I was in the hallway with my classmates. We were all talking about the class and Mr. Model. It was everyone’s opinion that the instructor has no idea of what he’s doing and that this class is a waste of our time and energy. Mr. Model was again late for the class and again was unsure as to the door combination to open the classroom. Approximately half of the class was not in attendance at this session. He told the class that he could no longer bring in his personal computer as he was told that it was not allowed. He then debated with himself and the class as to whether or not he should give us pop quizzes to see if we are all understanding the material. Multiple students said that they’d had problems doing the homework and he offered to go over it with us.

We began with a problem that required us to convert the octal number “605” into binary. It took Mr. Model an hour and 40 minutes to try to do this problem and to try to also convert the binary form back to the octal. During his attempt at this, it was again blatantly obvious that he had no idea of which equation to apply to the number as well as no clue what he was doing. Out of pure frustration, one student went up to the board, took a marker and showed him how to convert the “6”. He seemed to understand at that point which equation was to be used to do this conversion, yet he continued to show the fact that he did not understand the concept of conversions at all. When it came to converting the “0” in octal “605”, he argued with the class stating that octal “0” would be binary “0”, not binary “000”. He challenged any student who would try to tell him that octal “0” is, in fact, binary “OOO” and say “Well why is that? Prove it.” Mr. Model then got the bright idea to “quiz” us and to have all of us write down what we’d done so far on the board and for each of us to do the conversion of “5” to complete the problem and to turn it into him as a “check to see if we all understand how to do this.” The whole class was done with the remaining conversion in minutes. It seemed that we all understood how to do it based on the student’s explanation and therefore managed to finish the problem quickly. Mr. Model then tried to complete the problem himself. He was unable to do so without assistance from yet another student. The student went to the board and wrote out how to convert the “5” in octal “605”. Mr. Model then got back into the argument of why the octal “0” would be a binary “000” at which point the student had to again explain it to him. At this point Mr. Model blurted out that he only has a degree in art and that he’s a self taught programmer and that he’s learning too. We then were given a break, at which time I collected my belongings and went to the counseling center to find out what I could do to get out of this class and either be reimbursed or transfer to another class.

Please note that this first class date was also the final day to drop a class with a 75% refund as well as the final day to add/drop a class without going through a Dean. Neither of these activities could have taken place as this was our first day of class and it is an evening class, hence leaving a student with the choice to either drop a class they have not yet taken for a 75% refund or to drop a class they have not yet taken and replace it with another class they have not yet taken. The second class was the final day to drop a class with a 50% refund which leaves students in our particular situation without recourse as the same issues apply as would the previous week. I’d think you’d have to agree with me that this whole set up does not make much sense in terms of giving a student a chance to first attend a class, get a feel for it, and then to adjust their schedule as necessary.

This morning I was faced with three options. As an individual with a full-time job, the scope of these options are narrowed based on my available time. I could continue to take COMS 112-41 and subject myself to an instructor who has no capability to teach this class, continue to be frustrated with the situation and learn nothing. My second option would be to withdrawal from the class and be forced to accept that I would get no reimbursement as the date for receiving my tuition back, even in part, was past. My third option would be to try to find another computer science class I could take, hope there were still openings in that class, and find a Dean to plead my case to so that I wouldn’t be throwing money out the window and I’d at least have 3 credits at the end of the semester in some computer science class.

I chose the third option, but not happily. I signed up for COMS 112-41 so that I could learn the material that class was designed to teach. Due to the negligence of Mr. Model I am now forced to take COMS 110-43 which, from my understanding, is a very basic computer class that entails such things as “this is a monitor, this is a CPU”, etc. which I feel is a great disadvantage to me. I also have had to spend an additional $122.75 on the required textbooks for the COMS 110-43 class and have had a great deal of my time and energy wasted in this process. I was told that attempting to get into COMS 120 would be near impossible, regardless of my work experience, as either COMS 112 or COMS 110 is a prerequisite for this class. I have been in the workforce for 8+ years and have taken a number of classes regarding the various software systems available. I am well aware of the basics of a computer and its software at this point. I will now have to sit in a class that I consider remedial to my abilities, could likely do in my sleep, and learn nothing because Mr. Model is incapable of doing the job he is charged with; a reality that I find repugnant.

I urge you to please re-assess Mr. Model’s assignment as the instructor for COMS 112-41. He is unfit to teach this class and cannot, himself, understand the materials he is attempting to teach the students. How can you justify installing a person with an art degree into the position of being an Fundamentals of Computer Science instructor, regardless of his self-taught programming status, when he obviously has never had the training required to teach this class? It is highly likely that as an individual seeking a degree in art Mr. Model would never have even so much as taken a Fundamentals of Computer Science course. How can he measure our understanding of a subject if he doesn’t understand it even slightly?

If you would like to discuss this issue further, I will make myself available to meet with you.

Thank you for your time and consideration.