Some of the best coaches were mediocre players, and some of the best players became mediocre coaches. I think the same holds true teaching/industry. That also doens't mean that someone can't be good at both or horrible at both.

MY university, as in MY experience. The difference is, most PhDs are career students/professors. They just never left school, i.e. all of their knowledge is straight from a book. My best teachers have been the Peyton Manning type, they have gained their knowledge from real world experience. Of course, most of them are not full-time professors, or PhDs. Pretty hard to hold a "real" job and dedicate yourself to a PhD. In an industry that puts a great emphasis on education (engineering), I have only encountered one PhD. Why waste years on your education to become a professor only to make 80k, when you can easily make six figures in the industry?

I HAVE had quality teachers in college. Most were not PhDs, and most were part time teachers. Their ability to interject their experience into our lessons made them relevant and interesting. Unfortunately, they were the exception rather than the rule.

Something often lost in this mix, especially when it comes to college. A teacher can be brilliant, have a PhD, and make meaningful contributions to his field through research, etc. But until they are able to convey this knowledge, in a relevant, interesting, and understandable way, they are worthless as a teacher. Colleges especially seem to have lost sight of this. Knowledge and education DOES NOT automatically make for a good teacher. Unfortunately, few seem to have this characteristic. They are instead content to coast through lectures, collect their check, and focus on their own research or projects.

I attended University of Phoenix for a year just to get some electives out of the way quickly. I've been going to school most of my life off and on.

I had a few decent instructors who actually tried to present material, but even in those classes the material was skimmed over quickly. Those who actually read the texts and did the work would learn something but others skated by and got a B just by going through the motions.
I took a marketting class and the first day the instructor asked the class by a show of hands how many students intended to make a living in marketting. No one raised their hand. he said, 'OK I don't want to waste your time andf I don't want you to waste my time so lets just get this over with".
He played solitaire on his lap top most of the time, both he and the class "phoned it in' and did almost no work and everyone got an A.

I had one statistics class where the instructor assigned work groups. Myself and 3 other students were in one group. One woman never bought the text or study guide. She said she never used it in her other classes so it was a waste of money. We were supposed to meet once a week to prepare the final paper and presentation but they didn't want to bother.
I ended up writing the 8 page final paper, putting together some slides, and scripting the presentation. 15 minutes before the presentation I handed out the script to the other members, we did the presentation and all 4 of us got an A even though 3 of the members did no work at all except to read what I had written for them.
Based on the classes I took, if you pay your money and show up at least 3 times you get a C.
if you show up 5 times and go through the motions, you get a B. If you actually make an attempt to do the work, you get an A regardless of the quality of the work you do.

My uncle is an instructor at UOP in another state. IMO he has absolutely no experience or clue about the subject matter and hasn't ever held a job for more than a year in his life and has been on disability or unemployment more than he has worked, but he's teaching others?

They have a saying, if your company is willing to pay for it get your undergraduate degree at UOP and then get your post-graduate work at a real school.
There are probably some really good instructors at UOP, I met one. If you really work hard and read the text and study you will learn but you can get by without doing any of that.
A degree from UOP is basically meaningless IMO. Plus you can't transfer very many UOP credits to a UC or cal state university. At cal State fullerton the dean of admissions told me that only 2 of the 8 classes I took at UOP would apply towards a degree at CSUF.

You could do that, but they would not be among the 5% of his faculty that had those same abilities now would they?

Don't be bitter eh

I must be atypical, because I am a pHD, a research professor working in a University, but I don`t teach, and 100% of my funding comes from a private company. Oh, did I mention that I worked in industrial R&D before that? But I must admit, I feel a bit different from most my accademic colleagues. PhDs come in all shapes and forms, some turn into startup CEOs, others into bad teachers, others into Nobel Prizes.

Aurel

Well, I worked for a "science teacher" who had no practical knowledge of what he teaches. At least in electricity. He may be OK in some of the other areas of his subject, physical science. I installed some energy efficient windows for the chap and he understood convection, conduction and radiation well enough. I didn't have to make a speal about that stuff.

