[wenc]

An alternative explanation is that some people are just good explainers.

I've had profs in college who were brilliant but couldn't teach, and profs who could teach but weren't brilliant (didn't produce much original research).

I wouldn't say the former group "didn't know their material well", but they didn't build up the material systematically. Pedagogy was neglected. Explaining things is an art that not every has the inclination to master (but they should).

[james_s_tayler]

Professors can massively improve their pedagogy if motivated to do so.

I once had a professor who was new to teaching. It was a very painful experience and the entire CS class spent every lecture murmuring among themselves how terrible the lecture was. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and waited to 2 weeks to see if the lectures would improve. They didn't. At the end of one lecture I went and spoke to him and told him directly he was by far the worst teacher I had encountered at University and that as students we expected higher quality instruction.

From the next week on he was a good lecturer. It was a total transformation. I was seriously impressed. I guess he just never really thought about the pedagogical side of things before but to get such a rude wake up call really jolted him into action and he actually had a pretty good capacity to teach after that.

[wallace_f]

I would have loved to earn a degree by watching lectures online of the best teachers, and then having, instead of lecture hours offered in-person, an interactive Q&A session.

But what would be the best is if you are allowed to skip ahead lectures, etc at your own pace. The competitive incentive here would have been a big extra motivator.

Of course, you cant blame stagnating scientific discovery, stagnating prosperity, and soaring academic costs on the Academic Complex. Teachers, especially, are beyond reproach.