Just what is physical science, anyway? Sounds like a high school course to take so you don't have to take biology or chemistry to graduate (that was the requirement in my day).

However, what is entertaining me the most is the total lack of understanding of what I posted in this thread. A few got it, most just went off on an unrelated tangent, NON SEQUITUR.

At least teachers stay on the subject. The guy that did solitaire on his lap top was/is a disservice to his students and his college. Anyone can use marketing skills. Most should be required to take the subject, even "scientists".

Whoops, did I just go OT?? ;) :D

hmmm. If the "pig tail plug had fried." (and the extension cord not) wouldn't that put the highest resistance -in- the lawnmower? ...as in, there is a short (too high resistance) in the machine, not the ex-cord?

Maybe the teacher knows something you don't. :confused:

Hmmmm. Hit a nerve!

Hey Glenn, you've got a point, and I didn't see the cord. I assume the cord was as bad as the male pig tail. It's happened to me just like that and I know better. So, for the sake of the argument, let's just say that after the same thing happened to 2 mowers, the cord had a part in it. Can you go with that? If not, show me the fallacy in logic.

A 100' 16 ga. cord is useless for most motor applications. The voltage drop has got to be pretty bad. You real scientists can show us the problem. Here is the hypothetical situation: the lawn mower draws 6 amps average under load. The 100' 16 ga. cord is plugged into an ample circuit = 120v, 20 amp breaker (not that has anything to do with it). The house connection is not at fault in any way (close to box and wired properly with 12 ga solid wire, all pigtailed, not looped thru devices). The pig tail is 12 ga. and 6 " long. What is the measurement of the drop? How hot can you postulate that the connection will get?

That ought to keep a couple of folks busy for a minute or two. :D

It could also be a bad receptacle in the extension cord end. If the connection point is small or poor it can overheat (think fuse) it's very likely in a high current situation.

And yes most teachers are idiots :D

Apparently, a couple of nerves have been nicked. I don't want or need to know how stupid people can be. I see too much of that all the time. Unfortunately, my experiences with teachers has not been all that positive. When I last had any contact with a public schools teacher, it was the mid 80's. I jerked my step kids out of public schools and into private. There, they got the attention they needed. Now, the younger girl has graduated from college majoring in art history, has obtained a teaching credential, a job teaching underdeveloped children and is working on her masters.

I have a pretty good idea where she would have ended up if I left the public schools in charge. As for the boy, well, let's just say he got out of school with a clean nose. He went to work for his natural father at the harbor and now has another job making close to 100K/yr. He is a marine cargo surveyor. He wanted to go into something clerical (which surprised me). The public schools could have cared less about his vocation. Process them out of there is all they were after. This all occurred in South Orange County, CA. (Read, very good demographics.)

Things may have changed. Doesn't seem like it. I don't care.

I'm not saying you're wrong ... just that the teacher may have more info (like exactly where it got hot.

To your point, if the ex-cord has better insullation than the pig-tail, then indeed a over heated ex-cord can put too much heat into the PT. Also, if there is a big voltage drop (due to ex-cord resistance) the motor will bog, run slower, and cool worse.

..but none of that matters if the PT melted at say, the switch (a likely burn point) :)

16 AWG wire is smaller diameter, so it will have higher resistance per foot. When you take into account that the 16 AWG wire is 100 ft, while the 12 AWG wire is 6 in, the 16 AWG wire cause far higher total resistance. Splices/connections typically have some resistance associated with them as well. From an online calculator:

16 AWG: total resistance: 0.4084; total voltage drop: 2.4504
12 AWG: total resistance: 0.0008; total voltage drop: 0.0048

If he does like you said, and goes with 12 AWG for the 100 ft run, his total resistance will drop to 0.1622, total voltage drop to 0.9732. Should be sufficient to quit frying things.

A bit more accurate voltage drop calculation

Formula:
(2KIL)/CM=VD
K= constant of conductor (copper is 12.9)
I= amperage of load
L= length of conductor run
CM=Circular mils of conductor (area of wire)
VD= total voltage drop

So, (*12.9*6*100)/2680=6
And, 120v*94%=114volts at the mower

The 16 gauge wire would work okay though I'd recommend at least a 14 gauge wire if it runs for more than 30 mins. I'd also recommend he replace the female plug end on his extension cord as it too has probably been damaged and weakened by the excessive heat.

Anyways, back to the teacher bashing!

Name me a profession without imbiciles.

Politician? Athlete? Engineer? (for sure nope) Minister? Priest? Mechanic? Lawyer (ha!)

Why would someone take personal offense to this thread? Unless they just disposed of two good lawnmowers.....

Not to beat the horse, but I thought I was clear on the fact that a new plug would save both mowers. It was the male plug housing that was completely melted and distorted. In my case, the wires started to break inside the cord due to flex. I couldn't see this, but it caused the same problem. I'm sure his ext cord is toast as well.

Oh well, too much said about a cord and a homeowner, even if he is a science teacher.

This past spring I took a Graduate level Poli Sci course as a Sophomore (yes, I'm one that worked during my 20's, and told myself I'll get around to school one day) which left kind of a bitter taste in my mouth. The class was Game Theory. In case you are not aware, the class was about maximizing the probability of winning in simultaneous, and other types of games. It had a fair amount of statistics embedded in the course work. Anyway, when we finally got to an area in which I had some expertise (voting strategy) and were faced with problems pertaining to governmental bodies and voting schemes, I became disappointed. After class one day I asked the prof. if we were going to put any real life spin on the voting schemes. He looked at me funny and asked what I meant. I responded with a very basic function of a voting body and asked him if we would have the opportunity to apply situations such as present not voting or paired votes to our scenarios. His response was one of enthusiasm "OOHH that opens up a whole new can of worms! But no". Needless to say the course wasn't very challenging, at least for me. So far, I'm not impressed by the level of education one would receive in grad school.

However, having taken the opportunity to chat up the prof. on a couple of occasions, he, unlike SOME, did have more to offer.:(

Milt,

I know what you're getting at. There are a lot of people running around who have no real grasp of [I]how things work[I], regardless of their occupation. It is just sad, however, when they are the teachers of our youth.

A co-worker of my wife's (who is a grade 6 teacher), was moving this summer. In the course of things, they attempted to move an el-cheapo computer desk (you know the kind:glorified cardboard with the structural integrity of a house of cards) down two flights of stairs without dis-assembling it. Needless to say, it was plenty dis-assembled when it got to the truck. Did I mention his partner-in-crime for this case of random furniture distruction was his principal?
Before we moved it into the new apartment, I removed the rest of the fasteners with my little Swiss Army knife and suggested he get a tube of 5-minute epoxy before he attempted to use it again, but I suspect it will be set up on a grouping of milk cases. Most people can understand piling blocks one atop the other.

I think the reason for this failing is the seperation of book knowledge from practical knowledge. Some people have never dared to get out of the 'classroom' and get their fingers dirty (or their knuckles scraped). Those of us who have, (including, I suspect, most on this board) are constantly amazed by the disconnect between these others and the real world.

(Incidentally, I ran into a similar "throw out the device because the plug (which was jammed behind a table leg) got too warm", with one of my brothers-in-law. Now he just calles me before he throws stuff away. (sometimes)

Les

As another work into my 20s type, I used to marvel at the stupidity of automotive design. I used to ask myself, what idiot decided to put _______ way the hell behind _________? I'm sure you've all asked the same question, just fill in the blank with your favorite bit of automotive idiocy. After going back to school in engineering, now I know.

It's exactly like Les describes, there is a huge disconnect between application and theory. A big part of this disconnect is the teacher's lack of application knowlege. If they don't know it, they can't teach it. This further trickles down to the students, many of whom would not know which end of a screwdriver to put to use. These same students, thrust out into the world, fully understand the theory and analysis, but have zero common sense. I.e., they are nearly worthless. Unfortunately, this only seems to be getting worse.

I can happily say that the education I have nearly completed, and paid thousands for, has been 90% worthless. On the other hand, the hours that I have spent, wrenching, building, reading, etc has been invaluable. If every engineer had to own German cars on a limited budget, we'd really have some quality designs.